[cranky1]

Imo, that lathe will only frustrate you. If it were me, I'd clean it up, make it operational and sell it and then go look for a more modern machine. With the weak economy, there's lots of deals to be had but there might be someone that is out looking for a collectors piece and will buy yours. I have no idea if a collector's market even exists but a modern machine has so much more to offer and will be much easier to operate and consume less time doing it. But if you decide to keep it, read up on lathe safety so you will at least be aware of the dangers. Even a small lathe can do major bodily damage. No loose clothing, no long sleeves, gloves or long hair. Learning how to run a lathe is a long time experience and some old timers will say they have forgotten more than a newbie will ever learn lol

[4 Jaw Chuck]

Originally Posted by cranky1

Imo, that lathe will only frustrate you. If it were me, I'd clean it up, make it operational and sell it and then go look for a more modern machine.

Thats some good advice, I just noticed there is no bull gear and the motor mount and countershaft plate is missing. Include the no quick change and gear set you have a very limited piece of equipment in terms of usefulness.

It was free for a reason.

[fustkarr]

I can't see who wrote this but someone mentioned that you would be better off w/a modern lathe...we'll, yeh..And more monetarily challenged too!..No fooling, the modern lathe would be mo-betta, but which one....I suggest you get the small lathe going and maybe even practice w/it on the nights when your not in your Basic Machining class..Once you have a clue about what the lathe will do and what you wanna do w/it {comes w/time on the lathe} you will be better equiped to make a informed decision...In a machining class you'll be surrounded w/people who will challenge and inform you..You'll probably be rubbing shoulders w/people who work in machine shops and ,just by assoication,will open new doors for you.Knowledge {like a dumb question} is cheap...dumb mistakes {unlike dumb questions} are expensive.
Someone said machining is addictive...yes it is..it's alot like having a bottomless toybox out in the garage..
G-luck, Randy

[JoshF]

Originally Posted by 4 Jaw Chuck

Thats some good advice, I just noticed there is no bull gear and the motor mount and countershaft plate is missing. Include the no quick change and gear set you have a very limited piece of equipment in terms of usefulness.

It was free for a reason.

What is a Bull Gear and countershaft plate? Do you know if anyone makes parts for these?

It is starting to sound like I would be better off without this thing, which is disappointing, but I am sure another one will come along at some point.

Thank you for all of the helpful information.

- Josh

[oldred]

Considering you don't have anything in it you should not be at all disappointed. Sure it will be limited as to what you can do but it will be far from useless and you can learn the basics plus you do have a valuable antique, not worth a large sum but not at all worthless either. This thing can truly be a learning experience and as long as you don't invest a lot of money in parts/tooling that would be specific to that model what you do spend will transfer over to that newer lathe that I am confident you are going to be looking for soon!



Whatever you decide don't trash that old machine as there definitly are people out there that would love to have it, just as we here like to work with old cars there is a fairly large group that is dedicated to old shop machinery.

[powerrodsmike]

Good forum for machine tools, nice guys, lots of knowledge..

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

There is a forum for antique machines and a Southbend specific forum too.
You might be able to find the gears for your lathe there too, or at least get an idea what they look like...

When I bought my 14x48 Graziano the folks there were very helpful in filling in some of the blanks.

Learning lathework is fun, even if the machine is a million years old...
I had a 1922 Lodge & Shipley 14 x 60 and was going to restore it, but lost interest when I got my 59 Sheldon and spent my time making chips instead of fixing machinery...

A while back a guy offered me a fairly large Leblond, ( all he said was it was WAY bigger than my 14x48 ),all in pieces, ready to restore...All I had to do was go pick it up, but I really don't need another 6000 pound jigsaw puzzle...

Ebay is a good place to pick up tooling, with a bunch of surplus machinery and tooling out there it sells for almost pennies on the dollar.

Later, mikey

[4 Jaw Chuck]

Originally Posted by JoshF

What is a Bull Gear and countershaft plate? Do you know if anyone makes parts for these?

It is starting to sound like I would be better off without this thing, which is disappointing, but I am sure another one will come along at some point.

Thank you for all of the helpful information.

- Josh

A bull gear is a large gear that is located behind the chuck spindle bearing, you can see this gear in the photo I posted of another similar lathe. The bull gear when engaged allows you to turn low rpms for turning large work.

The countershaft plate and motor mount has the second set of gearing so you can just shift the belt from pulley to pulley to get different speeds, typically this is done by releasing the pressure on the belt by pulling a lever and then moving the belt on the countershaft to another pulley. Have a look at this forum page for pictures of other lathes, all lathes do the same thing so will see how other manufacturers build their machines.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...d.php?t=153748

I don't want to discurage you but what you have there is someones attempt to turn the lathe into a wood lathe, hence why the bull gear and countershaft plate is gone...seen it before. The amount of money spent trying to find parts (the shipping is what kills ya, its heavy!) and restoring the unit is not worth it.

However if all you intend to do is turn at one speed and one feed, then what you have will work...especially if you don't have the feed gearing stack. Having worked with the exact unit you have there I can tell you trying to accomplish work with such an old style lathe is an exercise in frustration, you will forever be working around its shortcomings.

I suggest you take a course at your local college and work with their modern machinery and get some experience, learning how not to lose fingers will be one of the more valuable lessons you will learn. They will have an old unit some where you can try out and you will see how much hassle it is to work with.

If you need to polish a shaft or just turn a diameter what you have will work just fine, many shops I worked in had an old lathe in the corner (just like what you have) for polishing since the abrasive is hard on the lathe ways of the good equipment.

Just be realistic about what to expect from what you have there, it needs a lot of work, it is missing most of the parts that make a lathe useful, the spindle won't have a large through hole so what you can chuck is limited, and you have no tooling to start with.

Take a course, once you do I think you will see what you have is largely a heavy chunk of iron.

[cranky1]

I'm with 4 Jaw....not because he's a moderator but because I'm a 30 year machinist and have been there done that. The lathe I have now is a 15" Leblond Regal and really like to have one a bit bigger one but that's what I have. It was 6000.00 back when machines were bringing decent money (early 90's) and the same machine today might only bring 3000. Once the economy takes off again, and it will, machines will go up again. The Regal isn't a heavy duty machine but it's a good precision unit and does well and has been reliable. It does all I ask of it and more. I just hope it doesn't break down because it won't be cheap to fix lol