What is the going price for a 1A Warner Swasey Lathe ?

antique lathe · Jan 28, 2014

Hi, I would like to know what a 1A Warner Swasey lathe is worth nowadays.
I found one that is a 1943. Old but still in good shape. Seems complete. Not beet up just dirty. 12" chuck, toolpost, and several holders in turret. No tooling or manuals. Any ideas would be helpful. Thank you.

johnoder · Jan 28, 2014

Scrap or less. Too big for home shop guys that just have to have a 3, 4 or 5 ram type ( a 1A is the smallest of the SADDLE TYPE). I.E., about 6000 Lbs at the outside, so 4-500 bucks max - if you bother to go to effort and expense of dragging it across the scales at the scrap yard. This is highly likely to result in a negative value - less for scrap than it took to get it there.

antique lathe said:
Hi, I would like to know what a 1A Warner Swasey lathe is worth nowadays.
I found one that is a 1943. Old but still in good shape. Seems complete. Not beet up just dirty. 12" chuck, toolpost, and several holders in turret. No tooling or manuals. Any ideas would be helpful. Thank you.

alskdjfhg · Jan 28, 2014

And especially worthless, if it has no tooling.
Like JohnO said, too big for the hobbyists, but too small for the people who would be looking for a large turret lathe.

snowman · Jan 28, 2014

What they said.

Just saw a 2A and a 3A go for scrap at an auction last week.

I'm not sure what the work envelope is in a 1A, but it's probably pretty close to what I need given it's weight. I have been planning on buying a #3 as soon as the time is right.

The good thing is that I've got enough tooling for a few turret lathes right now, just no lathe.

toolsteel · Jan 28, 2014

No idea on pricing.....but it brings back good memories..... thinking of movin some steel on one of those. The sound of the chips hittin the pan.....(ran one straight out of tech. school......I wish I had half as much hair left on top of my head as chest hairs that were burned off running that thing lol )

Dupa3872 · Jan 28, 2014

toolsteel said:
No idea on pricing.....but it brings back good memories..... thinking of movin some steel on one of those. The sound of the chips hittin the pan.....(ran one straight out of tech. school......I wish I had half as much hair left on top of my head as chest hairs that were burned off running that thing lol )

Same here spent many days on a #3 and a great #5 Man you could do some nice work on those. It's a lost art you had to think and want to be good at it.

wgnrr1 · Jan 28, 2014

I have a No 4 that I paid $51.00. Good working machine, and I don't ever regret the little investment. Machine paid for itself in 10 minutes.

Josh

Steve's Hobby · Jan 28, 2014

Now a 1A is a very nice machine really, I have a regular #3 and it kicks out parts, well about 50 and I kinda get burned out, but I guess I will have to make them on my Mazak quick turn, set up takes time, parts are expensive, but… plenty around, Ghar Machine in Ohio is always helpful and if it runs and you can take the time to learn its sweet, just make sure where you put it you don' have to move it, not really that portable, figure minimum two thou or so in repairs plus that or more for tooling, but….if you have tons of money, CNC is the way to go, but still have both or start with what you can afford. Personally, I think I would pay somewhat more, say from Ghar or the folks in Colombus or some one whom knows the machines, pay for the expertise and get one that you know will run, you will save money in the long run, although I have heard here that some folks get great deals at say HGR, but my luck is not that great so, get one that has been checked out, seems like most of the old timers that know the machines are in the Ohio, midwest area.

alonzo83 · Jan 30, 2014

Come on guys. please tell me you were being sarcastic about the scrap price.

This a short video I took. There were about 40 f ups from the plasma table guys.

I kicked her up a bit after the coolant got turned on and I stopped recording. DOC was 5/8" deep A36. These machines don't bow down. They are a roughing machine built to remove a lot of material in a timely fashion.

VID_20131025_160343_940.mp4 Video by jones6037 | Photobucket

wgnrr1 · Jan 30, 2014

No joke about scrap price. These machines are not desirable compared to CNC. I personally would rather have a good manual over a CNC.

I love my old worn to shit No. 4. It makes lots of money and is fun to run. Also was my cheapest machine.

Josh

alskdjfhg · Jan 30, 2014

It's a sad truth that the machines that won WWII, are now only worth their weight after being chopped up.
With the advent of CNC they were reduced to scrap.
That's not too say they aren't good machines (would love to have about a #5 or even a 1A), but technology has eclipsed them.

timvercoe · Jan 30, 2014

Ok I am hooked, I am setting up a gisholt #5 to do some alternator parts. Few yrs ago I bought a W/S #4 and the gisholt. Then Found a foundry/machine shop converting from turret lathes to CNC turning centers I bought 4 pallets of tooling, some really cool things, too many to list. So if your looking for tooling I might have duplicates, or things I don't intend to use that I would pass on. I bought both lathes for scrap price. The gisholt operates the warner swasey too many problems to repair. Would sure be willing to part it out.

Tim

Oldwrench · Jan 30, 2014

I have about the same sentimental regard for turret lathes as I have for a 1954 Mercury. Nice to look at, brings back fond memories, but drive it for 250 miles and you understand why today's cars are what they are. The W&S A-types were the pinnacle of production machine tool evolution. But at one time or another that could have been said of anything.

For those who never experienced the thrill, you can simulate operating a ram-type turret lathe by doing butterflies with 20-lb dumbbells until you pass out. For a saddle type I think shoveling snow would come close.

alonzo83 · Jan 30, 2014

Oldwrench said:
For those who never experienced the thrill, you can simulate operating a ram-type turret lathe by doing butterflies with 20-lb dumbbells until you pass out. For a saddle type I think shoveling snow would come close.

That explains my weight loss since running the kearney trucker mill and the W/S lathe for a month or two. . . It is a good thing.

How much does a cnc machine cost that takes the same type of roughing cut an old W/S can?

johnoder · Feb 4, 2014

Here is an out-of-touch character in NE Texas with a 2A for sale.

machine shop tools

alskdjfhg · Feb 4, 2014

johnoder said:
Here is an out-of-touch character in NE Texas with a 2A for sale.

machine shop tools

LOL, I've been laughing at that guy for months.

Mmtz · Feb 4, 2014

johnoder said:
Here is an out-of-touch character in NE Texas with a 2A for sale.

machine shop tools

No kidding about him being out of touch!! That ad has been there for about 3 months +/- so far, same price and same attitude from day one. I actually wanted to reach out to him when it first came out but then again once I saw prices and read the whole thing I figured I wasn't the right person to make him waste his time.

Here is the whole ad for the record or in case there are any takers here:

antique lathe · Feb 4, 2014

Well thanks to everyone for your impute. I went to look at the 1A again yesterday. I would like to have it. It would be nice for my collection, plus it would fit in nice for some jobs. But at the asking price at four times of scrap, I am going to wait awhile and see if I can strike a deal. I will keep everyone posted.
Thank you.

Mmtz · Feb 4, 2014

More pics

Mmtz · Feb 4, 2014

Couple more

What is the going price for a 1A Warner Swasey Lathe ?

Aluminum

Diamond

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Titanium

Stainless

Hot Rolled

Cast Iron

Stainless

Hot Rolled

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Titanium

Stainless

Diamond

Diamond

Aluminum

Aluminum

Aluminum

Aluminum

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