Possible New Lathe?

[ibuildstuff4u]

I went to my parents house today and my dad told me his elderly neighbor was selling all if his tools because he was going to a retirement home.  I went over and checked out his shop and found a ton of old wood working tools that I wasn't interested in, but then spotted a metal lathe in the corner.  It was dark in the shop and the lathe was covered in pieces of wood so it was hard to make all of it out, but it looked to be in really nice shape and didn't have any rust on it.  To me it looked like an older South Bend, but it's hard to tell because it was covered with a lot of stuff.  I couldn't really tell if it had a quick change gear box, but it did have a taper attachment.  So far it looks like I may be able to pick it up for one to two hundred dollars and my question to you guys is if this lathe would be better than the 9X20 harbor freight that I have currently.  It does have the old style open belts and I'm wondering if this has the older babbitt bearings?  If so is that a bad thing and are they hard to replace?  I know nothing of these older lathes, but I do know that I'm sick of constantly having to re adjust my 9X20 harbor freight lathe as it's always out of alignment.

This is NOT the actual picture of the lathe for sale, but one that I found on the web that looks a lot like the one for sale.
The lathe had "V" ways and a flat belt.  The tail stock was rather wimpy looking compared to the ones in the photos.
Hopefully I can get back there this week and take a closer look at it.


Thanks for the help!
Dale P.

[chipenter]

The bearings lasted well if oiled every time the lathe was used , check out Tony's site http://www.lathes.co.uk/southbendmodelfive9inch/ all the information you will need .

[andyf]

Hi Dale,

You may find these pages of interest:

 http://www.lathes.co.uk/southbendmodelfive9inch/

 http://www.lathes.co.uk/southbend9-inch/index.html .Note the reference half-way down, under the circular drawing of a ball thrust bearing, to the spindle running direct in the cast iron of the headstock. I suppose this will limit the spindle speed to rather less than your 9x20.

That said, it was a good design, as attested by the fact that it was widely cloned all over the world. The versions illustrated in the above pages all have South Bend clearly cast into the
RH front of the bed; so you should be able to tell if the one you are looking at is real, despite the flimsy-looking tailstock.

In your place, assuming there is nothing obviously wrong, at that price I'd buy it and try it, particularly as it's nearby. But I'm good at spending other people's money.

Andy

[Kjelle]

Dale, I'd grab it in a New York minute! Parts are plentiful, knowledge even more so! Check over at Practical Machinist's Sout Bend forum, there are kits with felts and a book on restoration available on Ebay (from one of the contributors on PM)...
Just make sure you get all the loose change gears, if it's one w/o QCGB... But don't let the lack of those be a dealbreaker!

That is one of the most cloned machines in the world, even here in Sweden they did it (Blomqvist and a few more, like 3 or 4 other)...

Get it, and show us some pics!

Kjelle

[vtsteam]

Definitely worth more than the price, but should also be worth it to you for your use. So check for accessories, too -- 3 and 4 jaw chucks, faceplate, driving dog, centers, fixed steady, toolpost, change gears. These can all add up to replace.

Check for excessive wear at headstock end of leadscrew. Wimpy tailstock might be a concern -- check to see if it is a replacement from another lathe, or original.

Tighten gibs near the headstock (where wear is greatest) for a close fit and run the carriages by hand cranking along the ways to check for binding to get an idea of how much wear there is. Check engagement of half nut and relative backlash. Look at chuck jaws for excessive wear or damage.

Good luck. If it checked out reasonably well, I'd buy it if it were near me, since the price is very low, and then figure out which lathe I wanted to keep afterwards. Luckily I don't live nearby, and don't have to make that decision!

[ibuildstuff4u]

I called my dad today and asked him to get a definite price from his neighbor.  It sounds like I will know by Friday and can take a second look at the lathe.  I really want to dig it out a bit and see what model it is and what all comes with it.  I did see some tool holders, but they are all old school for HSS and I plan to drop a QCTP on it and use carbide bits.  It had a three jaw chuck on it and it looked in nice shape, but I couldn't see a makers mark due to the poor lighting and dirt on it, but it me it looked like a skinner chuck.  I didn't see a four jaw chuck laying around, but he may have it as there was a lot of stuff in the shop.  I could also use the four jaw chuck that I bought for my 9X20 by buying a new back plate.  I'm pretty sure it didn't have a quick change gear box, but I would be OK with that since I have a Prolight 3000 CNC lathe that I can use to do threading. I would just set up the gears for a nice smooth feed rate and keep them that way.

Thanks for all the advice, the links are really nice too!  I can't wait to see the machine again and see exactly what make and model it is!

Dale P.

[chipenter]

The head stock bearings are cast iron adjusted by removing shims ,