The lathes that are the subject of this thread remind of the days of the used machine tool dealers (aka pirates) down in NY City. Those guys would buy used machine tools for low-ball prices at bankruptcy auctions or from shops needing to vacate due to losing their lease, or similar reasons. The machine tools dealers had a number of "mechanics" in their employ whose job was to make the used/worn machine tools look like they either had seen little use, or were freshly "rebuilt". The "mechanics" would take the machine tools apart as far as was needed to clean them up for a repaint job. This was often done by washing parts in gasoline out along the curb of the sidewalk, dumping the dirty gasoline down the nearest storm drain. Any cast surfaces were then repainted using automotive body filler where needed, and a high gloss enamel. Any bare metal surfaces such as handwheels, levers, etc, were polished using wire wheels and fine emery cloth and maybe a canvas wheel with buffing compound.
The real "rebuild" came with the "rescraping" of any previously scraped surfaces. These surfaces were polished off with emery cloth and then flake-scraped. In those days, the machine tool dealers did not have the power scrapers. Instead, they had mainly Eastern European immigrants who would hand flake scrape anything the boss told them to. They'd lay a nice uniform "fish scale" or "half moon" flake scraping on surfaces which were never checked for flatness, parallel, or anything else.
Any lettering on the machine tool castings was highlighted with a contrasting color enamel.
When these guys got done, the machine tools were moved into the showroom, packed in tight as sardines in a can. A coating of oil was applied to the "rebuilt" machine tools and under the ceiling lights, they shone and sparkled.
If you were interested in a machine tool, it was a case of "caveat emptor", or buyer beware. The dealer might represent the machine as "having been gone through" by his mechanics, or make some other claims (machine tool saw little use, was a toolroom machine, etc). At that point, the dealers were fine with a prospective buyer checking over the machine tool, and would usually bring out a lead cord with heavy alligator clips to power it up for the prospective buyer.
Tales of heavily worn lathes (which were known as "swaybacks", as the bedway wear was similar to an old, hard used horse's back), and tales of having the bores in the heads of mills and drills "restored" by raising burrs with a punch so the quills would fit snugly were well known. The dealers knew it was unlikely that a prospective buyer was going to show up with a test bar, camelback straightedges and similar to check a used lathe. The dealers asked a fairly high price to start with, and the bargaining and banter was part of the game. I think some of those dealers would go into cardiac arrest if a customer did NOT start off bargaining and trading a few friendly insults.
Some dealers were scrupulously honest, and often simply displayed machine tools in "as removed" condition with little cleanup and no new paint. We tended to trust those guys and the machine tools they sold a lot more than the "freshly rebuilt" or "I had my guys go through this machine, it had low use, and it's like new.." types.These latter type of dealers were on the same page as some used car salesmen. These latter types were probably horse traders in the old country, and it was common during the bargaining process to throw this belief at the dealer.
The buyers had their own ways of inspecting used machine tools and a few simply checks would usually tell enough of the tale to give a more realistic picture of the true condition. This resulted in some serious bargaining, if the buyer did not walk away from the "deal". Usually, the deals were closed with a handshake, and the dealer would pull a bottle of whisky out of a battered file cabinet and find two glasses. A belt of whisky and wishing each other well also sealed the deal. The next step was to go out in the street and be pounced upon by the riggers and machinery movers who were circling, having a sixth sense for when a deal would be closed on the sale of a machine tool.
It's all bygone days, and I remember it quite well. Older machinists and shop owners knew who the honest dealers were and who the real pirates and horse traders were.
I learned the tales of the used machine tool dealers from the older machinists and shop owners, as well as from the late Dave Sobel. With todays ebay, we are seeing a similar sort of thing. Add a distance factor where a bidder may buy a used machine tool without ever personally inspecting or checking it over, and we can only imagine what kind of situations can result. Again, "caveat emptor"- let the buyer beware- should be the rule of the day.
Plainly, the old adage that "all that shines is not gold", or "if it looks too good to be true.. it probably is too good to be true" pertained with those used machine tool dealers of years ago. My own suspicions are this same line of thinking pertains to the two lathes listed on ebay. The odds of finding two lathes as old as the Hendey and the P & W in that good a condition are not too likely. A thorough cleaning and a coat of enamel and some superficial flake scraping may be what is really the case here. I like the old classic engine lathes, but then, I am not in business as a machine shop. I "came up" learning on and using these older engine lathes, and "came up" using HSS tooling. For a maintenance machine shop or similar, these older engine lathes are still good machine tools. However, at 7 grand, they are priced at several times what a realistic price would be.