Blunt truth? Not worth much of anything to most hobby machinist and
certainly worth zero to any professional machinist. Some of the key
problems with such an old lathe are

1. Spare parts non existent so you are on your own to make
2. Probably has change gears (no quick change gear box) big pain in the
butt to tthread, but many of do it anyway...
3. Non standard spindle thread and /or lead screw -- this is a bigge, as
chucks backplates would need to be fabricated and then you run into 1 and 2
4. babbit bearings probable, ball bearings maybe but around 1900 date of
manufacture, probably not ball bearings, much less timken roller bearings.
Limited to SLOWWWW speeds... designed for use when carbide or HSS tooling
was non invented yet... and what is the runnout on the spindle?? Bed wear?
Cross feed slop? etc etc.
5 not the least, but there are simply too many other decent lathes out
there including the chinese stuff. Very good values and the quality keeps
getting better. Really truely-- they are pretty good, and I am an "old
American iron" snob...

Sentimental/antique value? Now, you can throw a dart on the wall and see
what sticks. Seriously... put it in the paper/ebay and put a price of 500
bucks and see what happenes.

FE Reed IS a recognized lathe manufacturer and there is a small market for
them... as showpieces... not a really good user lathe... try using it for a
couple of months and you will see why..

IF you do want to sell, you are looking for a collector to buy it for a
price and just put it in his/her shop for sentimental reasons and use it to
make the odd cut or two.

Example: I just turned down and old Flathers lathe (Nashua, NH)circa 1930.
Another good old american lathe manufacturer.
Guy thought he had a gold mine on his hand... wanted 1600 to start. what
was he smoking??

Did not even go look at it. . He said what about 600.00 and I still said
no (did not say hell no... no reason to insult him)....

Even if I or someone else fully restored it, it would still be a marginal
old lathe.

I have restored 5 old american iron lathes now (3 metal, 2 wood) and I use
each of them. But, my daily user is a Emco 10". Built in 1970, it still
can turn to 1/2 thou without even trying. My others can too (well , one
can) but boy do you have to breathe just right.

If this were my lathe, I would have some fun with it... makes some small
stuff and you will quickly see why newer IS better...(not always, but more
and more....)

steve

Good luck!! .


"shtechie" wrote in message
...

Hello!

When I purchased my new house they left a lot of junk and a few
interesting items. One of these is the F.E. Reed Metal Lathe
manufactured in Worcester, MA around 1900. This seems to of originally
been treadle powered but then converted over at some point to an
electric motor. Currently the motor is not working, but I expect to
have that fixed. The reason for my post here is to ask if anyone has
any idea of the value of this machine? I am thinking of selling it or
spending some time to fix / clean it up.

Thanks for any and all help!


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shtechie