"ATP*" wrote in message
...

"Michael Koblic" wrote in message
...
This item just came up on Craig's list in town.

No information on it from the owners except the usual "one careful lady
owner" etc.

Looking at the net there is a paucity of info: All I gather is that it
was likely made in 1947 or thereabouts and is 9"x36".

I am going to look at it tomorrow having memorized the Dave Fricken
article.

I am not even sure I will be able to fit it into my garage but assuming
the answer is affirmative I would appreciate any advice from resident
sages, particularly those who have direct experience with this lathe.

Thanks,

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC
I'm definitely no sage, but I would suggest perusing the "southbendlathe"
group on yahoo. I own a Heavy 10 from 1953, IIRC, with a 48" bed, it's not
a big lathe. If the lathe doesn't come with anything, don't underestimate
the cost of lathe tooling and accessories, a nice working package deal
might seem pricey but will probably be cheaper than a thousand nicks and
cuts on ebay.
Thanks. I spent inordinate amount of time yesterday on the Southbendlathe
group as well as few others.
I went to see the beast today. In the end I passed. Here are the reasons, I
am open to critique of my reasoning:

1) The lather was stored in a Rent-a-container with no access to power. Even
if there were power, the wiring box was exposed with wires disconnected.
2) The owner knew nothing about the lathe except that he bought it some
years ago from a company that went out of business and "only used to turn
electrical copper armatures on it". He himself, apparently, never used it.
There was some confusion who actually owned the machine, he or his friend
who seemed to do most of the talking. No idea who the original owners were
(this machine is - guessing - 50 years old).
3) I was given a "manual" supposedly for this machine. it was clearly
labelled "Jet lathe".
4) The machine was covered in chips and swarf, not copper either, a fact
somewhat at odds with (2).
5) After cleaning the ways, there was rust, chips and dents. The carriage
could be lifted off the ways near the headstock but not in the middle.
Tightening the carriage clamp to the ways near the headstock so I could
still move it and moving the carriage to the middle the passage became
progressively more difficult. I interpreted all this as evidence of
significant wear of the ways.
6) The three way chuck was lightly rusted. One jaw was loose and almost fell
out. I was able to replace it but trying to tighten the chuck the jaws did
not even come close to meeting.
7) The gear box was exposed. There was grease on the gears with a liberal
helping of chips. I did not see any superficial damage to the gears.

At this point I felt sufficiently uncomfortable about the whole thing and
passed. I suspect there are many here who would have seen this lathe as a
deal of the century at $650. Equally likely, many would have discovered
issues that I missed. Interestingly, when we parted amicably with the owner
he expressed his intention to change the pricing on the craigs list to $800.

The other issue with the machine was it size. When I checked the dimensions
in relations to the available space I would have been pushed to be able to
use some of my other tools, mainly due to its depth of almost 3 feet.

Still, it was a useful experience. I am sure there will be next time...

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC