School me on the older 16" lathes?

This one for sale locally, pics are lousy...

south bend lathe - tools - by owner - sale

Debating whether to make the drive to look at it. Called the owner, no tooling (I'm sure the 3-jaw on it is a paperweight), has the tailstock but no steady. No chip tray is a big minus for me as well, is there a straightforward way to add one?

Anyone know the spindle specs- bore diameter/taper and thread?

I've been on the hunt for a 13" with the large spindle bore but no luck-and can't tell from these pics what it has.

Anyone know the spindle specs- bore diameter/taper and thread?

Click to expand...

Thanks to Mr. Wells

http://www.wswells.com/data/catalog/cat_bl_16c/cat_bl_16c.pdf

The spindle thread is 2 3/8 - 6, the spindle bore is 1 3/8, and the spindle taper is the typical proprietary South Bend taper. I use 5c collets in my 16 a lot, as well as a 4 jaw chuck. Compared to the 13, or the 10L, the 16 is quite large. The layout and operation is the same. At a glance, I would say that lathe is a 117E, with an 8 foot bed. It weighs well over 2000 pounds, closer to 3000. Does not appear to have a taper attachment (an option on this model), likely never did. The chip pan was also an option on this machine, and I am sure you could make up something functional. If it was built during WWII it will probably have cast iron (vs. bronze) spindle bearings.

I use a 16 built in 1946 almost everyday. Can you accommodate a lathe that big? If so it is a great workhorse. I love mine, but I also own and have access to other machines if the need arises. Condition means a lot, maybe more so than tooling for this machine. You can find tooling and accessories fairly easily.

In my opinion the asking price is high for what is pictured. But maybe I am cheap. I guess it depends on what you want to do on the machine and how big a lathe you can handle.

Hope this helps.

Marc

I’m restoring its twin sister here:

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...south-bend-16-x-60-lathe-resurrection-299300/

I’m just about finished, down to the electrical controls and brass etched tags now. My 117-E is essentially now an 8117-E (the 8 prefix indicates the toolroom version with taper attachment, chip pan, and a few other goodies).

The chip pan will be the hardest part to make “factory.” The pans are rare as hen’s teeth and require replacing the one piece leg with a two piece leg sandwiching the pan. You can fab a chip pan, just requires fabricating brackets at each end to support it.

I can’t tell from the dark photos if it’s a cast iron bearing headstock or has bronze sleeves. If there are not two distinct screws on top of each bearing cap for bronze bearing expanders, it will be the cast iron type. That’s not necessarily a bad thing so long as the owner kept it lubricated well.

Agree with v8packard's specs. Not sure how many machines you can find in Florida, but price is not terribly unreasonable, though I would be looking to cut it down a bit towards $1000. It looks like at least one base cover is missing, which there are a large and small cover, plus the door. That'd be probably $50-$100 a piece to replace.
Smaller dial for cross feed, and no chip pan are minuses imo. I would guess small shaft and bore in single tumbler of the quick change box to need a repair if the machine has any amount of hours.

It does have chip guard for cross feed screw on compound base, and thread dial, which are a plus. I like the tool holder too. I also like 16"ers, everything else looks too small now, lol.

Zooming in the image it looks like heavy wear on the ways.

The webs in the bed are hollow so you can do as we did on a model o was yo make wedges that fit in the webs and support a chip tray from there.

But price is steep for minimal tooling.

We paid 250 for our similar year 14.5 with lots of tooling and taper..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk

Thanks for all the input.
Bed is longer than what I'd like assuming it's 8'...need to map it out and consider future stuff (series 1 BP hopefully) as well.
Lathes are scarce as hens teeth in FL (that Standard Modern is interesting- has the spindle bore size- just wish it had a longer bed). I tried but can't discern wear from the pics. Going to contact the owner to see what I can find out, and seems the consensus is what I thought; price is a bit absurd absent chip tray, steady and zero tooling.

iwananew10K said:

metal lathe 11x2 standard-modern - tools - by owner - sale

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It looks like a nice deal, but I personally wouldn't trust an owner or a lathe with Obama presenting on gear cover end. You'll have to pay twice, watch it blame someone else, and crash anyway.

Those SMs are one of the best small lathes to be had, I think I see a taper attachment too,the military always bought them decked out so if maybe original tooling is still with it.