Last week I was cruising Kijiji looking for accessories and attachments for my SB 9C and I found a very vague add for a Clausing lathe running on 110 with lots of tooling. Seller's asking price was good if the machine was in great shape, and already having the SB9 I didn't need another lathe so I could go into it with the mindset that I would only pick it up if it was a good deal and a definite upgrade over the little 9. I had to go to Edmonton to pick up my service truck anyway, so everything fell into place.
We drove down and had a look at the machine. It looked to be in near new condition, showing no appreciable wear, runs nearly silently, paint etc all like new. It was sitting on a pallet with four boxes of tooling and abandoned projects. I however could not find the tailstock quill, and this seemed like a big problem at the time, but was later located. The seller told me that this lathe was his dad's and that he never had any interest in learning to use it so it just sat there forever and he just wanted it gone. We settled up on price and I left with everything for $1100.
I brought it home and began going through the boxes. The amount of tooling (and quality stuff) that came in those boxes was unreal. Tons of Starrett measuring tools (enough to fill the small side cabinet it came with), a small lathe bench mounted bench grinder with wire wheel,some grinding stones, dozen boring bars, lantern post with L and R turning tools, straight turning tool, threading tool, two parting tools and a knurling tool. Steady rest. Bernerd 6" 4 jaw, 6" 3 jaw, faceplate, mounting plate, spindle drill chuck, tailstock drill chuck, two dead centers (one brand new) the wood working centers, a whole box of bits (probably 50 in there), etc, etc. It took literally a whole day to go through everything and sort it all.
I brought the machine in the shop and set it up. The bench it rests on is heavy wood construction, with probably a 2 1/4" top.There is piles of storage under the lathe and it also has the side cabinet for measuring tools etc. The bench sits right at home in my shop, very near perfectly level as it sits, and the lathe is true to the bench top. He had built fairly sturdy steel pads for the feet and secured them to the bench. He shimmed everything level at the feet.
It has a 1/2hp Westinghouse motor on it complete with a reversing switch.
The cabinet also had the original sales brochure for the machine still in it. This is what makes me believe it is a 1939 model. As another bonus, there is a spare set of new gears for the powered cross feed in the cabinet as well.
Very happy with this new machine, don't think I will ever upgrade from this one!
