Is this lathe worth restoring for $700

Hey,

There's a South Bend for sale somewhat locally and they're only asking $700. It looks dusty and rusty, but do you think if the gears and ways are in good shape that it's worth restoring?



Thanks,
Nick

Not at $700, that's a "haul it away" machine (IMHO, of course). If you want a lathe to work with, look elsewhere. If you want a project, then at a lower or free cost have at it.

I just sent one to the scrap yard that looked to be in comparable condition.
I didn't find anyone really interested in it, and it needed too much. In the end it would have been a half-assed turning machine only. No threading.
It would have been TONS of hours of time I don't have to get it to the point of only partly useful. Broke my heart to see it go like that, but it just wasn't justifiable.
The one in the pics above fit the same situation IMO.
YMMV

Edit***

As said above, if you want a project to work on, that's your call. Offer them $250.
Tell them to call back when they don't get higher offers.

Series O from teens or twenties. My 13 X 5 threaded just fine

johnoder said:

Series O from teens or twenties. My 13 X 5 threaded just fine

Click to expand...

The one I scrapped didn't have threading. That was a big factor in my decision. It had also been dropped at some point in its previous life.

call me a sucker, but as it appears complete I would go look.

never pass on an opportunity to check stuff out, you never know what else is there... Just off the bat I see two items that would be of no great use on the machine but an instant 200 bucks or better on a popular auction site...I'll let you figure out what they are.

So say you offer 500 and get it now it's down to 300.

also worth noting this is at least a 13" possibly larger, and it has the very useful slots in the carriage to facilitate line boring type ops.

The price is a touch high, but not outrageous. It looks complete. Even has a cool old lamp you can put on a separate base and sell to the 'industrial' crowd, and recoup some of your cost Unfortunately, previously owned by a John Deere lover with some leftover paint.

Embedded in your question about suitability of this lathe, is a second question about restoration. My opinion on that topic has changed over the years. I now recommend you do what it takes to get the machine safely usable, relatively clean, and oiling well. Fix only what is broken. Avoid tearing it down if all you are planning to do is paint it. That's not particularly useful to a machine tool, and your chances of losing or breaking something are pretty high. Be aware that properly fixing damage and wear on a machine like this will generally require recreating replacement parts, typically with another lathe and milling machine. And, given the soft ways, a fair bit of work (grinding/planing plus scraping) to the bed and saddle also.

Don't let all that discourage you, however. Any lathe is better than no lathe, and this is probably the cheapest way to get a 13"ish swing lathe into your shop. Old, worn lathes don't cease to be useful all at once. Bed wear is a cosine error, so very low impact on work diameter, backlash in screws is generally taken up by cutting forces, the tailstock can be shimmed, etc. Just beware of the things you cannot easily fix, and beware of fixing things that are not broken, like paint.

allan

Yup! The lamp. The other is the shaper tool holder in the toolpost.

Another good sign is the drip oilers appear intact.

I very much agree with Allan on all points, I used to buy a machine and immediately strip it all down,clean,paint...wasted a lot of time that could have been spent making stuff.

Only slightly older, this will make you at least partially aware of the somewhat unusual Series O apron controls

Thanks to Mr. Wells

http://www.wswells.com/data/htral/1913_htral/1913_htral.pdf

Agree with Iwana.
The lathe looks complete and un-abused, except for how it is stored. It has a motor and is probably plug 'n play after cleaning the ways and oiling.

If there are no broken gears or major parts, if the spindle can still be adjusted with shim removal (not wallered out oval) it is easily worth $500 as it sets. Don't tip it over or break anything getting it out of there.

As far as "restoration" - on a machine tool that would mean rebuilding all the major assemblies to factory spec ("blue printing"), a complete regrind and or rescrape of all the ways, and then possibly replacement of leadscrews. So the answer to that question is "probably not". You could spend the same effort on a more modern lathe with better resale value. Though in either case you will never get the value expended in "restoring" most common lathes or even 50% back. But it can be worth it to your own purposes.

"Restoration" in the machine tool sense does not mean painting. If that's what you mean, sure, slap another coat of paint on it and feel good. Does not improve anything functional, though.

Clean well and refurbish with new felts & the proper oils in the right places will help.

It sounds like you might be a beginner. If the machine is not plug & play after a thorough clean, oil, and adjustment, you probably don't want to start with it at any cost. If anything is broken, your time or the cost to have parts made or sourced will probably put the total cost over what the machine is worth, or create a project you might never finish.

You may have to assess what kind of work you plan to do. Older lathes have slower speeds, which is fine if you do largish work. if all your work is mostly under 3/4" bar, you probably want some speeds abouve 1200 rpm. If you do a lot of bar work around 1" to 1-1'2", you might want a spindle hole big enough to accomodate bars in that range. etc.

If complete, unbroken & suitable to the work intended, I'd look it over a few times, poke at the rust a bit, shake my head regretfully, and offer $350. If that was a non-starter, I'd let them talk me up to $500 and then leave my contact info and walk away regretfully. Always praise what the machine had once been (if you want it), but regret how much time and effort it will take to get it making good parts again to suit your current needs; and be honest about your high limit. If you make a deal, be sure to try to find the steady rest and any other missing accessories.

smt

Price depends on where you are.

If lathes not common then good...

Locally prices went up for some reason...we sold our 1919 16 X 54 with change gears for 600 with no haggle in first day of add.

Take a wad of 20 ' s and put $300 in one pocket and give your buddy the rest and give it a look.

Take a 2 X 4 and dial indicator with mag mount to test for slop and check for way riges.

Check for tooling chocks and other parts that may be stored somewhere, our 14.5 was in a shop of guy who abandoned it and wife died so we found pieces and parts all over the place.

Pull out the wad of cash and state you have that much to offer now...

If needed beg to borrow from buddy a bit more....

Often seller just wants it out of the way.

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