I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12' bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor
with 4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the headstock.
It is fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings) but is is
pretty good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed for the last
10 years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep it from
rusting. It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some other
tooling somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning long
bedposts on it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell it and
buy some woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one almost like
it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood

wrote:
I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12' bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor with
4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the headstock. It is
fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings) but is is pretty
good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed for the last 10
years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep it from rusting.
It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some other tooling
somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning long bedposts on
it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell it and buy some
woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one almost like it
(10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood

I went to an auction about a year ago and there was a large lathe there,
I'd say about 16"x60", old, very heavy, don't remember what type it was.
The auctioneer tried to start the bidding at $1000. It finally sold
for $50, only one bidder gave the nod. By contrast, an Atlas 10x36
would sell for over $1000 in Central Texas.
--
Gary Brady
Austin, TX
www.powdercoatoven.4t.com

wrote:
I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12'
bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor
with 4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the
headstock.
It is fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings) but is is

pretty good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed for the
last
10 years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep it from
rusting. It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some other
tooling somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning long
bedposts on it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell it
and
buy some woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one almost
like
it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood

Jamie:

If you do get this lathe I hope you post some photos of moving it to
its new home. Are going to move this into your basement, maybe through
the house down the stairs? It should be a great project. As far as the
price goes, I think I would offer the owner that you will move it out
of tractor shed at no charge.

I'd probably start at about $.05 a pound and figure it weighs 5000
pounds (???). And then work down from there.

Have a good time trying to move the beast! I'd be glad to watch those
proceedings with my digital camera at the ready. Seriously, make sure
you have some plan for moving the thing as well as a final landing spot
before you make any serious offers. If it has babbit bearings, I doubt
it has any resale potential. If you buy it, it's YOURS.

I'd just tell the owner that you want to turn 7' to 8' bedposts, that it
is worth only low hundreds to you for that purpose, see what happens.
Someone else mentioned no dollars and cleaning out the shed but that
sounds sorta insulting.

wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12' bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor with
4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the headstock. It is
fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings) but is is pretty
good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed for the last 10
years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep it from rusting.
It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some other tooling
somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning long bedposts on
it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell it and buy some
woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one almost like it
(10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood

There was one just as you describe for sale locally months back.
They used it to true rubber rollers. The place was asking ~$300.
Eventually they were giving it away to anyone that would remove it
from the shop. Sure seemed like a neat toy to have though.

Art

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 18:38:38 -0600, wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12' bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor
with 4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the headstock.
It is fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings) but is is
pretty good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed for the last
10 years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep it from
rusting. It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some other
tooling somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning long
bedposts on it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell it and
buy some woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one almost like
it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood

this would make a nice spindle lathe for wood working, the babbit bearngs
are actually a good thing for wood (less vibration) - you'll want to replace
the 4 jaw chuck unless you are planning on eccentric turning, and you will
want to set it up to turn between 800 and 3000 RPM.
"Art" wrote in message
...
There was one just as you describe for sale locally months back.
They used it to true rubber rollers. The place was asking ~$300.
Eventually they were giving it away to anyone that would remove it
from the shop. Sure seemed like a neat toy to have though.

Art

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 18:38:38 -0600, wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12' bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor
with 4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the headstock.
It is fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings) but is is
pretty good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed for the last
10 years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep it from
rusting. It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some other
tooling somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning long
bedposts on it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell it and
buy some woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one almost like
it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood

12' bed lathe into the basement? I'd like to see that

wrote in message
ups.com...

wrote:
I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12'
bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor
with 4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the
headstock.
It is fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings) but is is

pretty good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed for the
last
10 years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep it from
rusting. It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some other
tooling somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning long
bedposts on it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell it
and
buy some woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one almost
like
it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood

Jamie:

If you do get this lathe I hope you post some photos of moving it to
its new home. Are going to move this into your basement, maybe through
the house down the stairs? It should be a great project. As far as the
price goes, I think I would offer the owner that you will move it out
of tractor shed at no charge.

Hey Jaimie,

Lathes for wood and metals require different RPM ranges from each
other. If you were going to turn something on your existing wood
lathe, say a bowl, of about 9" diameter, what RPM would you run it at?
I suspect somewhere in the high hundreds. There is a pretty good
chance this lathe won't give you even that as a high end speed, and if
the posts neck down to say 2 or 3 inches, you would want to increase
the RPM significantly.

I think you would have to "cut" the bed-posts with something "live"
mounted to it, like a router.

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 18:38:38 -0600, wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12' bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor
with 4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the headstock.
It is fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings) but is is
pretty good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed for the last
10 years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep it from
rusting. It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some other
tooling somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning long
bedposts on it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell it and
buy some woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one almost like
it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood

Jamie,
Big lathes have very low value because there are so many of them and they
require a lot of room. Very often they also require large power sources and
special foundations and because of this, there is very low demand. Scrap
weight at best for this one. It was made in the 30's or 40's. I purchased an
almost new Lodge & Shipley Powerturn 18 x 54 for $3500 including transport.
It weighs 6,000 + lbs. This is a modern machine and nobody wanted it. I had
to put in special power and an 8" concrete bed. Additionaly, with the plain
bearing head stock, you won't be able to exceed 600 rpm without overheating
the bearings. Forget it.
Steve

wrote in message
...
I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12' bed. It
won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor with 4
v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the headstock. It is
fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings) but is is pretty good
shape considering it has set in a tractor shed for the last 10 years,
getting a douche of diesel every month to keep it from rusting. It has a 4
jaw chuck and he said there might be some other tooling somewhere(?) I am
a woodworker with dreams of turning long bedposts on it if nothing else,
but if it cheap enough I may sell it and buy some woodworking tools with
the profit. I saw where one almost like it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay
for the $2750.00 start price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 18:38:38 -0600, wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12' bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor
with 4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the headstock.
It is fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings) but is is
pretty good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed for the last
10 years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep it from
rusting. It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some other
tooling somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning long
bedposts on it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell it and
buy some woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one almost like
it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood

My neighbor thought he was getting a great deal when he bought a
similar sized lathe for $700 at an auction about ten years ago. He
figured he could turn around and sell it for a handsome profit.

Well, the lathe still sits in his yard, rusting away. I'm guessing
he's spent $100 replacing the blue tarps that keep rotting off from
it.

Space costs money. Lotsa people don't have space enough to accomodate
a 12' lathe. They need room for the drill press, milling machine,
welder, etc.

Orrin

In article 1109999967.b9657f4fedcc5cff75efa6ec4416798e@teran ews,
william_b_noble wrote:

"Art" wrote in message
.. .

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 18:38:38 -0600, wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12' bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor

this would make a nice spindle lathe for wood working, the babbit bearngs
are actually a good thing for wood (less vibration) - you'll want to replace
the 4 jaw chuck unless you are planning on eccentric turning, and you will
want to set it up to turn between 800 and 3000 RPM.

I certainly would not want to spin at 3000 RPM on the size of
4-jaw chuck which would be likely on a 16" swing lathe. Find the brand
of the chuck, and look up the maker's web page (if they are still in
business) to see what they consider the maximum *safe* RPM for that
chuck.

A smaller faceplate would probably be fine at those speeds, but
I'm not sure about a full-sized one -- and even less sure about a
full-sized dog driver.

And the Babbit bearings might consume a lot of horsepower run at
those speeds. You'll at least have to go to a thinner oil for the
spindle bearings.

Good Luck,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

Gary Brady wrote:

wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12'
bed. It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a
motor with 4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the
headstock. It is fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings)
but is is pretty good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed
for the last 10 years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep
it from rusting. It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some
other tooling somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning
long bedposts on it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell
it and buy some woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one
almost like it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start
price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood


I went to an auction about a year ago and there was a large lathe there,
I'd say about 16"x60", old, very heavy, don't remember what type it was.
The auctioneer tried to start the bidding at $1000. It finally sold
for $50, only one bidder gave the nod. By contrast, an Atlas 10x36
would sell for over $1000 in Central Texas.
That would turn the long spindle needed in the drill press tonight - :-)

Think - what size of truck will it take to haul it where ever.

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Southbend lathes have never used babbit bearings unless someone hacked this
machine.

Tony
"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
In article 1109999967.b9657f4fedcc5cff75efa6ec4416798e@teran ews,
william_b_noble wrote:

"Art" wrote in message
.. .

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 18:38:38 -0600, wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12'
bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor

this would make a nice spindle lathe for wood working, the babbit bearngs

You can fit a Southbend 16x 10 in a Ford E-150 van. You remove the legs and
motor cabinet and slide the bed in up against the doghouse.

Tony

"Martin H. Eastburn" wrote in message
news
Gary Brady wrote:

wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12'
bed. It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a
motor with 4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the
headstock. It is fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit bearings)
but is is pretty good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed
for the last 10 years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep
it from rusting. It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be some
other tooling somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning
long bedposts on it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may sell
it and buy some woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one
almost like it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start
price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood


I went to an auction about a year ago and there was a large lathe there,
I'd say about 16"x60", old, very heavy, don't remember what type it was.
The auctioneer tried to start the bidding at $1000. It finally sold
for $50, only one bidder gave the nod. By contrast, an Atlas 10x36
would sell for over $1000 in Central Texas.
That would turn the long spindle needed in the drill press tonight - :-)

Think - what size of truck will it take to haul it where ever.

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

I was at an auction a few years ago and a SB of the same size and
vintage brought $300. I nearly bought it just because it was so cheap.
There was a nice 10EE coming up after that I saved my money for. Of
course this brought way more than I was planning to spend so I didn't
get either. Did by a big old drill press for cheap. This was back
when machinery was still bringing pretty good money.

JW

You can fit a Southbend 16x 10 in a Ford E-150 van. You remove the legs
and
motor cabinet and slide the bed in up against the doghouse.

Tony

"Martin H. Eastburn" wrote in message
news
Gary Brady wrote:

wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12'
bed. It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a
motor with 4 v-belts jackshafted to a 4 step flat pully up to the
headstock. It is fairly old (I think the headstock is babbit
bearings)
but is is pretty good shape considering it has set in a tractor shed
for the last 10 years, getting a douche of diesel every month to keep
it from rusting. It has a 4 jaw chuck and he said there might be
some
other tooling somewhere(?) I am a woodworker with dreams of turning
long bedposts on it if nothing else, but if it cheap enough I may
sell
it and buy some woodworking tools with the profit. I saw where one
almost like it (10'bed) did not sell on Ebay for the $2750.00 start
price.

What should I offer for this?

Thanks

Jamie Norwood


I went to an auction about a year ago and there was a large lathe
there,
I'd say about 16"x60", old, very heavy, don't remember what type it
was.
The auctioneer tried to start the bidding at $1000. It finally sold
for $50, only one bidder gave the nod. By contrast, an Atlas 10x36
would sell for over $1000 in Central Texas.
That would turn the long spindle needed in the drill press tonight -
:-)

Think - what size of truck will it take to haul it where ever.

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Southbend lathes have never used babbit bearings unless someone hacked
this
machine.

Tony
"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
In article 1109999967.b9657f4fedcc5cff75efa6ec4416798e@teran ews,
william_b_noble wrote:

"Art" wrote in message
.. .

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 18:38:38 -0600, wrote:

I have the opportunity to buy a South Bend lathe. It is a 16"x12'
bed.
It won't turn but about 9' between centers though. It has a motor

this would make a nice spindle lathe for wood working, the babbit
bearngs