More to the story: the "auction" post was flagged off by the
Craigslist community -- terms of use specify no auctions. Good job,
guys.

Next, here is a report from someone who says he saw it, and it's a
wreck:


"BEWA
I saw this lathe late last night. The ways are in very poor condition
from years of heavy use and abuse. The chuck has made contact with the
ways creating many dents, this apears to be from chuck removal. The
chuck and material has made contact with the compound while in motion
causing many gouges on all surfaces. The original compound was removed
and replaced with a VERY sloppy replacement. There is considerable
backlast from all movements and the variable speed hydrolic system has
3 leaks I can detect which caused the lathe to not be capable of
holding a steady rpm. There is next to no tooling with this lathe and
the owner plays dumb like he knows nothing about his lathe. Anyone that
plays dumb about a lathe they own makes me feel they are trying to hide
something. This is the reason I really looked over this lathe last
night. This is a very good parts lathe so for 299.00 (the price it was
offered for) I decided I would buy it and use the parts on my other
lathe. This is the point when he told me he had so many offers that he
would have to hold off on selling me the lathe and accept offers. I had
showed up with a truck, trailer and rigging to move the lathe and he
wouldnt sell me the lathe. I wont go back as I wont play this game. As
a parts lathe this is a good lathe however the cost to repair a
clausing 5914 to a usable state is to high to pay what he is now
seeking. I also dont like his bait and switch tactics so I had to let
others know what is going on with this lathe. Good luck to the eventual
buyer. I hope you have good luck with this lathe but be carefull what
you are buying and what you pay for it. "

So, yes, Virginia, there is NO Santa Claus and the original post was
indeed too good to be true. If you recall, it said the lathe was "in
good working condition".

Oh, well.

Regards,

Bob