Thread: Anyone interested in a LeBlond Lathe or Warner & Swasy Lathe or Cinciinati press?

That is a good price on the turret lathe.
The tooling alone......oh man. Too bad it is all obsolete.

That bunch of drills sitting next to the lathe would be almost worth it and the big pipe center sitting there as well.
Am I the only one drooling over this stuff?
I am desperately in need of some more tooling for my Ward turret lathe. All the stuff that is probably in drawers or on shelves that will go for scrap.
Please save some of it from the scrap man.

Michael

No, you're not the only one drooling. If it were a #4 instead of a #1A, I would have looked into rigging and freight for it. But I just don't have the room for it.

Originally Posted by piniongear

That leaves the Warner & Swasey 1A turrent lathe, which is headed for the scrap yard this Thursday after not selling yet for $500..

You know, as beautiful as it is, I wouldn't feel so bad about that machine going to scrap if the iron were being melted down here in the U.S. and then used to make modern machinery. However, we all know it'll get torched apart and then sent straight to offshore China. *sigh* Happy Independence Day, everybody.

Last I heard is they all got sold to a dealer in Houston, give it a couple weeks before they hit fleebay. At least that W&S didn't go to the scrap yard

Originally Posted by ions82

However, we all know it'll get torched apart and then sent straight to offshore China.

Well, I don't know if I'm alone in knowing about this "new" steel plant in the US, but this article said the steel was processed in Brazil - not Taiwan.
This Al steel plant covers 14 square kilometers. It's the largest facility I've ever gotten lost in. It is approximately 5 miles from the guard gate to the building I went to. This makes the bomb plants at Oak Ridge, Tn. look like convenience stores compared to a super Walmart.
ThyssenKrupp Steel USA, LLC

Rolling Stone

Originally Posted by ions82

You know, as beautiful as it is, I wouldn't feel so bad about that machine going to scrap if the iron were being melted down here in the U.S. and then used to make modern machinery. However, we all know it'll get torched apart and then sent straight to offshore China. *sigh* Happy Independence Day, everybody.

That would be a shame for a machine like that which has all the pieces and is in pretty good looking shape. These days there are more and more vintage machines, and people who like vintage machines would like to get decent examples that are worth saving. That turret lathe deserves to be saves, IMO. I hope someone can get it.

Originally Posted by ions82

You know, as beautiful as it is, I wouldn't feel so bad about that machine going to scrap if the iron were being melted down here in the U.S. and then used to make modern machinery. However, we all know it'll get torched apart and then sent straight to offshore China. *sigh* Happy Independence Day, everybody.

Your showing how ignorant you are! They still have use, no not production but in repair work they are king ....... just saying

Originally Posted by JB @ C and L Machine

Your showing how ignorant you are! They still have use, no not production but in repair work they are king ....... just saying

Here is an update on the equipment disposal which took place on July 05........

Both LeBlonds are now with the new owners.
.
The owner of all of the equipment now has the following at home in his shop....
Kalamazoo band saw
Cincy Drill Press
12 inch Clausing Lathe
And a ton of measuring instruments, steel billets, air compressor, grinders and buffers, etc, etc

The Bridgeport is with the proud new owner.


The Warner & Swasey 1A Lathe was saved from the scrap yard, at least for 6 months.
The owner found a place to park it for 6 months out of the weather.
He could not bring himself to scrape it out. I say good for him!

So it is still for sale if anyone is serious about it.
The machine was loaded on a tilt back truck. Simply winched across the floor and up onto the truck bed.
I would recommend anyone wanting to buy it loading it up in the same fashion.

Finally, here is a video I made of the loading of the 13 inch LeBlond on a rented drop bed trailer.
All of the other machines were removed that day, after this first one went.
thepiniongear's channel - YouTube

pg

The Rest of the Story.......

Having no real background with any metalworking and a relative that fell in love with the Bridgeport, I bought the tool and die shop, sans the building. Have done mostly woodwork but I do love tools (especially old ones) and these were all beauties. Trying to figure out more about all these machines led me to this website and all the great information here. I also got to know piniongear a little and am very grateful for all his help and advice. As he said, my relative has the Bridgeport already, both the Leblond lathes sold to two persons who were happy to get them and I kept the 12 Clausing lathe, a great Cincinnati drill press, and a whole bunch of other interesting stuff. That really only leaves the Warner & Swasey turret lathe. That story was not looking good but it ended up having a happy ending.

The new owner of the building needed everything out so we needed to move the machinery soon. The morning we scheduled to move all the equipment out, we still did not have a buyer for the turret lathe. Everything I read (here and elsewhere) said it was barely worth the cost of scrapping it. Since we had to move it we actually had it scheduled to be picked up and taken to a scrap yard. That morning, looking at it, I just could not do it. The W&S 1A was a piece of art and it deserved better fate that the glue factory. It was also as clean and tight as everything else in the shop. So I called a new friend (barely an acquaintance) and begged him to let me keep it in his shop. When he asked me my plan, I had to tell him I had none and was making it up on the fly but that if he could give me six months, we could try to sell it without such a tight schedule. He agreed and the die was cast and the turret lathe found a new home. It was under cover but no longer under power and might have been sitting there still but amazingly, someone who had looked at it earlier decided they wanted it and asked back. They were buying for a local fabrication and supply company that has been in business here in Houston since the 1920's. It is not tool and die work but the W&S has found a new home and will be doing useful work rather than gathering rust or being melted down. Who knows, maybe in later years, it may come back on the market.

Not much more to tell. I look forward to learning how to use the Clausing and other tools. I've already learned much just reading through various threads on this site and am thankful for all the knowledge freely shared. Since there seemed to be some interest in the fate of the W&S 1A, it just seemed fitting to let you all know it actually turned out (no pun intended) pretty well.

And more of the story... I'm the guy who bought the two LeBlonds (small world eh?).

I spotted a Houston craigslist ad on Sunday evening, July 1st, about 20 minutes after it had posted... no pics or phone number, so I fired off an e-mail. The next morning, when I was only about 15 minutes away from the shop, I got a call from SpringSteel's relative, who I'll call SSR for short (he got the Bridgeport) and, as a veteran craigslist buyer, decided to head over immediately and to play hooky from work awhile longer (I actually got an e-mail from my boss asking my whereabouts, so I lied). The machines were under power, so I ran them and changed a few gears... and was perplexed with how quickly they slowed down (yup, both had the optional electric brake).

I was interested in the smaller one (a 13" X 54") and it came with a pile of tooling... something like 6 or 7 live centers in all sizes, a couple dozen boring bars, about 100 cutters (about half new), two Jacobs super chucks, two smaller Albrecht chucks, a steady rest, etc... but not a follower rest as I found out later when I inventoried everything (which the manual I received has a notation stating it had been purchased in 1973 for $110). SSR wouldn't budge on the price ($3,500) saying he had a whole bunch of folks who had called and said they'd buy it at that price sight unseen, so I said OK and we struck a deal.

SSR went off with piniongear (PG) to lunch and I went to an ATM to get cash for a deposit. I also sent pics of the lathes to a buddy of mine who runs a machine shop (and has been teaching me machining) and he said he would pay the asking price of $3000 for the 17" (which has a 114" bed length). I met up with SSR and PG for lunch, gave SSR my deposit, and offered $6,000 for both LeBlonds... SSR took a minute to think about it, but accepted my offer. I met up with SSR the next day (Tuesday) and gave him some more cash and SSR said that he had spoken to the rigging company owner and they would help load the lathes on a trailer for a nominal fee (SSR said expect $200)... moving would start at 9 AM on Thursday.

My buddy and I showed up just before 9 AM and we all waited and waited and waited for the riggers, who finally showed shortly after 10:30. Being Houston and early July, it has now hot... and humid. Then the riggers said that the lathes weren't part of the job and that they wouldn't have time to help load them given everything else that needed to be moved. SSR and I explained that SSR had spoken to the rigging company owner and had been told that they could help... this didn't get anywhere, so I asked if perhaps $100 or $200 might help? The riggers took the $200 of course, but then said the lathes would be the last stuff they would move, even though SS, SSR, and my buddy and I all wanted and thought it best if lathes went first (I had forklifts lined up at the receiving ends to off load during specific time windows). I went outside to stew a bit, call the forklift helpers to say I was being delayed, and call some other buddies to throw together a "Plan B", when SSR came out and said the riggers had a plan. The rigger's plan was to load the small LeBlond on the drop deck trailer (as seen in PG's video) that SS and SSR had rented (and graciously allowed us to borrow) to haul the small LeBlond the 10 or so miles to my shop.

It got loaded quickly and we were leaving around noon, when the rigging company owner was walking in. When we got back about an hour and half later, the rigging company owner was gone and the large LeBlond was on the back of their truck (hostage it turned out) and the rigger walked up to me and said that his boss had seen them working on moving the lathes, so the price was now $400. I reminded the rigger that SSR had talked about the lathes with his boss and that we had struck a deal for $200 earlier that morning, but he insisted on the $400, so I offered $300 to no avail. I then asked for his bosses phone number to see if I could negotiate with him and uh... stammer... stammer... stammer... "the boss will be fine with $300" (I realized then that he had just been squeezing me and I silently seethed and paid him the $300). Thankfully, the trailer I had borrowed had a winch on it, so we then transferred the big LeBlond from their truck to my trailer and off we went... a LONG HOT day moving lathes.

My buddy and I are really happy with the LeBlonds. They are in unbelievable condition for 60+ year old machines (I called LeBlond USA and gave them the serial numbers - the small one was built in 1955 and the big one in 1959). We also came real close to buying the Warner and Swasey turret lathe as it was in truly mint condition and a screaming deal for $500, but, alas, we didn't have the means to move it or space to store it until we figured out what we'd do with it.

Sorry for the long post (and a first post too). I've been a lurker for several years and thought some folks might want to hear about the LeBlonds and their fate. Also, props to PG, SSR, and SS, who were all helpful folks!