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New Member - Opportunity to Purchase South Bend Lathe

MechEngPaul

Plastic
Joined
Sep 29, 2015
Hello All,
This is my first post here, and I'm pretty new to forums in general.
An old friend recently asked if I wanted to buy his dad's old lathe.
I have only ever researched new lathes and am still learning about these South Bends.
Cost wise, I have no idea what would be fair. Not looking to get robbed, but also do not want to rob his dad...

Lathe Info:
1943?
9in swing, 36in bed, 16in between centers.
Quick change gear box
Tapering attachment
Chasing dial
Converted to 110v and fitted with a flat belt
Tool holders, manuals for lathe and accessories, 4 jaw chuck, 2 face plates, live pipe center, oil, etc are also included.

I have not yet seen it in person.

What do you guys think and what can you tell me about this lathe?

1.jpg

Not exactly sure what this is
4.jpg

6.jpg

8.jpg

Thanks!

Paul
 
That is a nice looking 9A with under mount drive. It is a much more desirable configuration than the usual horizontal drive which adds a lot of depth to the lathe shop footprint.

That thing in the second picture looks to be a tool post grinder. I don't know what the market is like where you are, but nice old lathes are a little rare down here in Texas. I have had two 9As, both horizontal drives. Value varies a lot based on condition of the lathe, accessories and tooling. The taper attachment is a nice accessory, as is the tool post grinder. Try to make sure they are both complete. Parts for them could be hard to get and expensive when found. Other nice accessories to try to get if they are there are steady and follow rests and micrometer stop.

That said, that lathe in good to excellent condition around here, is $1,000 - $1,500. With all the tooling and accessories it is $1,500 to $2,000. One very similar to it showed up on the local CL last week and did not last long at $1,000. I think it had the taper attachment too. If my garage was not already full of machine tools I would have snatched it up.

All that said, these old lathes are very nice and very accurate and very capable. It looks well maintained, but you will want to put it through its paces and try to determine the extent of the bed wear. If in good condition it will out perform any of the Asian crap in its size range.

Good luck.

Baxter
 
Baxter,
Thanks for the reply and the information. You have successfully renewed my excitement and willingness to open up the pocket book. Can't wait to go check it out.

Paul
 
If he used the tool post grinder a lot the ways might be worn a lot. A quick way to see how worn is to pull your fingernail up the front inside way surface and see if there is a ledge at the top.If your fingernail hooks on a lip or ridge then there is a change depending on how high it is could mean it is worn a lot and needs to be repaired to get accurate turns. The odds are the grinder sat on the floor and he never used it, but the small chance he used it would warrant a few more pictures of close-ups of the ways an in person inspection.

Check to see how much back lash there is in the feed screws, lift the saddle crank and see if there is slop between it and the cast iron hole, look inside the tail-stock quill hole, grab the tails stock quill and see if it can be turned a little as there is a key and key way that wears. Look at the holes in the quick change where the pin holds it in gear. if they are loose or elongated the machine has been used a lot. It could be a real find or it could be a real headache. Be a detective and check it out a little before getting so excited. Rich
 
Well, I went to go take a closer look, and ended up bringing it home. There was some bed wear; just enough to catch your nail a bit.
Everything else mentioned above seemed in good shape.
I found out that he was a retired high school shop teacher and taught students on South Bends.
He gave me a thorough run down of everything that was there. He started opening up this tool box drawers and pulling the lathe related items out one by one, explaining as he went and as I asked questions.
He wanted to put all the quick change tool post items on eBay; I saved him the trouble...
First item of business after unloading everything at home was to go pick up a toolbox for all the tooling. Money well spent.

So far, not even a hint of buyer's remorse for anything purchased this weekend.

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Lathe Info:
1943?
9in swing, 36in bed, 16in between centers.
Quick change gear box
Tapering attachment

Looks like a very good way to get started, has most of what you need for any job that will fit the lathe!

Nice it has a taper attachment. I personally find that accessory essential, but I make a lot of arbors for other machine spindles.

If you ever use the TP grinder, read on PM about all the precautions so as not to destroy the ways. Just a few pieces of stray grit between the saddle and the ways will do a lot of damage. Over time, it adds up fast. Don't get me wrong, for hardened steel parts, a TP grinder can be very usefull. To use it without prematurely damaging the lathe takes some effort, every time it is put in use.

I'd like to have one for the occasional hard steel thread grinding job. But I now do almost all other "lathe type" grinding on a Tool and cutter grinder, or with a set up on one of the surface grinders. Will never forget, about 15 years ago I had just rescraped a lot of the slides and parts on one of my Hardinge second ops. Needed to grind the bearing cone for a 20" rotary table that had gotten huge corosion from the PO/water base coolant. The spherical seat bearings were no longer available new. Anyway, I took all due precautions, ground both bearing races, and was sick as the freshly scraped lathe compound slide began to grind as the last opps were finished. :(

One thing that is not obvious is a steady rest. For a small bore lathe, that is going to be necessary for end work or boring on large dia workpieces. Maybe the seller still has it tucked away somewhere or hanging on a nail in the rafters?

Finally, I've long owned a SB 10K and recently re-scraped it. I'm not a stranger to SB lathes, But not much of a model maven or historian, so asking for info here: I think your lathe is much newer than the 1943 mentioned; it has a double tumbler gearbox which I believe was not available until the late 40's? And remind me again, with that style headstock, how a person determines whether it is a 9" or a 10K? (sure looks like a 10K to me)

smt
 
smt, no such luck on him having the steady rest laying around. Looks like there are some floating around online if I run into the need for one.

My date assumption came from the drawing he sent me.

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The tape measure confirms the 9-1/4" dimension on the drawing.

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Dead giveaway at a glance to distinguish between 9s and 10k is the tailstock.

OK, I'll try to remember that. Actually you or someone might have pointed it out in the past. :) Even so, I had to pull up a photo of my TS, and do several iterations of back and forth to be sure. The 10K is more "swoopy".

MEP- regardless the lathe being positively ID'd as a 9", it has all the good stuff of a 10K headstock and bearings, albeit with a slightly smaller spindle bore.

smt
 








 
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