What is my lathe worth?

So I have a 1950 16" x48" south bend lathe. It's off a navy ship I was told (has army core of engineers tags), runs great but could use some love and care to get it dialed in. Nothing I do is that exacting so I never have really spent time to tram everything in. Has the taper attachment but I've never used it.

I'm a new dad and have a one car garage that houses this monster. I've loved using it over the years, but just don't have time anymore to mess with it really. Thinking I want to just sell it and maybe pick up something else one day when I have more space.

Ive looked around the web, but the prices are all over the map on something like this. I don't have to sell so I don't plan to give it away, but I plan to post it on the local pages and see if anyone wants it. Can anyone give me an idea of a starting asking price?

I'm on my phone right now, but I can upload pictures when I get to a computer tomorrow if that helps. I have some in my intro thread somewhere (not much of a poster on here, more of a reader)

Just a guess but location make a huge difference. A small South Bend maxed out with tons of tooling may go for 2200.00 up in the East Cost in the manufacturing belt. Same lathe with minimal tooling goes for 3000.00 in an area which is a machinery desert. With the same tooling it may be worth 4000- 4500.00
Bigger lathes are another animal. In any case....to get an idea you need to look at what they go for where you live. Shipping a bigger lathe changes the economics.

Big diameter, short bed - kind of limits your audience....

At least post some clear pics if you want anything remotely approaching a "valid" appraisal.

smt

Given your location in Keokuk, Iowa, I would bid about 124 dollars for it.

I can't think of anything cooler than teaching my kid how to run a lathe. I'd keep it unless you just have to get rid of it.

We can help you try to put a value on it, but we need a lot more information and hopefully some pictures. Give us a list of everything it has with it, including the brand and size of any chucks, tool posts/holders, accessories, etc. What spindle does it have? Is it single or 3-phase? How much wear is on different parts of your lathe? What state are you in? Can you load it for someone or will they have to? All these things come into play.

jim rozen said:

Given your location in Keokuk, Iowa, I would bid about 124 dollars for it.

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I'll raise that bid to $224 because I'm already in Iowa and have my own truck, so transport won't be too bad.

Joking aside - I have an old flat belt Lodge and Shipley about that size or a little bigger. I doubt it would bring more than $300 - $400 locally. I paid $1000 for it back in the early 1980's because "I just had to have it".

I bought it from a farmer, but it came out of Rock Island Arsenal originally, which I thought was cool. It's a been a good old machine for me.

Heck, when I'm done with it I may have to give it to someone, with the caveat that I'm not doing them any great favor, LOL.

I honestly hope your lathe brings a good price and wish you good luck with your sale !

excello

maisonvi said:

So I have a 1950 16" x48" south bend lathe. It's off a navy ship I was told (has army core of engineers tags)

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Pretty much the exact same lathe just popped up on FB Marketplace near where I live in SW Michigan. The seller is asking for $2500 OBO.

South bend 16" metal lathe - Tools - South Haven, Michigan - Marketplace | Facebook


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Here is the add USNmechanic posted about:After reading this go back and read post #1
$2,500
South bend 16" metal lathe for sale in South Haven on Facebook Marketplace

I have a 1950s south bend lathe for sale. 16" x 48" bed. Runs and cuts well, belt driven, but I run it through a variable frequency drive to give even more speed adjustability. Has a taper attachment as well, but I've never used it. I've used it for a few years for home projects and for a side company I have, but with a new kid time for side business has gone and this is just sitting most of the time. Would love to see it go to someone who would use it more. It's extra neat in the fact that to my knowledge it's off a navy ship (unable to figure out which ship) but it has army core of engineers tags. For the right price I will include the VFD, the tooling post, and and a bunch of BXA size tooling I have for it. Price is OBO, but I'm not dying to sell it. I do enjoy having it. I can take a video of it running for anyone seriously. I won't deliver but will gladly help someone load it to a trailer. It's crazy heavy so moving it isn't a ton of fun.

Is the photo shown above the machine for sale? Where is South Haven?

Thats my post on FB. I looked around and found some that seem to be in that range. Let me know if Im way high, (or hopefully way low?) nothing of south bend brand listed, but lathes of similar form were around that. I had to reach out pretty far as far as "local" though. not a ton for sale in the few places I knew to look

As far as teaching my daughter to use the lathe, she for sure will know when she is old enough. Right now at less than 2 years its a bit early. haha. I hope to have a full machine shop one day, but right now I have a 1 car garage, 4 cars and just need the space.

I also have my eye on a shopmaster Mill Turn to consolidate space and get CNC functionality. Need to do more research on those yet though.

also, im not sure I am measuring the bed length right. here is almost the same lathe on sale on Ebay for 3k, but it says 72" bed
South bend lathe CL155C 16" x 72" bed | eBay