Used lathe

[Caleb85]

Does anyone know a " hotspot" to look for a used lathe?

 

[bdale]

Might try ebay ???

 

[willsnipe]

I attend the occasional "going out of business" auction. If it's a machine shop, there will be 100 guys there looking for equipment. A pattern shop, or the like where they might have a one or two, you can get some great deals. Also, they usually haven't been used as hard.

 

[Topstrap]

Found my South bend Heavy Ten on Craigslist. Was heading towards Chicago to pick up a 409 and checked all the areas in between here and there for lathes. Looked at a few on the way and on the way back bought the best machine/deal.

I've never had any luck at auctions.

Topstrap

 

[tclaunch]

Mine came from E-bay, usually several to choose from. I bought a SB H10 48" bed. The owner would not ship "widower" so me and my short bed Z-71 took off with portable engine hoist. I have looked at H10`s and never seen another like I found. It has 6 drawers under the chip pan.

 

[clowdis]

craigslist may be the best place to look if you don't want to ship. Otherwise there are machinery dealers around most cities that usually have something in stock.

 

[Eddie Harren]

Found this site and several pages of other sites on my personal "Google Machine" under "Used Metal Lathes"



http://lostcreekmachine.com/metal_lathes.htm

 

[JRS]

Depending upon where you live, Greer Machinery in CA. gets their hands on some very nice Mori Seiki lathes

 

[Topstrap]

Mine came from E-bay, usually several to choose from. I bought a SB H10 48" bed. The owner would not ship "widower" so me and my short bed Z-71 took off with portable engine hoist. I have looked at H10`s and never seen another like I found. It has 6 drawers under the chip pan.

Like this one? I hadn't seen another like it when I picked this one up. I also took an engine hoist with me to load the lathe and the engine.

Topstrap

 

[ericbc7]

What features should an amature gunsmith look for in a used lath? Want to do chamber, and muzzle brake work. How many $ are we talking about?

 

[Caleb85]

What features should an amature gunsmith look for in a used lath? Want to do chamber, and muzzle brake work. How many $ are we talking about?

That's a good question too!
I thought I was going to buy a new grizzly but I don't think I want to spend that much right now. I would think I need at least 48", and be able to take 1.50" stock. The new grizzly I was looking at was $4500 but you know, I see a few heavy 10's that are not to far from that price!

 

[Tim Singleton]

If you have a little time to watch. eBay and craigslist one will come around at a decent price. $1500 to $2000 heavy 10 can still be had. I got mine from eBay this past September from eBay shipped from NY to NC freight terminal all in at $1850. An eBay best offer listing. I watched hard for 6-8 months past up on all the 3-4 grand ones.
Southbend lathe commonly called a (heavy 10) is the 10L model. Be careful the model 10K and the 10R has the smaller bore through the head stock.
The 10L has the larger hole through the head stock and it is 1.350".
A 3 phase motor can be replaced with a single phase motor for a couple hundred

 

[tclaunch]

Mine came from E-bay, usually several to choose from. I bought a SB H10 48" bed. The owner would not ship "widower" so me and my short bed Z-71 took off with portable engine hoist. I have looked at H10`s and never seen another like I found. It has 6 drawers under the chip pan.

Like this one? I hadn't seen another like it when I picked this one up. I also took an engine hoist with me to load the lathe and the engine.

Topstrap

Don`t know weather to crap or go blind, so I`ll close 1 eye and poot.

 

[Lapua40X]

I've sold a couple on craigslist so I imagine others are doing the same.

 

[boltman223]

What features should an amature gunsmith look for in a used lath? Want to do chamber, and muzzle brake work. How many $ are we talking about?

I started with a south bend 10L and now I would say get a as heavy of Lathe as you can. Not saying the 10l won't work, I just found that it lacked the rigidity i came to love of a heavy duty lathe. something like a 15" clausing Colchester or a leblond regal wound be as small as I would go for what you're looking for.

Sooner or later you're going to need/want to turn something of decent size and need to remove a good amount of material and you will be glad you had a bigger Lathe than a 10L.

Another thing about a 10L is the short quill travel. about two inches of usable travel. You will constantly have to loosen and move the tailstock while reaming. Four inches of travel is the minimum I would want.

 

[clowdis]

Mine came from E-bay, usually several to choose from. I bought a SB H10 48" bed. The owner would not ship "widower" so me and my short bed Z-71 took off with portable engine hoist. I have looked at H10`s and never seen another like I found. It has 6 drawers under the chip pan.

Like this one? I hadn't seen another like it when I picked this one up. I also took an engine hoist with me to load the lathe and the engine.

Topstrap

409?

 

[arnie]

Unless some one has mentioned it ,look for the largest spindle bore you can get .

 

[JamesnTN]

My opinion is a 1.5 thru spindle dia. Check for backlash on cross feed and travel. Also find out what tooling comes with it things such as a 4 jaw chuck steady rest quick change tool post a taper attachment and so forth.

 

[Wirelessguy2005]

I found a great deal on my lathe on craigslist. I looked every day for almost 3 months before I found it. Be patient and try to find one with as much tooling as possible because the lathe is the cheap part, the expense of buying the tooling will exceed the cost of the lathe in most if not all cases.

 

[mr45man]

Clowdis:
Its either a 409 or 348
John H.