I'll check out the link. I looked on lathes uk and couldn't find anything close. I was wondering why had no power feed for the carriage. The seller said he thought it was made in the 1950s so I reached out to him to explain it was most likely turn of the century.
Steve.
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Well, I wouldn't necessarily "sell this up." Seller might get an idea he has something "special" in this lathe - and remain steady or even escalate his price.
Its only special in what you think of it - and its not the only lathe of this ilk in the world. A recent Fay & Scott patternmaker's lathe down Maine (Maine is ALWAYS "down" from the other five New England states - comes from being "downwind" to the coastal schooners) ASK was $400 - and this one was "plug & play" and inside. I expect it sold for that but it might have been less. So don't do yourself a disservice and cut yourself off from negotiation.
Generally when I inquire to something on Craigslist, I ask if I can come to look at (set a price.) Usually this price is a bit less than the ask. But not a lot less. And I always commit only to "come and look" at the agreed price. If he doesn't want you he won't agree. This also leaves you room to back out (gee its not what I expected) to negotiate even lower (gee I don't like this can you cut me a further break) or even to go UP if the seller claims "Others are looking at this you better buy NOW." (You're not the only one playing the game.)
Pricing on this SHOULD be almost into the "Seller is looking for a good home and someone who will USE it." Meaning "very reasonable." Being flat belt means he can't sell this to an OSHA shop without EXTENSIVE shielding of the belt drive, if not work shield for the cutting area (think CNC in today's machining world.) So his market is primarily single user "hobbyists." The lone wood turner. Not many of those out there, really.
More than likely he has NO other interest than you. And if he does and seems hard on the price - keep looking.
Oh, the strength of a patternmaker's lathe is in cutting CONSISTENT diameter over the length of the bed/cut. No power feed needed for machining wood (you simply crank the hand crank slowly) but you can set a diameter on the cross slide and the whole cylinder you turn is as consistent in diameter as any offset of the tailstock allows, if any.
A lot harder to do consistent by "hand knifing" a cut in traditional wood turning.
Great for turning the majority of baseball bats.
Joe in NH
