Hello:
Price is in line with the higher end for what a roundhead Regal with that kind of tooling would fetch. Unfortunately, it looks like the 4 jaw chuck got mounted on the "dog plate" or "catch plate" (used for turning work between centers, catching the tail of the lathe dog).
Lathe not running in reverse could be nothing more than burned/worn contacts in the reversing switch.... or, the seller may be mis-stating things and he may be referring to the lathe not having the ability to reverse direction of the feeds/threading. If the latter is the case, beware ! Open the headstock and inspect the gearing. The feed reverse gearing is inside the headstock. As we've noted a number of times, the high speed gearing and feed reverse gearing on these roundhead Regal lathes is extremely light and vulnerable to damage. Mishandling the lathe by trying to "shift on the fly" or not being sure the gearing is fully engaged is a sure way to tear up this gearing. The lathe looks to have had fairly hard use. If you are serious about buying it, ask the seller if you can open the headstock for inspection.
There are four (4) socket head capscrews on the top cover of the headstock. Remove them, and bring a soft-face hammer to jar the edges of the top cover with to break it loose. The original gasket used by LeBlond was pressed cork, and was sealed with gasket shellack. If it is the original gasket, it will have bonded to the cover and the headstock, so be prepared to coax the cover off. Using a mechanic's magnet, fish in the oil in the bottom of the headstock to see what you bring up. If the magnet looks like it grew a major beard of steel fragments, this means excessive wear. If your magnet brings up shards of steel, it means someone knocked the corners or worse off some of the gear teeth. Using a good strong light like a MAG light, roll the headstock spindle and input shaft over by hand in each speed and inspect every gear tooth for damage. Make sure, before doing any of this inspection, that the power is disconnected or the circuit breaker for the lathe power supply is opened. That drum switch on top of the headstock is all too easy to bump or accidently move, and with the top cover off the headstock, in the least case, you get a bath of oil. In the worst case, you will be counting your fingers and coming up short or looking for one or two in the oil sump.
The LeBlond belt guard was a two piece iron casting, a neat job that really looked good. To get the belt guard off, you have to pull the handwheel and drive pulley off the headstock input shaft. No good reason for taking the guard off, unless someone were changing pulleys on the motor and headstock input shaft, or possibly adjusting spindle bearing preload. That they'd put the pulleys and handwheel back without the guard is a puzzler.
These are good little lathes. I own a 13" x 42" and really enjoy using it. I am mindful of the weak gearing, so do not push it anywhere near as hard as I'd push a heavier duty engine lathe of equivalent capacity like a Hendey, Monarch or L & S. They are good little lathes for home shops. The spindle nose on those older LeBlond Roundhead Regal lathes is threaded, and the thread used is something like 2 1/8" x 5 tpi. If you need a faceplate or need to mount another chuck, you are on your own to come up with a threaded faceplate or backplate. Otherwise, they are a fine little lathe, and a classic piece of old US iron.
The LeBlond lathes with the capacity/swing cast into the headstock and with that speed setting dial calculator were said to be the "trainer" models. Supposedly, these had a somewhat lighter bed than the "standard" Roundhead Regal lathes. How much of a difference this made in the lathes is something I never determined. I suspect the headstock internals were the same for both "trainer" and "standard" Roundhead Regal lathes, so that would be the limiting factor.
LeBlond will supply the date/original purchaser of the lathe if you send them the serial number.
The follower and steady rest are handy to have. I was lucky in that my Roundhead Regal lathe came fully tooled. If you are handy with a cutting torch, welding, and machine work, you can build a steady rest and follower rest. As Ramsay notes, these items are almost impossible to find. I see them on ebay from time to time, and they are pricey.
Bear in mind these are old lathes. They are about 70-75 years old and have seen some use. Do not expect a toolroom machine, but you will get a good old horse that can get out a surprising amount of fine work for what would otherwise appear to be a worn old lathe.
