Found an OLD lathe today....UPDATED WITH PICS

Looking at a car for a fellow HAMBer today & found an old lathe in the process. I'm interested in it & plan to go back & look closer on Monday.

I don't know what kind it is but it is a metal-turning lathe. It is a big industrial looking unit. It is currently buried under a bunch of junk in the guy's basement. The bed is 4 or 5 feet long. Originally it was turned by a shaft running above to power many machines at once. It has a leather belt to turn it. A motor was adapted to it to turn it once it was removed from it's original location. It's probably 7' tall on the big end. The owner said it has been in the family since '45.

Supposedly works but it has been years since it was used. Supposedly has a box of "extra" stuff with it.

What do I need to be looking for (or out for)? I'd like to have it but don't need a 1500lb paperweight taking up space.

TIA, JH

 

What size is it, The throw? That tall is it a gap bed lathe? Sounds interesting. Tooling is pricey, that box of "stuff" might be a goldmine

 

Dunno about the throw. It was so big that I wasn't too excited when I was there. I've been wanting a break & shear so it took me an hour or so to switch gears & start thinking about a lathe. Obviously I know nothing about them.

I am pretty sure that it was a gap bed. Had two long "runners" for the tail stock to slide on if I remember correctly.

 

Check out www.lathes.co.uk. Think you will find a lot of ans to your questions there. Section on what to look for when buying as well as info on individual brand names.

Ed

 

Likely the chuck won't hold anything true. Take a deep socket to chuck into the lathe jaws, then either use a dial indicator or if like most real old ones, you can see it wobble rather than run true.


I ended up using a 4 jaw on my obsolete 100 yr old lathe. A 4 jaw is a pain to set up on each job, but the 3 jaw was impossible to work with because it was so worn out.

 

The purchase of a used lathe is usually not what sets you back a bunch of $: it's the tooling that winds up costing you. The extras are probably great. Find out the swing and bed length. Does it have a 3 jaw chuck, a 4 jaw chuck, and/or a faceplate? All three would be nice. That vintage of lathe would most likely have American style toolposts and HSS tooling. Changing over to an Aloris style quick change toolpost would be a good idea for the future. Any machinist tools would be great to get in the deal (dial indicators, mag bases, micrometers, calipers, test indicators, etc.). What brand is the lathe? South Bends and LeBlonds are really good but all machine tools back then were of good quality. Btw, check the ways on the lathe.

There is a social club here on the HAMB for machinists called the Chip Makers Club. Check it out. We can help with any questions you have.

Once you get a mill and a lathe (and some training. Lol.), you'll wonder how you got along without one.

 

If I had a choice between a 3 jaw or 4 jaw, I would take the 4 jaw anyday. A 3 jaw is nice and fast, but they aren't as accurate. The first half a dozen times you set up with 4 jaw you'll be frustrated as hell. Once you get the hang of it tho, you can indicate out a simple cylinderical part in less than a minute.

I used to teach machining courses at a local college and I taught them to set up using 4 jaw chucks. It made for more accurate parts and it made them understand machining and reading indicators better. If I can get a bunch of 18-21 year olds (some with no previous mechanical type skills whatsoever) to do it, most HAMBers can surely learn it. After doing that for a few years, I could put a piece of stock in and zero out the chuck in less than 30 seconds 90% of the time. Lol.

 

I wonder if it's an old Clausing??? Those have been around for years.... The company is still in business today building lathes including the CNC type...

 

Ditto what Fuel says about the ways. If the ways are bad, you'll be in for a big bill for repairing them or a lot of parts not as accurate as you wanted.

 

It's all in what you plan on doing with it. If you know nothing about lathes and never operated a lathe it makes purchasing one hard. I would be more concerned about the tooling then how much wear is in the machine. My next concern is do the feeds work. The condition of the chuck is minor. You can replace the chuck easier if you have the backplate on the chucks. If it's been in there family since 1945 it might be hard to get it for what it's worth. I'm sure it's an old babit bearing flat belt machine. If it's 7 feet tall it has to be very large. The bigger the lathe the cheaper they get. Most home shops really don't have the room for big machines. If it's 7 feet tall and 4-5 feet long it sounds like a turret lathe that reduces the value even further. I'd take some pictures of the machine and the tooling if you really want to get a good idea what it's worth. I paid under $200.00 for the last babit lathe I bought, and it had some tooling that went with it.

 

Ain't it fun when you see something interesting like that and you know you want it but have no immediate use for it?
Your brain then tries to come up with all kinds of 'reasons' you definitly should own this thing eventhough your better judgement says you could do without

 

Hot Rodder rule #1. If you see a piece of machine shop equipment for sale cheap or free ALWAYS bring it home. This rule has NO exceptions. I was given a turret lathe last year and spent about a week making it into a useable shop lathe. It was easier than I thought. I was using this week and thinking. Man this thing works great. total cost was 97 $ for a new 4 jaw chuck. Is it perfect ? Nope. Would John P Space machinist like it ? Nope.
Can I make stuff on it I could not otherwise have or afford to have done (in the unlikely chance that i could get someone to try) ? Yes for sure and I have several times. Nothing more needs to be said. It is a +

Don

 

Here are a couple of machine tool links i go to for help and ideas on how to use my lathe and Bridgeport...

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/index.php

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/index.php

 

Just make sure it's not METRIC

dj

 

A couple of years ago I was given a late 40's Clausing lathe with a 4 jaw chuck. One of my favorite treasures.

 

I have a 80 year old Logan Lathe, I can't imagine how much money I've saved and how much cool stuff I've made with it in the last 20 years. Had to replace a lead screw and buy it a new belt but it's worth it. Do check the runout on the spindle, they get a little off as they get older!

 

Heck, I bet if you stroke one crank and have to cam cut it's counterweights, you will have paid for it!

Lucky guy, I wished I could have grabbed onto all the stuff I wanted through the years.

I did have the start of a Blacksmith Shop back in HS when I was a pup in the mid '60's.

Had a homemade forge with a crank Buffalo blower, cheap anvil, a post drill, small leg vice and a bunch of other stuff. Mom moved off the farm and i went to work on the old N&SRR traveling tie gang and all of it got away from me for $25 when Mom had our Sale!!

To this day I wished I had a place for another leg vice because even tho it was a little one, I could hit stuff it held with a 10 pound sledge fine!!!

GRAB THAT LATHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He, He!!

pdq67

 

Buddy got a good deal on an old Southbend so he picked it up. 3 jaw chuck ran true but the jaw surfaces were farkled so we jigged up my die grinder off the tool post and trued them up close enough for anything we will want to do, have no illusions of getting into NASA spec work. The ability to turn out odd parts as you need them without trips to the machinist - and waiting for him to work the job into his schedule - is priceless, really helps keep a project moving along.

Even a big old worn out gap bed lathe could be useful for anyone thinking of doing some metal spining.....

Ed

 

I would also reccomend visiting Lindsay's books on the web...he reprints the southbend "how to run a lathe" along with books on referbishing babett bearings, & how to tune such lathes back into useable trim.If you are just learning to run a lathe you will have to be extra careful with the earlier machines because there was almost NO regaurd to safety items, and a lathe that size would probably not slow down much if you got something stuck....like a shirt sleeve...enough said on that..Otherwise ,if the the lathe even appears in decint shape & everthing turns as it should & the price is reasonable go for it...I doubt you will be making anything to aerospace tolerances in your home shop, and once you get the "feel" of the tolerances in the machine , you will be amazed how good you can get at making parts...spacers, pins , polishing parts,ect..I wold also highly reccomend learing how to use faceplates & turn stock between centers because no chuck is needed. Also the rocker style tool post should not be avaoided, as the tooling is CHEAP ...depending on the size , it will use a 1/4-1/2" piece of high speed steel that you can sharpen on your bench grinder , and they only cost a buck or two apice...Again, buy a book , the southbend one in particular , and you should be on your way..Hope this helps...Shawn

 

I bought the below lathe from a friend some time ago.
It does have wear on the bed and the wear on the 3-jaw chuck is as close to NASA specs as the moon is to earth, but I won't likely ever need any high precision at all anyway. At least I can call it mine.

And after some elbow grease I made it something nice to look at aswell.

 

must be the time for new lathes, i just bought a south bend 9 x 36 yesterday. got tons of tooling with it for $130. i have owned a jet for years. it's true you will be able to make stuff you flat out couldn't buy or coudn't afford to buy. i actually use my mill more, but still need the lathe once and a while. maybe it's just me, but i'm not to fast at setup or opperation. many a night i went out to do something and ended up still going at 5am.

 

I have a couple of old lathes, about a 1920's Dalton 7" and an early 1920's ATW 16" lathe. The ATW I picked up over 5 years ago and while getting it together, I picked up the Dalton. I use the Dalton all of the time for small bushings and other stuff, the ATW should be running again in a month.

 

I have a 1904 Rivette toolroom lathe I bought 30 years ago, use it all the time. I have had several others I bought at auction, South Bend, Seneca Falls, Thor, and others, I stripped any tooling I could use, and resold them.

 

I found an old Monarch on craigslist, bought it,
brought it home thinking it would be a great tool to have,
almost as big as the one you describe

I used it maybe twice in a year, it was taking up a lot of room
so I sold it,
I'd still like to have a lathe someday, but it'd have to be a bit smaller

posted a thread when I bought it: Monarch

 

The job of a three jaw chuck is to hold things. Period. Accuracy is nice, but not a requirement. Learn how to machine stuff without depending on the 3 jaw chuck accuracy. If you really need accuracy, get out the 4 jaw. These are basic facts of lathe work.

Bill

 

Herman,
That turned out beautiful! Good Job.
BTW I need the trans under your bench.
Don
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458630&highlight=lathe+conversion

My last lathe adventure (all good too. )