Projects What’s a brake lathe worth?

I drive through a small town on my way to work. There was an AP store that moved to a different location. At the old location down the street they have a sign in the window that say “We turn brake drums”.
So I asked the guy at the counter if they still did. He told me “No, boss doesn’t want us doing it anymore “.
So I got to thinking…I’m going to stop in this afternoon on my way to work and see if the boss wants to sell it.
Do I really need it? No, but “if the price is right” why not?
I figure if it’s still there and collecting dust, boss might be in a selling mood. Can’t hurt to ask.

 

I just did a quick web search and there is a lot of AAMCO brake lathes available with lots of the accessories for those machines as well. The prices are reflected on EBAY, so you have to take that into consideration, so buyer beware.

If you do purchase that brake lathe, and if the prices are agreeable to your budget, make sure you get everything that came with that lathe and see if they have brake shoe arcing machine as well. That is if they are willing to sell any of those machines that they have.

It will be interesting to see if they are willing to sell you those machines.

 

Brand, age, and condition are all a factor, just like any machining equipment, as well as the attachments, and if it comes with a table or not. It could range from several hundred to several thousand without knowing anything else.

My dad bought one that can do heavy trucks drums as well as consumer automotive stuff 2 years ago. That sucker is HEAVY. So factor in if you have enough help to move it if needed or if you have to pay to get it moved.

 

@41 GMC K-18 good points.
@05snopro440 I’d bet it wouldn’t do truck drums. I’ve seen those monsters. They are big.
But excellent advice. I know I could unload it here with my forklift, but I may have to rent a drop down trailer and use pipe as rollers. I did this when (younger) bought a SB mill. Never should have sold that mill!

 

It's the last thing in the world I would buy at any price even free. I worked in a brake and clutch parts store that had 6 Van Norman machines and shoe arcing machines. I would never touch that stuff again.
Just my opinion.

Pat

 

I’m not looking for a side gig. But I have 1/2 dozen drums that do need to be turned. Also have a 1/2 dozen for practice.
That place was the closest to me that did the work (20 minutes away).
I figured that use it, sell later when I’m done and I don’t need it anymore.
Heck, I’m sure there’s someone around me that would have the same thoughts as I do now

 

Around here I have seen them for around the $800 to $1200.

 

^^^^
What he said. All the "best dressed" home garages have one, usually clean n pretty.

 

I’m a “convenience” guy. I’ve bought stuff that won’t ever pay for it self, but I can do it when I want to do it.

And neither my shops or garage are places you’d want to walk into

 

Lost opportunity costs.
-How else could that money be spent to move other project(s) closer to completion?
-How else could that space in your garage be used?

Not trying to talk you out of it; just hoping you do it with a clear head.

 

when in person auctions were still "a thing", i'd see them go for scrap prices. even now when one does come up in an on-line auction they don't bring much. don't spend a lot for it.

 

Being a job-specific machine, it better be cheap and complete, but here's my theory: Can it do anything else within reason? It IS a lathe... my stubborn ass would be wondering if it could be used for more than drums....

 

Most of our car related purchases make no sense at all....you won't get very far with this argument

 

I thought about buying one for my shop. Then I started to think about the space it would take up and how often I would actually use it. So unless one is given to me, or falls into my hands for stupid little money I'll pass on buying one.

 

What's a brake lathe worth? For a brake shop, they're invaluable.

For the amount of space it would occupy, you might get more actual use out of something like a distributor machine. Assuming you don't already have one.

 

I payed a local shop $60 to turn a pair of drums for me. They were the only shop I could find that turned brakes anymore...
When I picked them up I asked " how much did you turn them?"
"Oh we don't know, he just turns the handles til they clean up, but they are at max limit."
Yeah, one is .015 bigger than the other, and still has .020 before it is at max size. Shop didn't even have a pair of calipers. WTF lazy bastards.
Now I am stuck with 2 different size drums, so the car will probably pull if I use them, but there is no other shop for me to use to correct them.
So, what is a brake lathe worth?
Well for me $30× the number of drums you think you might turn, and $250+ instead of the hassle, stress and replacement parts of some shop screwing you.

 

I haven't had to turn drums very often lately, fortunately there's a shop in town that I've known the owner for decades, he lets me use his lathe when I need to.

It would be nice to have a brake lathe, but reality is it would get very little use, now that I've got rid of most of my junk.

 

@Hillbilly Werewolf

It doesn't matter if they aren't the same size, you adjust the shoes up the fit the drum. It isn't going to pull if one drum is .015 different in diameter than the other. If it does pull it's from something else.

It's all in the adjustment..

 

I’ve never had a car with four equally turned drums, and they don’t pull because they are a couple thou different diameter.

 

You've never turned drums, have you? Yes, they should be able to measure the drum diameter, but you don't machine both drums to the same size. You machine till they clean up. If that dimension is out of tolerance, you get new ones. Your car will not pull with a 0.015 diameter difference in drums. You could put a new drum on the left and keep an old machined one on the right and it should still not pull.

 

You are correct, I haven't done drums and am glad to hear that it won't make a difference.
I work in manufacturing where guys are expected to hold .0005" on many jobs, and even our old hippy saw guy uses calipers and is expected to keep stuff within .020"
Sometimes that carries over to my car hobby as unreasonable expectations.

 

Come to here in Minnesota and I will give you a brake lathe AND an a Aamco shoe arching machine……FREE

 

You could hook the spit on your barbecue grill to it

 

Get a tool steel bit and you can use them for splitting and widening rims.

 

Yep. Lots of times I turned one to the max and the other side was replaced with a new drum. No pulling at all due to size.

 

I have a semi active shop, I could probably use one, and in fact pay for it in mere months by cleaning up old drums to sell and doing a service for the folks I run with. But, no I don't have one.

Size concerns, and I brought this up before. Packard ran a .250 narrower drum/shoe on the left front of their cars from roughly 1930 through 1936. They had a spring pad on the left front spring eye at the rear that they called a Trunion block. It took up bumps in the road by allowing the axle to swing back a bit which in turn limited or eliminated input into the steering wheel. Less swept area on the left front shoe/drum gave confident and predictable stopping. Other than a very minor snick to the left on a full lock up 40MPH panic stop I can tell you it works really well. That knowledge and $1.86 will get you a large coffee at Speedway, but maybe with a few hundred addl you could get a brake lathe too...

 

I just picked one up for free, With all the extras.

 

I was given one a few years ago and had an extra Lathe chuck. Opened the chuck to a tight fit on the brake drum shaft and cut a Ford 9" axle shaft to mount in the Lathe chuck. Using various wheel adapters, I've now got a slow speed
Wheet spinning device so I can polish aluminum wheels. I could also cut and widen steel wheels.
Sold most of the wheel brake drum parts.
Movin/on

 

The sad part is,,,it all goes back to the operator .
The drum,,,,or disc,,,,must be centered correctly and perfectly straight .
This involves cleaning the mounting surface sometimes,,,,to get the part to nest flat .
Most shop owners don’t train their employees,,,,new hire kids mostly,,,,to set up correctly.
Then you receive a poorly machined part,,,,,,maybe even cut at an angle .

Basically,,,,,scrap after that .

Decent money can be made,,,,,but it requires user input to have quality results .
Most don’t even check the parts,,,,,,they just automatically make an initial cut and then another clean up cut .
If you brought in an excellent drum,,,,,that needed only .020 removed,,,,but they cut 5 times that,,,,,that is poor workmanship.

Most customers won’t be back .

I’ve had drums,,,and rotors,,,,,that were good to start with,,,but were unusable after .
I don’t have any turned any more unless they really need it,,,,,a groove, or warped .
I’ll go over them with a sanding disc to clean them up .

It all goes back to the setup,,,,and operators .
The owner doesn’t care,,,,,just get the money,,,,if the parts are bad,,,,,”they were bad already “ ,,,,lol .

Tommy

 

I'd expect to pay a couple hundred dollars for an older version that does both drums and rotors. The somewhat newer designs (still old) usually cost more. Have the guy demonstrate it so you know it actually works properly and has all the stuff you need. I had one and sold it along with an extra one for parts. Sometimes I wish I had it again.