Rivett 608 for sale on eBah

Not sure if this is the proper forum for this, but just saw this Rivett 608 pop up for sale on eBay. I don’t see these very often.


Rivett precision lathe 8 1/2 swing | eBay



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

There is so little left of it that it is really a parts machine in many ways. The entire change gear setup is missing, the tool holder is totally wrong. The headstock appears to be set up for grease, not oil, The compound slideway has had something evil happen to it. there is not a dial on any of the feeds, and the list continues.

I have a 608, which I am slowly refurbishing. I bought it for $460, and it had MUCH more of the correct parts and pieces with it than that bare parts machine has, although it needed a lot of work. I'd put that one in the ad as a "several hundred dollar" set of basic parts. and there is reason to question the probable goodness of them.

Probably parts machine is not even a good description, because there ARE very few "parts" with it. Maybe the bed is good.

I wasn’t aware. Don’t know much about those particular lathes. I have a 1020 so I watch for Rivett listings. First 608 I’d seen pop up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not an issue... the seller is the clueless (or greedy) person in this.

Those 1020s seem like a very nice machine comparable to a 10EE.... Much more generally useful than the 608, which is a "lab" or old time toolmaker/optical/instrument maker/modelmaker lathe, or possibly "rich guy's toy". I have mine because I could not turn it down on account of the cool factor, I have the basic ability to fix it, and because a fair bit of what I do would benefit from that type/quality of machine.

I like the oily rag laying on top of the propane heater. Gives you a good idea of the seller's frame of mind.

RCPDesigns said:

I like the oily rag laying on top of the propane heater. Gives you a good idea of the seller's frame of mind.

Click to expand...

How about the 2x4 stack holding up the motor..

Yeah, that was another item on the list. It just keeps going... there is way more missing than is left. Makes a person wonder about all the hidden things that do not show in the photos.

If you need a "new" bed, that might be a candidate, if the price comes down to a reasonable number. Or not. Just don;t count on anything much from the carriage or crosslide, it looks like those got stripped as well as damaged.