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Need your help please - selling Dad's Model A Lathe

SandraH

Plastic
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Hi -
I hope you all can help. My Dad passed away and we have lots of tools & things to sell. He had this South Bend Model A lathe that someone made us an offer on ($1,200) and I need to know if it is fair? Also do would it include all the accessories -wrenches, collettes, cams and things that were in the drawers of the lathe table, I have no idea what they are? I dont remember if all the tools came with it or he acquired them after as needed - likely a bit of both. I do know he drove to Ohio when I was in high school to get it-so dad had it 40+ years.

I talked with a very nice man at South Bend - and its an older lathe (which I knew)-but he said you'all were the ones to aske about selling :) Lots of pictures attached. Happy to answer questions!
(and I really miss being able to just have him make something that broke and I cant find a replacement for on this lathe - anything you needed was a phone call away :()

IMG-1801.jpgIMG-1805.jpgIMG-1807.jpgIMG-4098.jpgIMG-4104.jpg
 
You have a 9" lathe that hasn't been used for a while. From what I can see, $1200 is a little on the low for price, but that all depends on what is in the drawers. Also, a close examination is needed to determine the final price - if it is in good condition, then maybe the price is a little higher, say $1800-2000. If it is in bad condition, then take the $1200 and run. Just remember that when someone buys it, they will probably have to put a lot of work in it to get it back into usable condition.

Since someone offered you $1200, you can assume that the buyer is low-balling you, because he sees value in the lathe. You could always counter, "Oh, I think that as well tooled as this lathe is that I am looking for more like $2000 for the package." He might just go for it.
 
A LOT more photos from stem to stern with a LOT more light, plus what's in the cabinet drawers
would be helpful. It doesn't look like a normal Model A with the big dials. There is a number stamped
in the bed on the far end. A photo of it would be helpful, or just write it down. The plate on the gearbox
(the thing with the holes in it) doesn't tell us anything really.

I think $1,200 is light. Where is this lathe by the way?
Yeah, that guy is trying to low-ball you.

(My kids will be having to go through this nightmare too before long)

PMc
 
The lathe looks real nice. There are areas of the country where things like this are hard to come by! Ask me how I know? lol If you have some time to check your local craigslist.org and search for South Bend Lathe. I just did and there are lots of lathes for sale in your area so we'll need to see pictures of the drawer contents to know how to help. If your Dad kept or used a lot of tooling that goes with the lathe it could easily be worth more than the lathe itself.
 
Short answer is the 1200 number is right in the fair ballpark. If the person making the offer was a friend of your dads, make it an even 1000.

If there's a lot of tooling not shown, then slightly more (few hundred) would be OK. If the main goal is clear the item out, the jump on the existing offer.
 
I think the $1200 is very fair. People on craigslist can ASK whatever they want. But the sad truth is machine tools that don't have a computer hooked to them are worth less and less everyday because the people that know how to use them are retiring/passing away faster than young people are being trained to replace them and many of the ones that do only learn CNC.
 
Thank you all - I will take some pictures of what is in the drawers today when I am there - just to be sure. We want to make sure we are not selling something incorrectly due to lack of knowledge. We had a person try to pull a fast one on us with something else and are now if anything overly conscious of it. My Dad did not raise 'average girls' with no mechanical know how ;).

I do not think he is intentionally low-balling. He has only seen it through the garage window and has bought some other tools from us and been fair - I think it is what he can afford and he plans to use the lathe in the same way my dad did - for car restoration/building. He would give it a good home and enjoy it thoroughly I know that. Just want to price/sell fairly.
 
Have you considered keeping it? Not to difficult to learn to use. Don't know the details but maybe you can purchase from estate?

I thought about it - briefly. But I wouldn't use it very often and my Dad taught us lots of other mechanical skills (I am a proficient auto mechanic). I am trying very hard to not fall into the trap he did of 'I will do it ALL myself for everything' - that doesn't always work and you dont get it all done. :)
 
the machine with just a 3 jaw chuck a tool holder with a bit a drill chuck and a center is your 1200 that's the big part gone now you take the collet holder and the rest of the tooling thats ez to ship and you put it on ebay so lots of tooling freaks can see it and that's were you make the real money i know a lot of you tire kickers won't like what i have to say but that's to bad the guy came here for info and that's how i see it i just sold a beat up ol 10 heavy and the tooling i talked about was all i had on it and i got 1600 and i have one more i am going to sale and i will get more for it so that's my .02
 
I think that's a reasonable price. If you're happy with the amount and you like who it's going to (ie. someone who'll use it like your Dad) then I couldn't think of a better sale to make. You could probably get another couple hundred or so if there's more tooling in the draws (4 jaw chuck, milling attachment) and you're patient, but then again you might not.
 








 
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