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Hey all,

I'm interested in a different lathe and hear that the South Bend Heavy 10 or 13 are the way to go. Id like to buy one pretty soon. Any ideas or tips from people who know these or have a lead on one?

Ryan

What will you be making with the lathe? That drives whether those lathes are the hot ticket or not.

Heavy 10 is a prime size for a home shop so there is high demand and matching prices.

The South Bend brand also commands a price premium to other lathes that are of equal or higher quality.

Thanks for the response! I'm a gunsmith....would like it to thread barrels and contour them. The 1 3/8 spindle bore will be totally sufficient. What other types of lathes would you recommend?

Ryan

Budget means much...for $5K or so one can get a late good condition lathes that might put a heavy to shame..Features like a taper attachment and steadys might be a game changer...

i would figure 1500 to even $3500 for a heavy ten and it is a good gun lathe..chasing all over for chucks , steadys and a taper attachment can take time and money...a running lathe is worth a $1000 more IMHO as a surprise can cost that much and a good one you cant wear out...

Knowing how to quick set-up centers and steadys can save much chuck worries..many chase chucks and spend a lot of money to find many are not so good.

Taper attachment was handy doing Mauser barrels...that is a chore with not having one...yes if handy you can fudge one up...but likely not as good the real thing.

Condition is king so take a lathe hand with you to look. Better to buy from the person who used the machine not a machine flipper. Ask all the right questions... "Is any thing wrong with this lathe."

This could be a nice machine..or not. Logan 1957 metal lathe - tools - by owner - sale

How much money do have set aside?

There are a lot of good machines in this size, Clausing, Sheldon, Hardinge, Logan among others. Then there are the imports. Most of the domestic machines are English threading only, although gears sets are available for some to allow cutting metric.

There are some machines I am told that are designed specially for gunsmithing, long spindles and set screws or iris's to center the barrel.

Best you pose this question in gunsmithing section.

Tom

I am going to go out on a limb here (nothing new) and suggest that if you have the room for, or have considered a 13, then you may want to look at a South Bend 14. They were made from about 1969 and into the 80's, I believe. They were made in South Bend, and from what I gather were designed with replacing the 13 in the market place. I never gave them much of a look myself until I stumbled on one recently. I ended up buying it for a song. They were made in two lengths, one 28 between centers and the other 40. They have camlock spindles, hard beds, taper attachments as options, use 5c collets, and have a slightly larger 1 1/2 in spindle bore. Full range of feeds and threading. But the really interesting thing is they are variable speed up to 1800 rpm. For the modest price these machines bring, you get some nice features. I understand some have had trouble with the speed control or drive unit, but mine works like a charm. I've not gotten the lathe completely set up and level yet, but it runs sweet and cuts well. I am a bit surprised you do not hear more about them. Might be worth considering if you can handle a larger machine. I have nothing against a 10L or 13, I simply do not own either. I may be talking out of turn here, as I am not a gunsmith.

Hope you find this helpful.

Marc

I've looked at a bunch of lathes. Old and newer and then brand new. I don't want to spend over 6k for a total package. And that would be something near with low hours. Looked at a Precision Matthews 1340 recently but the seller was too high on the price. I liked that lathe....