Need A Second Opinion

Keith Foor

Keith Foor

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I am needing some input about a deal I am / was trying to make on a lathe. Lathe is an older JET GHB-1340 with the two tumbler levers on the quick change box and not the newer rotary knobs.
Went to look at the lathe tonight. Had discussed 1500 for it, prior to seeing it. Lathe as near as I can figure has been dumped on it's face at some point. Belt cover is damaged, one post it attaches with broken off. handles bent, but not bad. Concerns are the gear head case being cracked (slow head oil leak) head being shifted to the point it will not align. Bed being twisted or bent. Lathe was NOT under power, is missing the toll holder and have no way to make test cuts to verify if it's in alignment.
I went from 1500 to 400 and am thinking 300 because of the unknowns. The tumblers for the quick change are both broken off and missing in addition to the other stuff mentioned. I looked and can't find a manual for it on the Jet web site, I did find a manual that says it covers JET, ENCO, Grizzly, and a couple other models that shows the lathe on the cover. Are parts even available? Should I even bother at 300 - 400 for it and have to drag 1200 lbs of cast iron home to maybe find it's totaled or am I being overly cautious?
 
Sounds like a project for sure, always easier if you already have a lathe and mill to make spair parts, maybe the tools or helpfull buddies to braze any cracked cast iron parts?

Stuart
 
Well, I have a 13 inch 1923 vintage South Bend lathe, a craftsman atlas 10 inch lathe, and an Excello 604 mill. Have torches to braze with just not sure about the bed and the gear head case. It scares me it could be twisted or broken in the case of teh gear head case
 
Keith Foor said:
Well, I have a 13 inch 1923 vintage South Bend lathe, a craftsman atlas 10 inch lathe, and an Excello 604 mill. Have torches to braze with just not sure about the bed and the gear head case. It scares me it could be twisted or broken in the case of teh gear head case
Click to expand...

Maybe then i guess if you get it cheep and you feel its beyond repair you can part it out, probably space and required time to fix up will make or brake the project. And any cost moving it.

I guess like you say the worst think would be lots of broken teeth on the gears but if it just took a tumble it might be mostly the casing and levers that took the brunt of the damage.

Ive got a power hack saw thats taken me nearly a year to get back into running shape and it had virtualy nothing wrong with it, just waighing in at about 500 - 600 kg made it a lot slower to work on :-0

Might be a rabbit hole , humm ,

Stuart
 
Visible multiple impact damage issues, and cannot run it to test, I would be quite wary of it. If you think you have the skills, resources, time, and inclination to fix it (soul search time), then go for it if you can get it for scrap metal cost. Otherwise, keep looking. Do not count on being able to find replacement parts that will fit it.
 
I have a manual in pdf of the JET GHB-1340A if that would help.
 
Wouldn't touch unless it was being given to me and delivered. We had a brand new Sharp that got dumped at work. The repair cost estimate exceeded the purchase price by a long shot.
 
Jet is still in business and probably can get repair parts for the lathe. But as cvairwerks said, the repair cost could exceed what the lathe is really worth. I've seen it done over the years in industry, spend more than it would cost to buy another new lathe. Funny how bean counters can influence what is spent. Fortunately, in the home shop environment, cost are controlled by you or mama. So, how much additional money do you want to dish out?
 
Check for a grizzly manual and parts list that is similar, same machine, just rebadged
olcopper
 
The "bean counters" are also influenced by how they have depreciated the value of the equipment and how replacing it will affect things beyond just the purchase price. The math is very different when it's within a corporate's assets (and IRS deduction regulations) than for home-hobby use.
 
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