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Warner & Swasey No. 2 turret lathe in the high desert of Nevada

darronb

Aluminum
Joined
May 19, 2003
Location
Reno, Nevada, USA
Howdy all,

There's an old turret lathe a couple miles from my place here in northern Nevada.

The property owner died, and his son is trying to liquidate the HUGE collection of old cars, trucks, parts thereof and at least this one machine tool.

It's a Warner & Swasey Number 2 turret lathe.

It appears to be essentially complete, and has a modern single-phase motor on it (originally an open flat-belt machine, later converted to a gear transmission).

It was tarped at one point, but like much else on the property, has long been neglected, and is rusty.

I can probably get it back to my place without a major hassle, and it's probably going to be VERY cheap, assuming I'm even willing to make an offer.

My question is, is there enough interest in parts from these old turret lathes to make it worth my time to haul it back to my own hoard and part it out to those in need?

The lathe is in Golconda, Nevada, about 15 miles east of Winnemucca, and about two miles from Interstate 80.

Darron

PXL_20210320_001455126.jpg PXL_20210319_224654857.jpg PXL_20210319_224750375.jpg
PXL_20210319_224723509.jpg PXL_20210319_224726906.jpg

P.S.: A set of full-resolution photos can be found in my Microsoft OneDrive album here:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!ArngPOZxkcQuoNQ1LuySIu3U0ZXVzw?e=fC2iB7
 
Tough call, how cheap is it? Chuck might be salvageable, someone might need the collets, do the legs un-bolt?

I don't have a price yet, but it would have to be in the "scrap value" range for me to consider it.

The legs do unbolt, I believe, and I would probably move it by disassembling into major pieces onsite, since either refurbing it or parting out would require that, anyway.

Darron
 
The sad fact is that Blob has pretty much the highest and best use idea for it.

First, good running, modern-ish turret lathes have minimal value at best.

Second, older flat-belt, plain-bearing-era versions have even less value.

Third, rusty, left-out-in-the-weather, flat-belt-era turrets have basically none at all beyond whatever scrap is going for, minus the effort and fuel to get it to the yard.

As I see it, there's three options:

One, scrap it. You scrap it or the family scraps it.

Two, pick it up for a project, knowing it's basically valueless, and refurbish it just for a retirement project or as some sort of display. It's not impossible, although very unlikely, you could find a machine museum of some sort that might want it- as a donation- after it's been refurbished. No matter what it's be a "labor of love" thing, done just for the fun of it.

Or three, bring it home and park it in the garden as yard art.

And I say all this as a fan of turret lathes, and after having just recently sunk a great deal of time and money into rebuilding a somewhat newer No. 2.

Doc.
 
The sad fact is that Blob has pretty much the highest and best use idea for it.

First, good running, modern-ish turret lathes have minimal value at best.

Second, older flat-belt, plain-bearing-era versions have even less value.

Third, rusty, left-out-in-the-weather, flat-belt-era turrets have basically none at all beyond whatever scrap is going for, minus the effort and fuel to get it to the yard.

As I see it, there's three options:

One, scrap it. You scrap it or the family scraps it.

Two, pick it up for a project, knowing it's basically valueless, and refurbish it just for a retirement project or as some sort of display. It's not impossible, although very unlikely, you could find a machine museum of some sort that might want it- as a donation- after it's been refurbished. No matter what it's be a "labor of love" thing, done just for the fun of it.

Or three, bring it home and park it in the garden as yard art.

And I say all this as a fan of turret lathes, and after having just recently sunk a great deal of time and money into rebuilding a somewhat newer No. 2.

Doc.


Very valid advice.

Thank you,
Darron
 
Thanks.

You might like some of my other "artsy" machine tool photos, then:

Machine tools | Flickr

Darron
How do you do that with the camera or what makes those photos look so artistic?

There's a great industrial photographer around here I have posted some of his work on this site Emory Roth, he uses similar techniques and the photos look so neat.

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk
 
Nice pics on your site. Like the 18-8 Hendey . Have a 8 foot I’m getting ready to get running again
 
Glad to see it rescued, rather than scrapped. Even with no real monetary value, machines like that are fairly rare, and there's fewer of them every day.

What are your plans for it?

Doc.
 
The legs might be very cool to make a kitchen table for my "Hovel", as well...

It's a machine-tool. The legs fit-in with that need.

If you can't fab legs that look better and WORK better for a kitchen table, you should take your meals at 7-Eleven.

:D

I've been TRYING - and FAILING - to bump my knee or trip over a leg or foot for the better part of forty year with this simple type:

Standard Height Column Table Base

My one cost me next to nothing. Big disk at floor, tapered edge. Small disk at top. Ignorant tube. Use two for a longer, rectangular table.

"Cool" is all about the part you can SEE.

The top.

Solid cherry, laminated like a Bally bartop for the variety in the grain.

Marble. Granite. Glass, even.

The nice Redwood BURL bought in Richmond, Cali that I've been putting-off finishing for a tad over 30 years whilst it seasons to damn-near armour-plate.

You want "cool"?

But a set of these for legs. Careful now you "position" them..

Inspirational Dining Table legs

Might miss tripping .... but bump yer head?

:D
 








 
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