"mac" wrote in message
oups.com...
I just became the owner of a 13" LeBlond regal lathe the the number on
the ways is B 9860. The lathe seems to be in good shape, came out of a
trade school, everthing seems to be tight and the
---snip---

First thing... LeBlond was among the best of the best. Second thing: HP
labels have changed since then. I'm not sure, but I believe HP in the days
of your B9860 were calculated at 1,700 rpm and today's electric motors
calculated at 3,600? so it may be that your 3/4 HP is equivalent to today's
inflated 2HP or more.

Older lathes have hand-scraped bearing surface ways and many of us old
timers think the hand-scraped ways are better than even the laser calibrated
ground ways of today's machinery.

I'm probably wrong on both these counts... but they may be worth following
up on. LeBlond is one hell of a good lathe!

Wayne