Although I haven't read all the comments in this string, looks like
some good input. Other than a drill press & a lot of hand tools, never
owned any major machine tools. Several friends have lathes and/or
mills, and I saw what they could do w/them. Then a friend gave me an
old Atlas lathe w/lot of tooling he had for 20 years (and never got up
& running), when he moved. After countless hours cleaning & figuring
out how the thing worked, got it going. As I played w/it, noticed
problems like 1/4 inch slop in the crossfeed, excessive spindle play,
etc. Ended up keeping some of the ascessories but sold the lathe &
remaining tooling...enough to afford me a Logan 9-B in much nicer
condition AND a 8-piece #00 KDK toolpost set-up!
Anyway, regarding the Smithy 3 in 1, about a year ago, an old time
retired machinist I know told me his neighbor had passed away. Among
his effects was a clean Smithy his wife wanted to get rid of, along
w/all the other tools, etc. in their garage. Having just got the Logan
I saw no need for the Smithy, but a month back my friend said the
Smithy was still available, and since there seemed to be a lot of
tooling w/it, thought I would leave it set up in the mill configuration
and dump the Palmgren I was saving for the Logan. Ended up getting the
package for $750. w/some new Starret dial indicators, magnetic holder,
Palmgren rotary table, and lots of other, unrelated stuff. Will likely
sell some of the latter and offset the cost of the Smithy. Some friends
bought the remaining tools, and the widow was quite pleased to see the
stuff gone and cash in her hands! Cleaned up the machine, and soon as
time permits, will fire it up and try some runs at milling aluminumn
bar stock, since I have hardly any experience with either machine other
than drilling holes...