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.
So just by reading this on the oiler setup, we have a Sydney at work a little larger than this one, but not much. My old machinist buddy came by, and had to explain to me how the oiler works, the carriage gear box has a pump in it for the ways, that is what he told me, there is a diverter valve behind the box that diverts oil to the cross slide ways, if you are doing a lot of facing? So when I read this, this lathe when factory built must have been the same way? Must have been a pretty common design on these larger lathe's. We use our only for basic operations, polishing, facing etc. It is a real brute for center drilling with the tailstock! Ours is an old navy machine, so it is in pretty good shape! He looked at my tailstock and said it had not been modified, he said a common practice was to put a link, to link the carriage to the tailstock, he said it really was a OK idea to move the heavy tailstock into place, but he said some guy's turned the carriage feed down slow and used it to drive the tailstock and drill he told me it was pretty hard on the gears in the carriage apron. That is the way he explained it to me he may have called it a hitch, or link? I have never saw the setup and I may be incorrect, but that is how he explained it to me, maybe someone on here who knows more than me can clarify on this.
One thing I did see here was it does have a Quick Change Tool Post, and some tooling, any tooling is a big plus. The only thing I can say here is it might be good to purchase one of those new automatedexternal defibrillator (AED), and mount it on the wall behind the machine, That way when your local tooling guy comes by, and gives you prices on the tooling, you can avert having the Big Heart Attack! When I price the tooling at work, for these bigger lathes, its always way up there in cost, compared to the smaller machines! If I had a lathe this big, I would have to keep chipping away, at getting the tooling used, e-bay, craigslist etc. So if you do buy it, make sure you get any tooling he has with it!
Bob in Oregon
