Art & Inspiration school me on benchtop lathes

A decent south bend with a lot of tooling can be had for less than $1,000. I had a Model C that I bought for 600 and sold for 600. I have a Model A I bought for $650 with a lot of tooling. Just keep searching one will pop up

 

i couldn't be without my 1941 Logan lathe

 

my wifes grandfather was a machinist and he willed me a bunch of stuff a drill press some grinding and polishing machines a horizontal band saw and a bitchin south bend lathe. this thing is amazing, it can make threads and all kinds of other stuff beyond my skill set. when i was growing up i always wanted a south bend i think they're the best.

 

Deuces- Very informative site.....Thanks

 

Hard not to love an old Logan, '49 I believe.
Also some pic's of some tooling I got with it that I don't use, that I know anything about, that will be posted for sale or trade!

 

i see your Logan has a quick change gear box , mine doesn't but i have all the gears to change by hand

i would love to have that steady rest

 

A good way to get to use machines without buying them is to take a night class at a technical college. They have all types of machines and the tooling for them as well as advice from the instructor or others taking the course to use the machines.

 

Id really just like a smaller one first. Like i said its alot to do with space at the moment. And i think a 10" will make everything ill want for cars or bikes. If i can find maybe a 16 in my price range ill grab it but other than that ill probly just get a small one to tinker with. Thanks for all the replies guys

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I got 3 11" x 36" Sheldons at a school district auction for $126 , 2 were pretty well cannabllized but I managed to build one nice machine from the pieces. These had tags indicating they were hand-me-downs from the US Navy,probably used for trainers from the looks of the ways on the worst one. In the deal was the steel bench and belt drive changer, the head is back geared and I don't mind flipping a belt . Someone told me once that the military used to give priority to schools on disposal sales.

 

Green: That is not a bad price for the Atlas and parts are all over Ebay. BUT Try to get one with the QC gearbox ,change gear lathes with a pile of gears to change feeds are a PITA !! To me that is as small as I would want to go. Stay awyay from the mini import lathes as they are limp. I perfer a Logan over SBs and Atlas . Also a lathe that does NOT use a chuck that threads on is prefered. I have a 12X36 and a 18X40 both Chinese. The little one is damm accurate now new selling for about $3500. Big one about 13K $. Avoid old well worn stuff no matter where made and how cheap!

 

yeah the bigger lathes are just flat outta my price range in most cases. 450 seems pretty good for a great working lathe with some tooling. we will see. itll be this weekend before i can get down there and check it out

 

Look for a 9' or 10' South Bend they are better quality than the Atlas etc. Get as many accesories as possable. A 3 jaw chuck a 4 jaw one, faceplates, collets etc. There are books out there showing how to run them. I have a 9" made in 1938 works fine. There is a web site full of information and E-Bay usually has 100's of parts listed. I have an original catalog covering my unit and a book from South Bend explaining how to run a lathe.

 

i havent found any south bends, ive read a lot of good things on atlas though. the guy who has the 10" atlas has all the original manuals, paperwork, etc etc. pretty much everything. thing works great and its got a drawer full of tooling with it. it was his dads lathe. he wants 450 with a bench so i may try to work him down some since i dont need the bench

 

Actually, my first machine was 8 foot with a 14" swing, and had the bored head for pieces longer than 8 foot. I paid 100 for it, used it for a while, and sold it for 200. I then bought a 10x48 that is a big frame machine, and the bed has an out feed to open the gap more than 2 more feet. It is a 220 volt belt drive, and I have made a lot of parts on it. I paid 200 for it, and 100 for the tow truck to send a rollback to haul it to my house. The bigger machines are getting scrapped because noone seems to want to buy them. So they can be had for a song. I understand the space limitations though, they do take up some real estate!

 

If the bench is in good shape take it. A lathe has to be level and true between centers in order to work properly.

 

Man those are some super useful accessories you have there. Looks like a boring bar ( machining inside holes) milling attachment, taper attachment, knurling tools, 4 jaw chuck, etc. I would learn how to use them all rather get rid of them they will open up a whole new world of what you can do on your lathe.


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Any lathe is always better then none.You wont really know what you like or dislike till you get one. Any one. After that you will be a lot wiser (and happier too. ) And even if you dont like it you will still be able to make stuff you cant now.
Don

 

Those are plain beautiful. I love the idustrial look they have, both mirror of their own era. The Hendley is my favorite. Stuff that belongs in a museum if not used. My dream is having a shop with such timeless tools, and obviously use them.

Another beautiful piece.

Really, with this year xmas bonus i need to chose between a lathe or the new repopped 5.20s...If i get a lathe i'd probably never sleep anymore for a couple of months. LOL

 

Buy the largest you have space for.

 

i found a few south bends. they all seem to be almost double the price of equal size atlas lathes. at least from what ive seen. still looking.....

 

Going on Practical Machinist and asking about a benchtop lathe would compare to asking how to R@! R@/) a car on here, go to The Home Shop Machinist and you will have better luck.

 

Man,get a switch guard on that switch.Ever seen what happens when a chip gets in there and arcs across.Been there/done that.Great looking lathe.

 

I was thinking of just the damage when you reach up without looking and grab the poles of the switch. I hate resetting the circuit breaker

 

No worries, I have the guard, was getting some sparks from the contacts so cleaned them up some, may have to replace the switch. Thanks for your concerns though!

An old German owned the Lathe and for awhile was making rifle barrels with it. I think some of the tooling is a tracer of some sort that bolted to the back side of the bed........................

 

should be the taper attachement for cutting tappers.

 

If that was on CL around here for $450 it would be gone the first day. I would grab it. You can always upgrade later and get your $ back.

 

I have a 1932 South Bend, 40" bed, 9" swing...4 jaw chuck, gave the widow woman $100 and she asked if I wanted the big wooden box of junk in the other room...
Wow.

I called South Bend and talked to a lady in the office...she sent me plastic covered sheets of the original manual, (black 'negative' print with white lettering)

I love that machine. Wish it would grow, though..

 

Sure it's a1932? I believe the first year model of the 9" was 1934. That's what we I.D.ed mine as.
http://www.lathes.co.uk/southbendmodelfive9inch/
Before:

After:

 

Model 405...have one just like it w/3 jaw chuck..., mine is a '36 near as I can tell....I tend to use the 16x60 Shanghi shaker more though.....Shawn