Thoughts on Lathe

D

drom68

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Wanted to get an opinion on a lathe. Not much to go on other than a couple of pics and the description being "Manual Lathe, Pratt & Whitney".
- What would you pay based on what you see. Asking price is $750.00
- What do you see in the lathe? Good, bad, repair, etc…

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00E0E_4KzorojTYrd_600x450.jpg 00u0u_jvxMldHGwx0_600x450.jpg
 
SOLID old iron. Hard to really tell what is what there in the photos supplied, but you probably wouldn't go wrong on it at that price, even if you had to strip it down and get the bed reground. Too difficult to say for sure though, the photos just are not revealing enough. Nice big machine, though, and would be a great project machine.
 
I would say if it's not a long drive get over and take a look.

Take a few things with you like maybe a dial indicator and Mag base and check a few things to see if it's worn loose but again nothing like eye on it to see for sure. You can always say let me think about it.

They may even let you take a few more pictures that you could post for others to give you opinions.
 
I would assume a lathe of that age & asking price, is well worn and will need a complete overhaul to do precise work.
If you are willing to undertake the endeavor of restoring it, You would have great machine. I would see how low you can negotiate the price and transport issues, then decide if its worth the effort.
 
The possibility to make precision work is more depending in how rigid the lathe is than the wear. Even if there is a lot of play, the shear weight of the spindle will allow pieces to be turned with high precision. The spindle will not rattle around on a heavy lathe in the same way it will do on a vertical mill spindle.
 
For that lathe and that cheap price, I wouldn't be hesitating. I would buy that in a heartbeat. The pics aren't detailed enough to give any solid advice as to what condition it's in, but it looks greasy or oily at all the important areas, so, in spite of it's rather dirty appearance, it might be in good shape mechanically. It looks like it might have a taper attachment as well as a second cross-slide with a turret toolpost and a collet closure.

Check this out...

http://www.lathes.co.uk/pratt&whitney/page2.html

Good luck :)

Brian
 
I think this could be a diamond in the rough. Have you ever seen the play that Keith Fenner has in his lathe. He can move his cross slide all over the place yet he does some real nice work.


I noticed that the machine you are looking at has a collet closer. That is a good thing to have when your doing small work. If you have the room I would really consider this lathe. The price is not that bad.

Paul
 
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