I have an old / small Goodell-Pratt lathe which was my father's and
came to me many years after his passing. I inherited it as a set,
including a vintage drive motor, countershaft, drive belts, mounting
board, etc. But -- no instructions, drawings or any other form of
guidance in how to set it up. I'm now tackling that problem and have
encountered a fundamental question. It's very basic, but I've never
used a metal lathe before, so need to ask anyway.
When I arrange the motor, countershaft and lathe in the most
convenient way, for use of space, the lathe spindle and chuck turn
clockwise when viewed from the tailstock perspective. But that would
seem wrong, given the way in which the cutting tool would contact the
workpiece. I'm thinking the spindle has to rotate CCW, so the tool
will bite into the workpiece and cut properly. Can someone advise
which direction is right?
Thanks much.

"ghb624" wrote: (clip) the lathe spindle and chuck turn
clockwise when viewed from the tailstock perspective. But that would
seem wrong, (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes, it's wrong.

On Fri, 1 May 2009 18:34:29 -0700 (PDT), ghb624
wrote:

I have an old / small Goodell-Pratt lathe which was my father's and
came to me many years after his passing. I inherited it as a set,
including a vintage drive motor, countershaft, drive belts, mounting
board, etc. But -- no instructions, drawings or any other form of
guidance in how to set it up. I'm now tackling that problem and have
encountered a fundamental question. It's very basic, but I've never
used a metal lathe before, so need to ask anyway.
When I arrange the motor, countershaft and lathe in the most
convenient way, for use of space, the lathe spindle and chuck turn
clockwise when viewed from the tailstock perspective. But that would
seem wrong, given the way in which the cutting tool would contact the
workpiece. I'm thinking the spindle has to rotate CCW, so the tool
will bite into the workpiece and cut properly. Can someone advise
which direction is right?
Thanks much.


Turn the motor end-for-end.

On May 1, 9:34*pm, ghb624 wrote:
I have an old / small Goodell-Pratt lathe which was my father's and
came to me many years after his passing. I inherited it as a set,
including a vintage drive motor, countershaft, drive belts, mounting
board, etc. But -- no instructions, drawings or any other form of
guidance in how to set it up. ....

http://www.lathes.co.uk/goodell-pratt/

jsw

Glad this post came up..

In the near future I'll be helping a neighbor dispose of her Husbands
estate, there's a pair of Goodell-Pratts in reasonable shape... One's more
full featured than the other... what's an honest price for them...

--.- Dave

"ghb624" wrote in message
...
I have an old / small Goodell-Pratt lathe which was my father's and
came to me many years after his passing. I inherited it as a set,
including a vintage drive motor, countershaft, drive belts, mounting
board, etc. But -- no instructions, drawings or any other form of
guidance in how to set it up. I'm now tackling that problem and have
encountered a fundamental question. It's very basic, but I've never
used a metal lathe before, so need to ask anyway.
When I arrange the motor, countershaft and lathe in the most
convenient way, for use of space, the lathe spindle and chuck turn
clockwise when viewed from the tailstock perspective. But that would
seem wrong, given the way in which the cutting tool would contact the
workpiece. I'm thinking the spindle has to rotate CCW, so the tool
will bite into the workpiece and cut properly. Can someone advise
which direction is right?
Thanks much.

On May 2, 11:59*am, "Dave August" wrote:
Glad this post came up..

In the near future I'll be helping a neighbor dispose of her Husbands
estate, there's a pair of Goodell-Pratts in reasonable shape... One's more
full featured than the other... what's an honest price for them...

--.- Dave

I have no idea but you might try emailing the guy (Tony) who has that
British website referenced above.

In article ,
"Dave August" wrote:

Glad this post came up..

In the near future I'll be helping a neighbor dispose of her Husbands
estate, there's a pair of Goodell-Pratts in reasonable shape... One's more
full featured than the other... what's an honest price for them...

That depends. One factor in estate disposal is often getting the stuff
out the door in a timely manner, which may mean a rather different price
than what a collector or even user would pay as top dollar - doesn't
have to, if you can find the right buyers, but it can be a factor - and
sometimes bigger is cheaper here (in part because you may have to
realistically include the buyer paying rigging costs if it's in a bad
spot.)

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

On May 2, 9:59�am, "Dave August" wrote:
Glad this post came up..

In the near future I'll be helping a neighbor dispose of her Husbands
estate, there's a pair of Goodell-Pratts in reasonable shape... One's more
full featured than the other... what's an honest price for them...

--.- Dave

Dave

When this situation comes up I do this. I ask the seller to set a
price they are comfortable with so I can take the item and they will
have no regrets. Only once have I declined in the last 40 years fo
buying and selling. Yes sometimes it is too high and sometimes it is
too low but I have never lost any friendships over it and this is the
most important. Should you decline they will have the chance to
reconsider and that will be OK also. Most of the time in estate sales
there is someone grieving and you will find this out while dealing
with the family. You will regret forever taking a person while they
are down.

Also sitting down and talking with the family is perhaps what they
really want. In this case perhaps they want the lathe to go to a good
place and not to a buyer who could care less about the lathe and the
family.

Bob AZ