South Bend lathes have withstood the test of time because they were well built, extremely simple, and accurate.
As I look at mine, I constantly wonder what precludes the exact design of those from the 50's through the 80's from being duplicated today, at a reasonable cost?
I'm assumingsomething about one or more of the manufacturing processes required would be cost prohibitive, but damned if I can figure out what it would be...
I know Grizzly tried something like this with their re-make of the H10- and I've heard that was one hell of a fine machine- but not like the originals with many modern "upgrades" like inverter powered motor, etc. I think Grizzly would have had a successful product, had they stuck with the old "ways". Why not just go back to a simple, line-bored, cast iron headstock and belt drive?
Why would these old designs, cost more to manufacture? I realize that there are those that prefer geared head machines- but one of the attractive features of the belt drives is adequate power for home shops as well as light job shops- and the fact that chucking up usually won't cause severe damage to the machine.
As I look at mine, I constantly wonder what precludes the exact design of those from the 50's through the 80's from being duplicated today, at a reasonable cost?
I'm assumingsomething about one or more of the manufacturing processes required would be cost prohibitive, but damned if I can figure out what it would be...
I know Grizzly tried something like this with their re-make of the H10- and I've heard that was one hell of a fine machine- but not like the originals with many modern "upgrades" like inverter powered motor, etc. I think Grizzly would have had a successful product, had they stuck with the old "ways". Why not just go back to a simple, line-bored, cast iron headstock and belt drive?
Why would these old designs, cost more to manufacture? I realize that there are those that prefer geared head machines- but one of the attractive features of the belt drives is adequate power for home shops as well as light job shops- and the fact that chucking up usually won't cause severe damage to the machine.