Used lathe
- Thread starter Caleb85
- Start date
picked up mine off craigs list. far bigger than i need, but works. just wish i had the time to learn more. mine is a 14x54 leblond. came with 3 jaw, 4 jaw, steady rest and some basic tooling for $5k.
hogpatrol said:
Here is my 10L I purchased from a community college in May of 08. They closed their machine shop classes at that location and moved them to a new Vo-Tec school 50 miles away and they bought new lathes. That school then sold the 6 Acer 14x40's and 6 Clausing Metosa 14x40's w/DRO's in Sept of this year so don't know if they closed that location for good or went with CNC? Didn't go to that sale to see what those brought.
When I bought this 10L they had 3 10L's, a 10K and a 13", all SB. All had near perfect beds and just small issues like the broken belt tensioner on the one I bought and the hollow tube piece between dial and cross slide casting on another. These were broken moving them out of second story window for the auction sale. Also the one I got had a couple nicks in the cross slide from hitting the chuck at some time. Not a nick, ding, dent or gouge on any of the 5 beds. No chipped or broken gears, leade screws and half nuts had little wear and original paint etc. On mine I rattle canned the cabinet because the auction number that was stuck on took off paint and a few scratches. Actually all for their age was the cleanest lathes I had seen in 10yrs of looking for a decent used lathe. Cleaner than anything any where whether a machine shop, welding shop or production type business. The first 10L they sold had the honey combed bed but only 3 & 4 jaw, no steady or follow rest and only a drive plate and cam lock spindle bought by a gunsmith for $1400. Second I thought had the most backlash on cross slide and compound. No cam lock spindle but 10" face and drive plate along with follow, steady and both chucks. A welding shop bought it for $1750. Mine came up last and had drive and 10" face plate, 3 and 4 jaw w/cam lock spindle. New steady and 2 follow rest, 1 was new and I got it for $1800 plus $72 state sales tax. Sold the lightly used follow rest to a gent on PM for $140, so he got a cheap follow and I cheapened up my already cheap lathe, made us both happy. The 10K went to a Hutterite Colony in MT for $1100 and the 13" w/taper brought $3K.
Like I stated, all absolutely perfect beds and for "community college" surplus were all great buys!!!! They sold the sets of tool holders, a couple of new drawbar? type collet holders and collet sets separate? Took brothers pu and trailer and he don't travel well so didn't stay for any of that as I had an Aloris BXA anyway. My 10L was made in '85. IMO the best deal I ever made. If I would have had the money I would have bought them all for what they brought. This was 08 so don't know how they would do nowdays but around here guessing about that same price???
Topstrap
Silver $$ Contributor
That orange thing in my lathe picture is a 409. It's a low mileage original 1962 409 hp dual quad QB engine. The guy I got it from was running a single four barrel intake and manifold from a 400 hp engine but gave me the original dual quad intake with it. Didn't have the correct valve covers but did find a correct set of silver drippers on the 348/409 site.
It's for a 1962 Impala I'm restoring, it originally was a 300hp 327 but I'm accumulating correct parts to reassemble it as a 409 4sp car. The motor was built in April and my car in May so it's about as close as I'd ever find to match.
Topstrap
It's for a 1962 Impala I'm restoring, it originally was a 300hp 327 but I'm accumulating correct parts to reassemble it as a 409 4sp car. The motor was built in April and my car in May so it's about as close as I'd ever find to match.
Topstrap
savagedasher
Banned
Is it a QB block ? LarryTopstrap said:
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
Most all wear can be dealt with. Check the spindle bearings well. Those can be very pricey.
hogpatrol
Gold $$ Contributor
SDWhirlwind said:hogpatrol said:
Here is my 10L I purchased from a community college in May of 08. They closed their machine shop classes at that location and moved them to a new Vo-Tec school 50 miles away and they bought new lathes. That school then sold the 6 Acer 14x40's and 6 Clausing Metosa 14x40's w/DRO's in Sept of this year so don't know if they closed that location for good or went with CNC? Didn't go to that sale to see what those brought.
When I bought this 10L they had 3 10L's, a 10K and a 13", all SB. All had near perfect beds and just small issues like the broken belt tensioner on the one I bought and the hollow tube piece between dial and cross slide casting on another. These were broken moving them out of second story window for the auction sale. Also the one I got had a couple nicks in the cross slide from hitting the chuck at some time. Not a nick, ding, dent or gouge on any of the 5 beds. No chipped or broken gears, leade screws and half nuts had little wear and original paint etc. On mine I rattle canned the cabinet because the auction number that was stuck on took off paint and a few scratches. Actually all for their age was the cleanest lathes I had seen in 10yrs of looking for a decent used lathe. Cleaner than anything any where whether a machine shop, welding shop or production type business. The first 10L they sold had the honey combed bed but only 3 & 4 jaw, no steady or follow rest and only a drive plate and cam lock spindle bought by a gunsmith for $1400. Second I thought had the most backlash on cross slide and compound. No cam lock spindle but 10" face and drive plate along with follow, steady and both chucks. A welding shop bought it for $1750. Mine came up last and had drive and 10" face plate, 3 and 4 jaw w/cam lock spindle. New steady and 2 follow rest, 1 was new and I got it for $1800 plus $72 state sales tax. Sold the lightly used follow rest to a gent on PM for $140, so he got a cheap follow and I cheapened up my already cheap lathe, made us both happy. The 10K went to a Hutterite Colony in MT for $1100 and the 13" w/taper brought $3K.
Like I stated, all absolutely perfect beds and for "community college" surplus were all great buys!!!! They sold the sets of tool holders, a couple of new drawbar? type collet holders and collet sets separate? Took brothers pu and trailer and he don't travel well so didn't stay for any of that as I had an Aloris BXA anyway. My 10L was made in '85. IMO the best deal I ever made. If I would have had the money I ;Dthat same price???
The best ones are those that come out of a SKILLED hobbyists controlled environment home shop. Not seeing yours in person, I can't make a judgment on it but if it cuts true the entire length and face, has no issues with chatter, and doesn't have bearing rattle, slop in the lead screws, amongst other issues, you may have hit the used lathe lottery. ;D
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
I mean for barrel work most wear is irreverent. If the ways are worn you can twist the bed to get it to cut perfect, backlash in the screw wont hurt you either.hogpatrol said:
OP, look on the Detroit craigslist. A lathe is worth a drive. I would skip the "home shop" sized machines, you can usually find a little larger lathe for much less.
There are many reasons why imported lathes are so popular with gunsmiths today. The main one that influenced my decision to buy a heavy JET 13x40 was that I wanted to get started now. Living out in far western Kansas, there are darned few used machines for sale. I might've spent a couple of years looking, and who knows how much time & money I'd have had to spend & what I'd have wound up with. Another factor is that few of the smaller lathes typically used for gunsmithing have a suitably large spindle bore, and since I wanted to do barrels through the spindle as opposed to between centers, that was a major factor. The shift to CNC machines started long before I was in the market for a manual lathe, and I figured I'd probably missed out on a good deal on a manual machine years ago.
I can say, if I'd known then what I know now, I'd probably have looked for a lathe with a shorter spindle, and if possible, one with thicker, heavier gearhead castings. I wound up buying a 2nd lathe that was nearly identical to the JET, only 14x40, and a couple of hundred pounds heavier. It leaks more oil than the JET, but reamer chatter has never been an issue with it, whereas I've had issues with chatter on the JET.
Both these lathes weigh in excess of 2000lbs, and both have spindle lengths of about 24". Add the thickness of a 4-jaw chuck, and it quickly becomes obvious that you've got to have a cathead/spider on the outboard end of the spindle, and make up some dummy receivers in order to chamber blanks shorter than 28". Since I use Gordy Gritters' method of dialing-in 3" or so of the breech end for chambering, I've got to have a cathead/spider anyway, and dummy receivers are easily made using 6061 round stock.
I probably don't know what I'm missing, since I've never worked with any of the old American iron - when I was in high school, our metal shop had only an old worn-out Atlas lathe - but a good, heavy Taiwanese lathe would not be a handicap for turning out quality barrel & action work.
I can say, if I'd known then what I know now, I'd probably have looked for a lathe with a shorter spindle, and if possible, one with thicker, heavier gearhead castings. I wound up buying a 2nd lathe that was nearly identical to the JET, only 14x40, and a couple of hundred pounds heavier. It leaks more oil than the JET, but reamer chatter has never been an issue with it, whereas I've had issues with chatter on the JET.
Both these lathes weigh in excess of 2000lbs, and both have spindle lengths of about 24". Add the thickness of a 4-jaw chuck, and it quickly becomes obvious that you've got to have a cathead/spider on the outboard end of the spindle, and make up some dummy receivers in order to chamber blanks shorter than 28". Since I use Gordy Gritters' method of dialing-in 3" or so of the breech end for chambering, I've got to have a cathead/spider anyway, and dummy receivers are easily made using 6061 round stock.
I probably don't know what I'm missing, since I've never worked with any of the old American iron - when I was in high school, our metal shop had only an old worn-out Atlas lathe - but a good, heavy Taiwanese lathe would not be a handicap for turning out quality barrel & action work.
What did you get!?
EDIT: for spelling
EDIT: for spelling
Tim Singleton
Gold $$ Contributor
Guys from my generation had shop in high school where we were taught on manual machines. Shop classes are a thing of the past for the most part. The stuff in this manual from over 100 years ago are a great place to startericbc7 said:
How to run a lathe southbend
http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/1617/3789.pdf
Topstrap said:savagedasher said:
Yup, Towanda 1962 April 6th QB block.
Topstrap
Is it a 587 or L-80 dual quad?
hogpatrol
Gold $$ Contributor
ericbc7 said:
Hook up with a SKILLED machinist or toolmaker, take some classes at a community college or other available venue, lacking that Tubal Cain videos are pretty good. http://neme-s.org/Tubalcain/machine_shop_tips.htm
Like any other trade, bad habits learned early on are hard to break and will smite thee forever. In nine years of teaching machine shop, my worst and basically untrainable students were those that had basement shops and learned from other home shop amateurs. There's a reason a machinist apprenticeship is 8000 hours and after that the real learning starts. GO SLOW and do PRECISION work. Half ass work will bite thee in the same place. ;D Good luck with your new adventure.
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