What's new
What's new

Hardinge HVL-H - would you buy it?

Mootsman

Plastic
Joined
Aug 16, 2018
Hello All

I'm looking what I believe is a Hardinge HVL-H offered for sale somewhat close to me. Please correct me if I have the wrong model designation.

The machine is a little crusty but the operator says it was making parts for .50 cal automatics until it was recently taken out of service.

I'm mostly concern with accuracy and wear over time. I can handle rust removal, restoration, etc.

I'm unsure of the year but the serial number is J1759S7/010



Here are some pics...

LATHE_01.JPGLATHE_02.JPGLATHE_03.jpgLATHE_04.JPGLATHE_05.JPG




Asking price is $1500. Thoughts on the price compared to the condition?

Thanks in advance,
Shawn
 
That is an HLV, made from 1950 to 1960. It has a 5" wide bed. It is an early one with the hand crank speed changer, probably before 1955. I would bet it is pretty worn after 65 years of use. That number is not a Hardinge USA serial number, which would be between 100 and maybe 500 or so. The plate indicates it was made in England.

Larry
 
That is a price to move it. It is not a H model but a old HLV from the early 50's.
It's better to get something that has been untouched by the inexperienced rebuilder.
Did you notice the power requirement of 440v/50Hz. A step-down transformer will be need.

Take a look at this for inspiration:

Rebuilding a Hardinge HLV Toolroom Lathe
 
I knew someone would know the details!

Larry - thanks for the insight on the age and origin.

Rons - thanks for the advice. I don't need it per se but was curious if it was worth the purchase.

I definitely don't want to get into scraping or machining the ways on this one.

Shawn
 
That is nasty :(


Does come with the optional ferrous trioxide hard coat on the ways, Sami.

At that price, might not be a terrible second operation lathe if the spindle bearings and drive are still good and there's a not-too-worn bed and saddle under the rust? Might be worth a look if nearby - just a decent 6 jaw chuck has value and that might be a Royal interchangeable type live center in the tailstock. Likely, though, it's all worn . . . the 3 jaw chucked in a 6 jaw doesn't inspire confidence and who "making good parts just weeks ago" let's a good lathe get that rusty.
 
It appears that it was a functioning machine ,that was dragged home and put in a shed.The person didn't even have enough sense to throw some used motor oil on it now and then.I would jump on it for $1500.Dont move any of the slides until lots of wd 40.Then scotch bright6 in one hand and shop vac in other hand.In other words ,don't drag the crud in to bad places. Edwin Dirnbeck
 
I personally would not buy it. I don't know the tool market in Tennessee. In California, used HLV and HLV-H come up with some frequency at that price. The one you posted looks like it suffered years of abuse long before it got surface rust. Surface rust is not much of a problem, but I see smashed/messed up dings and places all over it. It could be fine, but that does not bode well. I've rebuilt a lot of machines at this point -- it's usually worth your time to wait for a better one that needs less work/parts. What responsible lathe owner gets spraypaint on the tailstock or puts that many scratches/dings around the headstock and controls?

I've dragged home machines that were more beat than this and made them pretty, but they were things like disc sanders that are hard to break.
 
It appears that it was a functioning machine ,that was dragged home and put in a shed....

Maybe. Usually machines like that get put out in the shed because they don't work anymore, for some reason.

This lathe is going to be a long hard slog if somebody wants to get it halfway to working as well as it was when it was new. Even for $1.5K I'd probably say
no thanks.
 
The visible rust on the important surfaces does seem to be the thin and not-yet-pitted variety, close to orange "surface rust". So it may not be as bad in terms of rust, as it might be.

I'm really not seeing the "beaten with a chain" appearance that was mentioned, mostly what I see looks like typical wear and tear. And a good deal of the surface stuff looks to be dings in the "bondo" type smoothing filler.

Mostly looks like a good deal of use, and deferred maintenance. Very typical of shop machines.

That is not to say that it would not have "surprises". They all do, even the very clean ones. And the pics are not the best for assessing condition in detail of the bed, etc.
 
I appreciate all the feedback.

I don't see many of these come up for sale in TN which is why I wanted some opinions.

I'm just finishing alot of refurb work on an 18" Mazak from 1963 - it's quite a big lathe for making small parts I'm learning.

I thought I'd pick up a small lathe such as a Hardinge or a Monarch (precise and easy to use) but I don't believe this is the ideal candidate.

Thanks again everyone for the opinions.
 








 
Back
Top