Eastburn wrote:

Thanks Jon -

I was beginning to think I missed something in the words.

I have a Sheldon 11x44 myself and don't see anything unique.

The 11" Sheldon is a fairly pedestrian lathe. It is in no way comparable
to the R series, especially the post-1968 R's. 80 threading feeds and 80
different cutting feeds should give a hint. The 80-speed QC box is
so innovative they have a raft of patents on it. Getting 80 different
ratios
in a 10 x 10 x 6" box is quite a trick.

The headstock and apron are quite innovative, too. Any lathe that has
FOUR separate oil-bath gearboxes (requiring a DIFFERENT lube
in each one, too, wouldn't you know!) has got to be a bit different.

You might take a look at my site on the machine, at
http://jelinux.pico-systems.com/sheldon.html

for some of the story. By the way, I am finally done spotting and scraping,
and am putting the machine all the way back together! It only took 22
months to fix all the wear! I still have a few small things to fix,
like the
bolts that held the DRO onto the cross slide were rusted out. 3 came out
easy, but one has a stub seized hard in the crossslide. I may have to just
chisel it off.

Jon