Picked up a Logan model 400 lathe looking for some advice.

Been lurking for a while. I purchased this lathe spur of the moment the other day. Going into I knew it was going to be a project. After getting it home and kinda going through it, I'm wondering if I made a mistake. There are quite a few things missing from it. No motor, no change gears, cover missing, ect..

Now the question. Would it be worth it to try to track down the missing parts and complete it. I honestly only have $100 into right now. Wouldn't be used for anything production. Just at home for a couple hobbies here and there. I have seen others who have added a VFD. Wondering if that would be the better route.

Thank you in advance. Some pictures attached.

Keep it. Get the motor and VFD first. Then the tail stock, then the change gears (if you want to thread). You can get it running for $150 or less. Tail stock for $100, gears for $100-150 off of eBay.

It looks like you are missing motor and counter shaft, cover for the gear train, tail stock, and the change gears.

I have one of these, picked it up a few years back for $100 with everything you are missing. My opinion, the change gears are a pia, better off just using tap and die. Cost wise you could probably have it up and running for less than a HF minilathe, and its probably a better machine, but its really just a toy good for hobby use.

If you decide to part it, let me know, I let a young kid use mine a few weeks ago and he managed to rip the part out of the chuck somehow, not sure if my chuck is damaged or god forbid he bent the spindle

Edit; I had been avoiding investigating what was wrong with my lathe, just gave it a check, chuck and spindle are running true, left side bearing on spindle has a noticeable clunk, one more thing on the list of sh__ to fix.

Since it's v-belt drive, I'd think it would take very little to get it running. Worth it? Depends on what else you could get for a hundred bucks.

Thank you guys for your input. Sounds like I'll be in the market for some items to get this thing going. Projects are always fun

Is eBay and Logan's site to 2 main places to keep an eye out for stuff?

Skor23 said:

Is eBay and Logan's site to 2 main places to keep an eye out for stuff?

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There is also a Logan Lathe group, I'm subscribed but not active, try here Welcome to Groups.io!

I had to find a threading dial for mine on ebay, don't remember there being a lot of parts at the time for the model 400/1400, but like the tides the supply ebbs and flows. In a pinch you could diy the counter shaft assembly, let me know if you need dimensions.

A good small lathe but you Will spend more than $150 to get it going. I would expect $3-400 minimum. You are missing the motor and counter shaft, tailstock, steady rest, change gear set etc. I don’t see much tooling either. For those items on the used market you are looking at at least $500. In my opinion the cost of a VFD is not worth it and not needed. You loose too much torque at lower rpm where you really need it. Also consider the 400 was less common than the 200 and 800 series Logan’s. Parts for the 400 series lathes are harder to find. The 400 series Logan’s share very few parts with other Logan’s.

On the other hand the 400 is way better than the @tl@s or Harbor Freight lathes. If what you do have is in good shape then completing it might be worth it for you.

To keep your cost down it might be better to search Craig’s list and auctions for a Logan series 400 parts lathe or the Montgomery Wards equivilant.

mach2 said:

A good small lathe but you Will spend more than $150 to get it going. I would expect $3-400 minimum.

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By "get it going" I meant a motor and VFD. That can be done for $150. Especially if you buy an old motor off Craigslist.

Skor23 said:

Been lurking for a while. I purchased this lathe spur of the moment the other day. Going into I knew it was going to be a project. After getting it home and kinda going through it, I'm wondering if I made a mistake. There are quite a few things missing from it. No motor, no change gears, cover missing, ect..

Now the question. Would it be worth it to try to track down the missing parts and complete it. I honestly only have $100 into right now. Wouldn't be used for anything production. Just at home for a couple hobbies here and there. I have seen others who have added a VFD. Wondering if that would be the better route.

Thank you in advance. Some pictures attached.
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Another option, if you cannot find original parts, is to make your own jack shaft. It is only a three step pulley; you could pick one of these up easily. Add a couple of pillow blocks, a large drive pulley, and a shaft and you are in business. A little Frankenlathe to be sure but it would be a fun project.

Edit: Just saw a version of what I was talking about at the Wade lathe link on another thread. It does not have to have to exact arrangement. Pillow blocks would be simpler.