South Bend 10k and 9a

I just made a sweet deal for a 10k and 9a lathe. The 10k has the UMD cabinet with drawbar and 10 collets, follow rest, 3 and 4 jaw chucks, faceplates dogs, and a bunch of tooling. I just cleaned it up and painted it. The pale green on it was not a great color as you can see on the 9a. Looks better now. The 9a I still have to clean up and paint. The 10k has hardly any wear and the 9a too. On the 9a I never saw such a small 1/3 HP 3ph motor I don't know whether to go vfd or just swap it. The 10k has already been switched to 110v. They were both sitting in a guys shop collecting dust and being used as a catch all. I picked them both up for $1300. Can't wait to use it after the paint dries.

Great deal, enjoy.

Would putting the 10k on casters be a bad idea or should it be on adjustable feet? Since space is tight in my shop I don't know if casters would really effect the bed for twist or levelness or does that really matter since its only 3 1/2' bed. What do you guys think? Thanks

Fregoe said:

Would putting the 10k on casters be a bad idea or should it be on adjustable feet? Since space is tight in my shop I don't know if casters would really effect the bed for twist or levelness or does that really matter since its only 3 1/2' bed. What do you guys think? Thanks

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If you put runners between the legs and put casters on the runners you can still have adjustable feet on the legs. If you move it often it may be a pain leveling it with each move. I don't know how critical level is but a twist isn't good.
I think this subject has different opinions.

This lathe belongs to a member. add casters

Fregoe said:

Would putting the 10k on casters be a bad idea or should it be on adjustable feet? Since space is tight in my shop I don't know if casters would really effect the bed for twist or levelness or does that really matter since its only 3 1/2' bed. What do you guys think? Thanks

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Twist affects any bed length. It affects the accuracy of the work.

Putting the 10k on wheels is a non-issue. Lathes do not have to level to be accurate. They have to be straight. Level, per say, is nothing but a convenient reference to establish "straight". In the case of all cabinet mounted lathes, like your 10k, straight is established between the lathe bed and the cabinet with leg shims.

steve-l said:

Putting the 10k on wheels is a non-issue. Lathes do not have to level to be accurate. They have to be straight. Level, per say, is nothing but a convenient reference to establish "straight". In the case of all cabinet mounted lathes, like your 10k, straight is established between the lathe bed and the cabinet with leg shims.

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Not completely true. Even on cabinet mounted lathes the the interface between the cabinet and the floor affects the "straightness". Having wheels allows one to move the lathe but, most floors are not the same across the floor. Moving the lathe tweeks the cabinet as the levelness and smoothness of the floor changes. This then induces some twist in the bed.
Depending on how accurate you are trying to work, this may or may not be a problem.
We have three lathes mounted on factory cabinets, two heavy 10 and one 10K and we have checked this out in our shop.