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Big girls need lovin too

alittlerusty

Plastic
Joined
Oct 9, 2014
Or so I have heard...
Came across this Leblond 21" Heavy Duty, while out lurking on a mill. Seems to be in good running order except for a stripped out cross feed nut. The owner says the lathe weighs at 14000 Lbs and he doesn't expect for someone to want it. He estimates he could get around $800 for it "cut up for scrap", although he would hate doing that.
Big bottom
Drive me out of my mind.
How can I leave this behind?
 

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Wonderful old timer. NF 4408 is from 1928

Here is its slightly larger 23" brother

View attachment 297265

Since it is not real long it weighs way less than 14,000 - like under 8,000

Here is spec sheet on 21 and 23 from those days

View attachment 297269

Not very far away in OK is this wretchedly raised 23

Metal working lathe - tools - by owner - sale

have fun

Long tall Sally,she ain't.
Thanks John,
I was wondering about the manufacture date and what kind of head stock bearings she had. I am buying the fellow's 1968(Navy) Cincinnati 205-12 Cinova 80 universal mill. I've already got the wife's attention and this lathe would be hard to get past her. However, I would hate to see it go to scrap. I kind of have my heart set on a Pratt & Whitney 16 x 54 C if one should ever show up near here. I just missed out on this exact lathe early this spring. Anyways, if anyone wanted to save this LeBlond lathe, it sits a couple miles north of Prescott KS. Please, be my guest. I will get you and the owner in touch. Otherwise me and this Big Baby may wind up on thin ice. I wonder if could she make me happy. After all I'm just a retired piddler.
 
Dang, John.
I'm going to have to try and sort this out. I wonder if the mounted motor, as opposed to the line shaft, would point to a Temkinized head stock. I also need to check if there is a steady rest present. The owner is about to spend a week in Colorado with his wife on their Harley. I'm going to pick up the mill when they return. I guess it would not hurt to make some inquiries as to getting the lathe the 100 miles home.
 
Not very far away in OK is this wretchedly raised 23

Metal working lathe - tools - by owner - sale

have fun

I think that's actually a "Travesty", John.

Same folks as make open-toed safety boots, bald tires, teflon-lined brake shoes, chickn' wire parachutes, whiskey jugs as have holes in the bottom, and hire-out ladies of the evening who have none of the above.

:(
"Wretched" indeed!
 
Not sure how you would tell plain from Timken unless enough covers were off - and it would be quite a project to have the top off - since the motor is sitting on same

Maybe tell tale covers like here

Le  Blond Timkens Crop A.jpg





Dang, John.
I'm going to have to try and sort this out. I wonder if the mounted motor, as opposed to the line shaft, would point to a Temkinized head stock. I also need to check if there is a steady rest present. The owner is about to spend a week in Colorado with his wife on their Harley. I'm going to pick up the mill when they return. I guess it would not hurt to make some inquiries as to getting the lathe the 100 miles home.
 
It would be a long shot that LeBlond could pull this information from the serial number. I'm just going to have to spend some quality time with the machine. I was trying to focus on the mill, but the gravity emanating from that lathe was working on me. The last thing I said, looking down from the operators position was: "This is a tractor."
 
If it will squeeze 120 or longer between centers I'd say $800 is fair for the work it needs to make any money with it. Making new nuts is a job. Not rocket science, but it isn't a 30 minute job.

If it's a shorter bed the value drops exponentially as it gets shorter. It just isn't worth the shop space and repair cost for the lack of earning potential.

There's a local lathe like that one (about 24x80 or so L&S open gearhead that came over on the Mayflower) that has traded hands between three different friends of mine. The last guy to get it called me excited right after he bought it FROM THE SCRAPYARD. He's telling me all about it and I didn't have the heart to tell him I told another friend to scrap that thing a month earlier. The only one to make money with that lathe is the scrapyard. They buy it for $100 and sell it for $500 rinse and repeat.
 
Gauging by the OSB seams and apparently 16" lines marked on the wall behind the lathe, I think the bed length is in the 120" neighborhood. The owner did attempt to remake the nut. He had trouble with the bore bar he had "grabbing and chattering" in that bronze. He was using a much more modern and much less intimidating Leblond he had purchased from a local trade school. I believe he said it was a 5 horsepower lathe. That lathe has since been sold to an Amish individual who intends to convert it to honest to God horsepower. I would have thought he would have taken the 21". The owner did say he also bought the tap to thread the nut, but apparently didn't get any farther along with the job. I suppose one could chase the threads with that tap after getting very close with a bore bar tool. I will spend some time looking over the lathe when the owner returns in a week or so.
 
Dang I love it! Leblond was not kidding around when they made that thing. I love those low angle Vee ways. They looks to be in decent shape too?
 
I love those low angle Vee ways.

Sturdy Beast (this from 1911 I think) and incidentally a good shot of the two screw tool post

LB Heavy Bed.jpg

In those days the T/A was on a massive bracket bolted to and positionable on the bed
 








 
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