The Dark Story of Hercus: How Australia Destroyed Its Greatest Lathe

The Dark Story of Hercus: How Australia Destroyed Its Greatest Lathe May 1920. Frederick William Hercus opens a one-man shop on Payneham Road, Adelaide. Hercus wasn't just a lathe-maker, it was the foundry where every Australian apprentice cut his first thread. The lathe that armed a generation, then taught the next. But on Wednesday 25 May 1988, Senator John Button announced manufacturing tariffs would fall from 35% to 5%. Twelve years later, Hercus lathes were wheeled out of school metalwork rooms and auctioned for $300. Today, "H S" ghosts through painted-over walls on Anderson Street, Thebarton. 700 lathes still teach in Australian classrooms. Zero are still being made. This is the story of how Canberra unmade Australian manufacturing, and what that says about a country that forgets how to build. This is not just the story of a lathe. It's the story of a country that voted not to build. #Hercus #ThebartonWorks #AbandonedFactories #LostFactories #IndustrialDecline #AustralianManufacturing