I just picked up this 1944 South Bend 10" lathe from a friend who bought out an estate of equipment, most of which had been in storage since the late 40's! we hade a three phase lathe sitting in the same spot, but no power to hook it to, and it will replace the Atlas I have been using. The atlas was a little too small to do many of the jobs I have needed. The South Bend is Practically NEW! and as a note, I have been learning a ton through www.toolingu.com
You ****. A brand new SB 10. I'm happy with my wore out 60 year old 10L, That's really stepping back in time to have one in that condition. Did i mention you ****?
those ways look like new. old lathes a great lathes, and about a million times better than new offshore..i love my 1941 Logan
I had a twin to that South Bend in the shop when I was teaching highschool auto mechanics. It had been used pretty hard and still did what we asked of it.
Great score ....... I have a SB 14.5-16 fast gear change lathe myself. I'd like to down size as it's a bit to big for what I do. It was mnfctrd. in 1944 too. Paco
<TABLE cl***=tborder id=post3951997 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD cl***=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 0px solid" width=175>Babyearl<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_3951997", true); </SCRIPT> Newbie Join Date: May 2008 Location: Brownwood Texas Posts: 76 </TD><TD cl***=alt1 id=td_post_3951997 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid"><!-- icon and ***le --> Re: New (old) lathe up and running! <HR style="COLOR: #e5e5e5; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and ***le --><!-- message -->You won that one. The etch marks on the ways says it all. Nice score. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Those are s****er marks, not etch marks, I've S****ed in the ways of machines many years ago.
I used one very similar to that one in manual machine shop cl***, a great little lathe. Awesome for doing the smaller stuff. Sweet find! You are lucky! -W
I've got the little brother to yours. It came out of a Ford prototype shop and was hardly used when I got it. I've got a larger one but this little dude is just right for small bushings and polising. You scored on yours. Frank
I have one like the old Atlas. Had it for years, still works good. Sure would be nice to step up to a bigger one though. Nice find, have fun.
CONGRATS! When I see a real old lathe like that I always wonder "who was the craftsman" that s****ed the ways with that unique pattern.
makes my 1946 9" sb look like a piece of ****, nice score! but I do know a guy with a late 50s (?) SB 9" that's even newer looking than yours...the s****ing marks are still visible on the ways that the carriage moves on, at the chuck end...yours is worn smooth there. His dad bought it new and hardly ever used it.
Nice score on the south Bend! I love those machines.........wish I could find one that I could afford. 1935Ron, I use that Nardini's big brother at work Tim D.
Just be really careful! It should go without saying but I dropped mine off my engine crane the night I brought it home. I honestly almost cried. I left it there face down and went inside. I went back out after dinner and sorted it out. I was very lucky. A couple of broken castings and some bent handwheels. I was mainly lucky not to be under it. Take care. BTW that South Bend is very nice and a great size too. And they just have "the look" don't they? Pete
Seriously. A guy in my car club was killed by his lathe. While he was setting it up one Christmas eve, it, or part of it fell on him and killed him. His poor wife discovered him after thinking it had been too quiet for too long out there. BTW great score on the lathe.
Nice score on the South Bend. My 12" x 36" Atlas/Craftsman was much the same, virtually new with lots of tooling. Fwiw - I have a South Bend 10L tailstock, complete if someone needs one. A comment on the stand the little Craftsman is sitting on. Using the lathe bed as part of the stand isn't a good idea. Probably ok on this small one, but the larger ones used as part of the stand structure aren't properly supported and will get off square not too far down the road. That's a nice little Craftsman as well. I had one for a short while and p***ed it on to a friend.
When you do step up, keep the little one. I have a 6" x 18" and a 12" x 36" and the 6" is real handy if you have to make a small part or do some other job pertaining to the workpiece in the big lathe. Kinda nice to avoid having to tear down a job in the big lathe just to machine a small part....
Did you break the bed? You may be able to get a replacement bed for it. Or . . . turn it into a really short lathe. Other parts are readily available as well.
Nice piece, just the right size. I've got a Jet (green one)that size and it is just perfect. Not to steal the thread, but there were a couple comments about how the ways are s****ped, would somebody elaborate? Learn us something.
S****ing was pretty standard stuff for higher end machinery. There is info online..... http://www.bugattirevue.com/revue23/s****e.htm
The parts are machined as close as they could get them, Then a skilled guy with tools made from old files, using the resharpened ends and using it like a hand held wood chisel. Coats the parts (ways or bed) with bluing and proceeds to take off the high spots. Perfectly mating the parts together, then proceeds to get the "look". The dull spots help retain lube. Old machines were often re-s****ed to get them back to new precision, I never did it myself, but worked at a shop where an outside contractor came in and freshened up our worn machines. It took a really long time, lots of hours.
thats a nice one Irish, I wish mine was a little larger, but I could not p*** this one up. the nice theing is that I can p*** 1.5 inch through the spindle.