picked this bahemoth up in a deal for an ol beater shoebox i had. came with a 60's tire machine, 39 chev front pickup fenders with marker lights (hehe) and he still have me cash.....i ALMOST feel guilty. what you guys think this thing is worth. not that its goin anywhere but my shop.
That's a freakin cool piece of machinery, if you had only showed the riveted tag, I'd said the same thing!
I was at an Auction today that had a South Bend one that is about identical in size and style to yours....went for $1050 in working condition.....might give you an idea...
sweet, its just good to know what im gonna have sittin in my shop. hopefully ill get to put it to some good hot rod inspired work soon.
well, to be perfectly honest, it's worth it's weight in s****. beyond that, it's hard to say. at a very minimum, you're probably gonna want to change the motor, unless you have 3 phase in your shop, or build/buy a phase converter. it looks like some levers are missing from the carriage, and probably some other parts too, so it may not be any good for threading, or the power feed may not work. you'll have to see how worn the bed and cross slide is. they may be good, may be worn out. same for the spindle bearings. you're just gonna have to power it up, and tear into it to see just how good it is. without knowing it's condition, i'd say it's worth a few hundred. maybe more, but it could easily turn into a money pit, or worse if it's missing parts and needs lots of work. it certainly has more potential than that hokey engine block machine tool posted this week!
well i haven't fired it but the motor is already 220-440 and it has a converter on it already. all parts seem to be in place also, with the exeption of a gaurd on the feed gears. Cant see where there are any missing levers. Im sure it may be a little worn, hell its from 1898, doesn't seem to be that bad. thanks for everyones input.
Whether it has some wear or not,if you only use it at home for yourself....you can learn to easily overcome and make up for in differences in tolerances.
i bought one resembling that same brand and time period paid $125 with a bunch of tooling replaced motor presently making hubs for my altered. need a faced plate to mount a three jaw chuck
I wish i had the garage to put that in.. great score and if its any good at all you can do a lot.. I really need to sell my roadster and add on to the garage then buy a mill and a lathe. (already have a nice drill press) then work on another car later.. Those old lathes cant be beat.. real work horses.. Congrats.. Dave
that`s a great score ! I would rather have that then a new one from china . even if you have to spend some time and money on it , too tune it in ! I have A 1931 south bend . I can cut threads on , and make anthing I need too.
don't know if it showed up in the pics but this beauty has patent dates of 1898! can't wait to get her in the shop and take her for a spin!!
Here's a couple of old pictures I found of mine. I've done everything from driveshaft work to making pulleys to facing the back of a wheel to change backspacing. You'll be surprised how many uses you'll find and wonder how you got along without it.
it has both a 3 jaw and 4 jaw. lots of new tooling. and its DAMN heavy.i can all ready see the chuck key getting shot out to the nabors house. now he just needs to lear what it used for. damn little brother got a good score.... hey don't you owe me some money any way.
I'll have to remember that you have a pet Gorilla to help you move heavy stuff...Might need him AND brandy to get some of my new machinery moved in. Nice score!!
Nice peice of gear!. you need to start thinking very seriously about setting it up a on a perfectly flat floor as that bed can be ruined by leaving it on the pieces of wood. Do you know any carpenters who are familiar with a dumpy level or lazer ? . Get them to flatten the floor and set the bed up so it's perfectly flat and you will amaze everyone with your ability to make all sorts of things. The bed is a Vee section and the lathe is a Hendey,a very good name. It doesn't matter how old a lathe is,it depends on your ability to set up and work to a discipline that marks you as a competent turner. The secret is "practice and more practice" . Get some of those old books written back in the 1880's and 1920's by South bend etc on how to run a lathe and take note of everything they say. you won't regret it!
Great score. I like to know how you got it home? I bought one about that size a few years back. Had my friend bring it home strapped to the back of his tow truck. Took two engine hoist and a floor jack to get it in place.
i hadn't thought about gettting it level asap, thanx mercmad. we pulled it onto the trailer after unhooking the trailer from the truck and putting the tail of the trailer in the dirt. we have a manual 2 speed winch on the tounge of the trailer. Yeah i had to do all the winching. guess i deserved that thougth it is goin in my shop.
Spot market price as of Dec. 17, '07 is $171.84 gross ton across the scale for mixed steel and cast iron. Nice to see an old machine like that.
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