I been looking at machines for the last few year, and each one was either way over priced, to heavy or was worn out. Seems all the machines that come up for sale are 4 to 5 hour drive either to the east of me or the west...
Bought a metal lathe finally....
- Thread starter Shooting in the wind...
- Start date
I been looking at machines for the last few year, and each one was either way over priced, to heavy or was worn out. Seems all the machines that come up for sale are 4 to 5 hour drive either to the east of me or the west...
shortgrass
Silver $$ Contributor
What's the dia inside of the spindle bore?
I believe is 2 1/4 maybe, it had a collet system in it so it is a decent size. I just made sure it was over 1.5 inches.
Ok so i was wrong lol
You can take a close look at the threads on the lead screw near the headstock and compare them to those near the tailstock to determine how worn they are. Lathes get used more near the headstock than the tailstock. Rockwell made a decent lathe and I know of a very good Benchrest competitor that has one and has done all his barrels on.
spitfire_er
Silver $$ Contributor
Those Rockwell 11" lathes are decent smaller machines and can work well for barrel work. I've looked a few over and even had a parts machine that was toasted, literally. These are not in the same league as the 10" rockwell which in MHO are not that great of machines, change gear system on those are complete garbage. These are a much heavier built (over the 10"). The ways look to be in OK shape, can't recall if they are hardened or not, but I don't believe so. The lead screw look decent and you most likely have worn half nuts, which if he was doing barrels is most likely the case. They can sometimes be found used or even new on ebay. There are also a few guys out there that will rebuild them for you.
One neat feature on these lathes is the locking dials, if they don't work properly take them apart and clean them up, they work really well and are easy to use. Has an L-00 spindle which is nice. It has a 1-3/8" bore. Should take 5C collets. Might need an adapter if it didn't come with one which can be spendy. Looks like it had a follower at one time, and if they guy was a gunsmith, most likely had a steady at one time too. Those are harder to find for these machines, so making one might be your best bet.
VFD wiring is not very hard. can't recall what you said HP was, but you can get VFD's that run up to 1HP 3 phase off 110V or if you need to go to 2HP, you'll need to run off 220V. It takes longer to mount the VFD than to wire it. 3 lines in 3 out for the basic wiring. You can then add several more smaller 12V wires for remote controls if desired. Yours appears to be a variable drive model, so you would just need to turn the motor on/off with the VFD, nothing more. Use the VFD for the motor, and run the original variable drive for the speed control.
It's been repainted at least once for sure. As long as everything else is fairly tight and not loose to beat heck, it should be a useable machine especially for your first lathe. Clean it up, use it, fix the couple small issues and learn on it. Once you decide you want something "nicer" you'll have a better understanding of what you like, dislike, and what you want in your next machine. I believe this machine was more expensive than the other more common lathes such as South Bend and Logan, so they didn't get purchased as much and therefor you don't see as many become available for sale.
Depending on price, you may have gotten a good deal. I've seen similar ones like this go in the 1,500+ range. As long as you didn't pay a ton for it, you should be able to at least get your money back out of it. This size machine is very popular for home shop guys.
One neat feature on these lathes is the locking dials, if they don't work properly take them apart and clean them up, they work really well and are easy to use. Has an L-00 spindle which is nice. It has a 1-3/8" bore. Should take 5C collets. Might need an adapter if it didn't come with one which can be spendy. Looks like it had a follower at one time, and if they guy was a gunsmith, most likely had a steady at one time too. Those are harder to find for these machines, so making one might be your best bet.
VFD wiring is not very hard. can't recall what you said HP was, but you can get VFD's that run up to 1HP 3 phase off 110V or if you need to go to 2HP, you'll need to run off 220V. It takes longer to mount the VFD than to wire it. 3 lines in 3 out for the basic wiring. You can then add several more smaller 12V wires for remote controls if desired. Yours appears to be a variable drive model, so you would just need to turn the motor on/off with the VFD, nothing more. Use the VFD for the motor, and run the original variable drive for the speed control.
It's been repainted at least once for sure. As long as everything else is fairly tight and not loose to beat heck, it should be a useable machine especially for your first lathe. Clean it up, use it, fix the couple small issues and learn on it. Once you decide you want something "nicer" you'll have a better understanding of what you like, dislike, and what you want in your next machine. I believe this machine was more expensive than the other more common lathes such as South Bend and Logan, so they didn't get purchased as much and therefor you don't see as many become available for sale.
Depending on price, you may have gotten a good deal. I've seen similar ones like this go in the 1,500+ range. As long as you didn't pay a ton for it, you should be able to at least get your money back out of it. This size machine is very popular for home shop guys.
Doesn't look too bad to me.
It's always a huge risk if you can't run it under power, and preferably make a few chips.
I'm guessing it has a soft bed, but I don't see an obvious wear ridge at the top of the way near the headstock.
I might be a buyer at something less than a grand, if it checked out.
It's always a huge risk if you can't run it under power, and preferably make a few chips.
I'm guessing it has a soft bed, but I don't see an obvious wear ridge at the top of the way near the headstock.
I might be a buyer at something less than a grand, if it checked out.
jmm03
Gold $$ Contributor
If you decide to get it and want to address the leadscrew, this place may be of some use: https://www.roton.com/ vintagemachinery.org may have a manual for that model also. A VFD for a lathe application is a very useful addition. As was recommended above, the TECO brand is fairly robust and simple to program.(for what you need there is very little programming anyway) I would stay away from the cheaper versions on fleabay however and buy something from Factorymation.com or one of the other larger distributors. The Rockwell's are a good machine, just harder to find parts for. Hope this helps. Jim
There is a metal supply place I go to that has a barrel of Acme threaded rods of all sizes can you get me a diameter, TPI and length and I will check them for you.
WSnyder
Silver $$ Contributor
Outboard spider. This picture isn't mine but I made the same thing for my lathe. It replaces the spindle nut that you are missing. I used smaller setscrews. I made the hinge pin removable so you can pull the pin and slide the cover off after removing the setscrews on the spider.
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The manual says it 3/4x8 TPI.
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
Is that a metric change gear?
spitfire_er
Silver $$ Contributor
That is in fact the back gear which you may need, but based on your earlier photos, you need a new bull gear, or the teeth brazed up and re-cut.
He has a replacement back gear in like new condition
spitfire_er
Silver $$ Contributor
Back gear mounted under the spindle and the bull gear which is mounted on the spindle are two different gears.
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