My lathe is serial number "3 or 4" if i recall...big cat brass plate
with the serial number on it next to a neat cat plate with the speeds
and feed chart. IMHO those brass data plates are the only things worth
having off the lathe, or perhaps the ornate cast iron legs would make
a nifty looking something or other on the patio...I have about made my
mind up though that the first thing that goes wrong with it if it can
not be fixed in 10 or 15 minutes with no cash outlay, its gonna be
history, so I would break it all up except for legs and brass data
plates and melt it down and cast it into something more usefull. Shold
be some fine cast iron


..On Mon, 14 Nov 2005 18:12:20 -0700, "Steve Koschmann"
wrote:

===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!
===
===
=== +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
=== |Filename: FEReed01.jpg |
=== |Download: http://www.diybanter.com/attachment....tachmentid=126 |
=== +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
===
=== --
=== shtechie
===


==============================================
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