What can you tell me about this

If your looking for a lathe that large and it comes with chucks and tooling your good to go. They only mentioned a 3jaw, you can be looking at more than the lathe price to get a 4jaw.
 
Have a good look at the ways up close to the chuck and evaluate the wear pattern compared to the rest of the bed. Also look for blatant damage like dropped chucks and tools marring the ways. Listen to it run and it should not make a lot of whining and clattering noises. Try to get a look at the lube inside the cases if you can. look for chips and excess particles. Depending on the maintenance it received the oil should be clean and potentially clear. Smell it to see if it has been overheated. The oil will tell you quite a bit. Then look for damage like cracks and welds just to make sure it hasn't been dropped or damaged while moving. That should give you quite a bit of info and help you make a sound decision on whether it is solid or needs to be rebuilt. needing a rebuild just affects the price depending on whether you feel up to doing it or not. As long as it has no major glaring issues I would make arrangements to take it home once we negotiated a price based on overall condition. Richard is the fellow to talk to about the time and cost involved in scraping and repairing the ways and bed. Hope this helps make the decision a little easier.

Bob
 
Couldn't agree more with Bob and others. From my viewpoint, P&W are/were good lathes. I'm guessing it will be difficult to buy any replacement parts for that but, virtually anything on a lathe can be made in a home shop if you already have a small lathe and/or mill. Even the lead screw can be replaced w/o too much fuss.

Some things to consider... 7.5 HP motor: Do you have 3 phase power to plug it in? There are no VFDs that I know of that can put out that much power with single phase input. You could always swap-out the motor with a smaller one. VFD's go up to 3 HP w/single phase input. Weight: That thing is a beast -probably weighs 3000 to 3500lbs (ballpark). Do you have a way to transport it to it's final destination? Speed: What's the top RPM? -If you intend to use carbide tooling, will it spin fast enough to make you happy? Some of those older/bigger units had a top speed of around 1000RPM. I regularly need to spin 1200 to 1500 PRMs to use carbide. Spindle Type: What kind of spindle fixture does it have (L-type, spin-on, possibly D-type)? If it's something uncommon, you'll need to make your own backplates.

Someone did mention the cost of chucks but, there's nothing wrong with using a smaller chuck. -Matter of fact, I prefer smaller chucks as getting them on/off is a real chore on some days.


Ray
 
If that machine is in good shape it would be a real sweet machine. Like Ray said, it requires a lot power. I don't know what it weighs but I would guess you would be pushing 2 tons. What I find, at least in my area (northern IL), an older machine that size is tough to sell. Every area is different. I've seen the scrappers buy a lot of them at auctions I've attended. It's a shame, but if nobody wants to bid, they end up in the scrap hopper. You should be able to work on the price if you decide you want to buy it.

Chuck
 
Chuck K said:
If that machine is in good shape it would be a real sweet machine. Like Ray said, it requires a lot power. I don't know what it weighs but I would guess you would be pushing 2 tons. What I find, at least in my area (northern IL), an older machine that size is tough to sell. Every area is different. I've seen the scrappers buy a lot of them at auctions I've attended. It's a shame, but if nobody wants to bid, they end up in the scrap hopper. You should be able to work on the price if you decide you want to buy it.

Chuck
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The ad says it has a single-phase motor.
 
That's a lot of Iron, I like it....Good luck and try to hear it run ...get as much tooling as he has laying around....talk him down if you can and sweeten the deal as much as you possibly can ...it will save you $$ now and later....Good luck and Regards
 
This was one of the finest lathes ever built, looks like 1950s, If it was in Ca. I'd go look, the price (in decent condition) is fantastically cheap. These were used for the most part as toolroom machines; I'd be surprised if it was not in very nice condition, but do cast a crirtical eye, an the other comentators have noted. the motor could likely be changed to a lower horsepower and be just fine; as little as 2 HP would be adequate for hobby use.
 
Rbeckett said:
Have a good look at the ways up close to the chuck and evaluate the wear pattern compared to the rest of the bed. Also look for blatant damage like dropped chucks and tools marring the ways. Listen to it run and it should not make a lot of whining and clattering noises. Try to get a look at the lube inside the cases if you can. look for chips and excess particles. Depending on the maintenance it received the oil should be clean and potentially clear. Smell it to see if it has been overheated. The oil will tell you quite a bit. Then look for damage like cracks and welds just to make sure it hasn't been dropped or damaged while moving. That should give you quite a bit of info and help you make a sound decision on whether it is solid or needs to be rebuilt. needing a rebuild just affects the price depending on whether you feel up to doing it or not. As long as it has no major glaring issues I would make arrangements to take it home once we negotiated a price based on overall condition. Richard is the fellow to talk to about the time and cost involved in scraping and repairing the ways and bed. Hope this helps make the decision a little easier.

Bob
Click to expand...


Bob is right on about everything and I would 2nd his advise about up near the chuck. slide your finger nail up the ways and feel for deep scratches or if there is a ridge at the very top. It looks like it has a ad-on lube pump that wasn't factory installed. That may mean the lube pump in the carriage stopped pumping or someone rebuilt the machine and added a automatic lube pump. Another place to look for worn machine is to look for the on and off levers on the right side of the carriage. Many times the handle wiggle real bad and the bushings that support the shaft are loose. Also crank the saddle to the right and bring a rag and look the rack. The teeth should all look the same if it isn't real worn. Lock the tailstock quill and see how much back lash there is in the screw. As others have said check the back lash in the compound and cross-slide feed screws too. I once owned a P&W lathe and it was a great HD machine. P&W Machine Company is one of the great machine builders the USA had. One last thing, look at how the seller talks to you, see if he looks you in the eye when he talks to you, see if he knows the history, who owned it before he did, where did it come from, what did he use it for? Did he ever weld any shafts on it. That could have really screwed up the spindle bearings if they had. The price is about right if it runs OK, but I would take cash and offer him $1500.00 first say you have cash.
Good luck....Rich
PS: It is a heavy sucker, I can some research in my books and a 16 x 54 is 4650 pounds. and the new price for a 1953 was $9,755.00.
 
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