At the crossroads of South bend and Import lathes

[umahunter]

Look into the grizzly g0602 I love mine there's also plenty of documented mods and impovements on several websites and on youtube

 

[Ken from ontario]

This southbend lathe was sold under my nose for $1500, whoever owned it must have taken good care of it to ask so much but it is afterall in Canadian $, if or I'd better say when I look to buy a lathe, I'd fisrt look for something like the one In the picture before going for the imports but I've seen a few imports (new ones)and they have improved substantially compare to the older models which means either way you'll be alright:
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-power-tool/p...-9/1241715141?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

 

[Glenn Brooks]

Ken, that looked like a great lathe to get started. Very clean, but more importantly, the guy stated in excellent condition. Having just gone through refurbishing three lathes, I have to say, holding out for a lathe in very good condition is absolutely at the top of my list.

if I were to do it over I would either buy a new import, or rigorously hold out for that once a year used lathe in truly good condition. They are out there, but there are may more that are not- and more than a few that are promised in excellent shape, but are not. In fact, I've sort of concluded, the more jolly the seller, the worse off is his lathe.

Which brings me to holding tolerance - what you said above about not worrying to much about making precision parts. My guess is that what you will find out, and come to appreciate, after getting into the hobby, is that metal working is all about making precision parts. The reason is: Stuff must fit together to work. If not made to reasonable tolerance - usually a few thou or less for mating surfaces - you really will be wasting your time. And will be frustrated by making parts that don't fit together. For example, a 1" axle needs an interference fit less than a thou on a 4" live steam railroad rail car wheel to adhere to the axle. To loose, it will simply fall off. So iam sure you will find a need to hold parts to .001" . Which is not a big deal with decent equipment and a bit of experience learning. It's actually very satisfying to achieve this level of work.

I guess for me, being able to hold a thou tolerance when making parts is vitally important. New imports and many used lathes will do that. But lathes that are run out ... worn beyond their useful life... are nothing but Trouble. Grief, Trouble, aggravation, wasted time and lost money. If your two lathes have decent ways and can hold a .001" when turning down round stock - fix em up and have fun! If not, pack em out the door and find a replacement that holds tolerance. You will be a happy camper out in your shop for ever after!

Glenn

 

[Ken from ontario]

Ken, that looked like a great lathe to get started. Very clean, but more importantly, the guy stated in excellent condition. Having just gone through refurbishing three lathes, I have to say, holding out for a lathe in very good condition is absolutely at the top of my list.


Which brings me to holding tolerance - what you said above about not worrying to much about making precision parts. My guess is that what you will find out, and come to appreciate, after getting into the hobby, is that metal working is all about making precision parts. The reason is: Stuff must fit together to work. If not made to reasonable tolerance - usually a few thou or less for mating surfaces - you really will be wasting your time. And will be frustrated by making parts that don't fit together. For example, a 1" axle needs an interference fit less than a thou on a 4" live steam railroad rail car wheel to adhere to the axle. To loose, it will simply fall off. So iam sure you will find a need to hold parts to .001" . Which is not a big deal with decent equipment and a bit of experience learning. It's actually very satisfying to achieve this level of work.

Glenn

Glen, I agree with the point you made about metalworking is all about making precision parts, I guess you were quoting the OP, Rick.

 

[MozamPete]

... the knowledge gained during that project was well worth the effort. Nothing will educate you more on the inner workings of your machine than taking it down to the last bolt.

Totally agree, when I brought my mill I dismantled it at the previous owners (with his help) to load it in pieces into my pickup for transport. When I got it home I thought 'well as it is in pieces already' and stripped it even further to check everything out, give it a clean and a fresh coat of paint, I then reassembled it. I now know that machine inside out which helps me use it.

So I'm with Strantor, as you have them already build up one machine from the best parts of both. Personally I would just keep the leftovers for spares - you do make mistakes while learning and occasionally that unfortunately result in damage so having them on hand is a nice backup. You can always sell them off in the future once you feel you have more experience and the risk is reduced.

 

[Bob Korves]

Good advice from Glenn. I bought my lathe in essentially new condition, might have had 15 minutes of light use on it, at about a 40% discount from the new price when on sale. I picked it up locally. It had no issues but had sat around for 4-5 years, so the cleanup entailed some additional grime beyond the cosmoline that was still on 80% of the bare metal. And it is a Chinese machine, so everything needed to be aligned and checked for tightness and the molasses looking oil in the three gearboxes changed. Still, it was new, undamaged, and relatively cheap. I see people who pick up old lathes with extensive visual damage and wear, and then want to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. They put a lot of work and a lot of money in those machines and still have issues with wear and damaged parts even after all the work and money is invested. Truly rare and antique lathes are certainly exceptions for people who love rare old iron for itself, not so much what it can make for them. Most South Bend, Atlas, Logan and other common lathes are plentiful and are simply not in that category. They are often just worn, damaged, neglected, and abused. They also often can not do the same class of work that more modern high speed lathes can do. It is nice to be able to set a lathe in place and just use it as is, perhaps with just a quick wipe down to get the finger prints off of it... Dialing it in for accuracy can continue while it is also making parts.

 

[Glenn Brooks]

Ken, OOOOPS. Yes, I was responding to the OP's first post. Confusion reigns with grayhair sometimes!!

Rick, my apologies for not paying proper attention. BTW, Please let us know what direction you decide to head.
Also remember the golden rule: no pictures, it didn't happen! Be great to see a couple of photos of the two existing machines you have available. There are a number of threads here and there about what to look for re: lathe condition. Also don't forget to watch for a nice little milling machine. I have three - an old grizzly round column bench mill, Burke # 4 horizontal, and a van Norman 12 universal awaiting rebuild. Indispensable addition for making stuff.

Regards
Glenn

 

[markba633csi]

That one that Ken showed is actually a Standard Modern. Nice one too.
Mark S.

 

[n7gtb]

Hi Rick,

I'm a 'newbie' (and also lurker here too!), but picked up a South Bend heavy 10 lathe about two years back. It's my first lathe, and even with the small amount that I've used it; I now wish I had a second! In my case I did my homework far in advance of purchasing. When I found my lathe, I made certain to measure play in the spindle, run the motor (prior owner had grossly mis-wired it...I'm lucky to be alive!), and generally work all the bits and pieces. To date, I've built a spindle taper adapter that reduces to a smaller Morris Taper, a threaded lathe chuck adapter for a DIY indexing head, and most recently an R8 end mill holder for my mill-drill (it ain't pretty, but it works great).

So even though my lathe is from the mid 1950's, it's still very capable (in the right hands) of producing accurate parts. So far, all I've done is to clean up the exterior and lube, lube, lube. Someday I'll get brave and tear it down, do a proper cleanup, maybe make a couple of improvements and re-assemble and adjust.

For what it's worth, here's my newbie advice: build up one of the two SB's that you have (or both if you can), and start making chips! Eventually your lathe will teach you enough to amaze yourself what you can actually do...

Good luck!
-Vern

p.s., yes, I know I can buy R8 holders for less than $10 each from China, but I figure I'll learn way more making my own tooling.

 

[fradish]

I'm in a different position from the OP. I have a 1939 South Bend 9C and recently bought a PM1228.
With the 9C you have to deal with change gears so I rarely used it to cut threads.

Pluses with the new lathe include a much larger through bore (1 1/2"), a 2 hp variable speed motor,
D1-4 cam lock chuck (no threaded chuck to worry about spinning off when you go in reverse), and
even the blocky carriage and cross slide are easier to mount mag bases for indicators than the South
Bends curvier castings. I also like the feed rod that is separate from the feed screw. I can get really
fine feeds very easily.

That being said, had I had a 9a, I would have been less inclined to upgrade. I really like my South Bend,
and will never get rid of it because it was my Dad's. It is fun to work on a tool that is that old and still
performs as well as it does...