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What to look for when 10ee shopping

pennywise

Plastic
Joined
Nov 11, 2022
I am new into the machinist world. I have been researching these lathes, but I am largely inexperienced. There is a '42 10ee for sale some distance from me. Myself and another guy (more experience with machines and a 12ck owner) are going to take a look at it tomorrow.

The machine still has its original drive system, and allegedly runs (with working tach!) through its operations.
It appears to be in pretty good shape from the photos/video I have been sent.

I'm hoping some of you with more intimate knowledge of these can give me some insight as to specifically what I should be looking for. Anywhere specific to check for abuse, neglect, or excessive wear? Any things that may indicate that the motor system is on its way out (aside from the fact that it turned 80 earlier this year)?

I'll be bringing my standard inspection tools, but I'm wondering if there are things specific to these lathes that I could be clued in on before the journey.

Thanks, Alex
 
If it works, it works. That’s a bonus. Make sure thread and feed screws move the apron. Honestly, the tooling a machine comes with makes all the difference to me. 3 jaw, 4 jaw, collet chucks, taper attachment, etc. make sure it has all covers, but that should be obvious.
 
Bed wear
Said it before I'll say it again, don't pay good money for a badly worn bed.
It took be a couple years to buy my 12CK after looking at so many lathes that you could hide a pencil in the front way.
Can they be repaired?
Of course.
But are you looking for a project or a machine?
 
Depends on price, even a scrapper can be worth the move. If its at the higher end price wise, make sure that spindle hasn't been tweaked. Other than that a 10EE is pretty rock solid and fixable. As Grounding says, its the accessories that you really want. Don
 
WTF do you expect from an 80 year old machine?
Bob
I'm the guy who went with him yesterday.
I don't know what his expectations on the lathe were but will bet he didn't expect such an assholish reply to a legitimate question.
 
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Sure enough, the lathe ran through its operations well. The wear on the ways and elsewhere on the functional portions of the machine was minimal. It showed its age, but did so gracefully.

Thanks for the replies, now it's time to plan getting it into my basement through a walk-out sliding door.

As far as accessories, the lathe comes with a taper attachment, but none else. Still, this was priced in the range of a few heavy10s near me, as well as some other lathes that from my understanding aren't to be mentioned on this site.

Edit: yes, he bought it
 
It was an interesting machine.
I've never been up close and personal with covers off, etc on a 10EE much less seen one under power and get to make it go.
I advised he buy it and think he got a pretty good machine that with minimal tlc will be useable.
I thought the EEs all had the toolroom stuff - travadial on the carriage and enhanced dials on the cross slide.
This one had neither.
I wouldn't trade it for my 12CK.
Too small and too exotic a drive.
It is a very cool lathe for a guy just starting out.
 
Screenshot_20221111-103747_Facebook.jpghere's a picture that was in the original posting for the lathe. For some reason all of my phone pictures are too large to upload.
Now i have begun to clean out years and years of gunk. The lathe is in good shape, apart from quite a bit of wear on the crossfeed leadscrew (can move the crossfeed by hand .040 back and forth near center of movement). I have read a few posts of people making these, and I'm wondering if anyone here is aware if someone actually did?
 
Don’t worry about the cross slide screw at this point, use the lathe. See what it can do before you start fixing non-problems. There is a way to adjust the cross slide play built into the nut, but its only useful for small adjustments. Loosen the hex bolt and tighten the screw behind it a fraction of a turn, then re-tighten the hex bolt, repeat until you get what you are looking for or find that it binds at the ends of the screw.
 








 
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