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Worth fixing up an old lathe?

Hadestouch

Hadestouch

Member
What are your thoughts For the guys new to machining, is it worth fixing up really old lathes or are we better off buying into new entry level Asian market?
 
Maybe I should have led with that, I know next to nothing about this machine. I’ll post a pic
E1F9313B-F7DF-4EAB-9380-09239BE9B959.jpeg
 
There are others here with more wisdom than me, but it would depend on the price, the level of wear on the ways, broken/missing pieces, any tooling that comes with.

If the price is right I would sure take a chance on that one. Had a shaper that I just had to clean up and was good to go. Might be the same here. Looks like a solid machine!
 
I think it all depends upon how much time v.s. money you are willing to invest. Lots of people out there liking and using their Southbends. I ended up with way more machine buying a used SM than I could have gotten a new offshore for.

Mine's not quite as old as what you're looking at. What size is that thing?
 
I’m
YYCHM said:
I think it all depends upon how much time v.s. money you are willing to invest. Lots of people out there liking and using their Southbends. I ended up with way more machine buying a used SM than I could have gotten a new offshore for.

Mine's not quite as old as what you're looking at. What size is that thing?
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I don’t really know much about it. Including what size it is. In truth I don’t know much about lathes in general
 
I’m an old lathe junkie, I like working on them.

I found it helpful to have some newer equipment to facilitate the repairs though


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Tomc938 said:
There are others here with more wisdom than me, but it would depend on the price, the level of wear on the ways, broken/missing pieces, any tooling that comes with.

If the price is right I would sure take a chance on that one. Had a shaper that I just had to clean up and was good to go. Might be the same here. Looks like a solid machine!
Click to expand...

price is not an issue it’s in storage behind my shop.. My dad came across it years ago and never did anything with it. I’m told it has gear with some broken teeth and the chuck needs to be repaired or replaced
 
Do you like fixing or do you want to start working with a lathe right away....I think starting with a working lathe is the best way to get interested in the hobby, then fixing up old junkers can be a reason to have a working lathe.
 
I
DPittman said:
Do you like fixing or do you want to start working with a lathe right away....I think starting with a working lathe is the best way to get interested in the hobby, then fixing up old junkers can be a reason to have a working lathe.
Click to expand...
I suppose that depends on how much of a can of worms fixing it would be.
 
The easiest step and one that will help you to decide if the next steps are worth it, is to disassemble the 4 jaw chuck, clean it up and lube etc. and make it work again. If you find that satisfying, then rebuild the tailstock and go from there....

I'm in the 'I love to rebuild machines' camp, and so for me it would be "yes"
 
Yes from me! If it is in the back shed in need of some lovin' then open your heart and begin the process. There are lots of folks on the forum here that can "virtually" lend you a hand and parts and pieces sometimes are mailed across the continent :) Have fun!
 
I would definitely pull it out and have a better look at what your up against, lots of mystery right now, go through it spin things see whats working or not look for obvious defects (as you say gears) take some pics of anything that doesn't look right to you. The other thing is to figure out the power requirements for the unit that can affect your decision as well. I would be all over it looks like a fun project being and optimist I bet its gonna clean up good, and the thing to remember is that with the prices the way they are today, even if there is too much wrong with it it still may have value on the market as a fixxer upper and then you could take that money towards something that will do better for you.
Its a fun hobby for sure I am about 6 months in and I love it and the guys on here are very helpful if your unsure of things.
 
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