# Who’s older; You or your lathe?



## great white (Aug 27, 2022)

Just a fun type of topic that came to me today thinking about when my Atlas was built.

It’s got a good 13 years on me.

Which I guess means it should have more experience than I do, so why don’t my projects come out better? Seems like its not holding up its side of our relationship!



How about you?


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## 682bear (Aug 27, 2022)

I was born in 1973... my oldest lathe was born in 1917... my newest was early to mid 1950's...

I think the only metalworking machine I own that is younger than me is my Enco knee mill (1989)... unless you consider bench grinders and other smaller 'support' equipment.

-Bear


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## Aaron_W (Aug 27, 2022)

Both, or it depends. I have several lathes, some are much younger, some about the same age and a few much older. I have a watchmakers lathe which best guess is 110-130 years old, I have a Taig that is only about 2 years old, and a Sherline that is about 6, all the rest are somewhere in between, 1930s to early 1990s.


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## NCjeeper (Aug 27, 2022)

Let's see. I was born in 1965.
Enco lathe made 2004
Monarch lathe made 1964
Jet lathe made 1980.


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## RJSakowski (Aug 27, 2022)

My anvil is older then me.  Does that count?


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## mmcmdl (Aug 27, 2022)

NCjeeper said:


> Let's see. I was born in 1965.
> Enco lathe made 2004
> Monarch lathe made 1964
> Jet lathe made 1980.


Is the Enco a 1340 Tom ?


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## NCjeeper (Aug 27, 2022)

It is.


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## pontiac428 (Aug 27, 2022)

My lathe's from Brazil and under 20.  I guess I've still got it.


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## KC36330 (Aug 27, 2022)

my lathe is older, but i hasn't had to work as hard as i have over the years so it's in better shape then i am sadly.


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## mmcmdl (Aug 27, 2022)

NCjeeper said:


> It is.


Do you happen to have a pic of the front of it handy ?


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## NCjeeper (Aug 27, 2022)

Not handy but I can take one tomorrow.


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## mmcmdl (Aug 27, 2022)

NCjeeper said:


> Not handy but I can take one tomorrow.


That's fine , I'm in at work till then anyway . I'm not sure of the year of my Enco 1340 , but I'm looking for the 3 buttons or lights on the front panel . Mine work , but are kind of beat up .


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## NCjeeper (Aug 27, 2022)

Okay.


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## MrWhoopee (Aug 27, 2022)

I've got 12 years on my lathe. We're both in pretty decent shape for our age.


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## FOMOGO (Aug 28, 2022)

I have three that are older Craftsman 1946, Sidney 1940, and my big Niles is 1891 or older. My TOS is 2002. I was cast in 1951, and flame hardend  a little further down the line. Mike


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## Aukai (Aug 28, 2022)

1953, 1340 lathe is new, and the 9 x 50 mill is new. I don't know what to think now


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## Ischgl99 (Aug 28, 2022)

My lathe is 2 years old, if you ask my wife, the lathe is older.


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## Alexander McGilton (Aug 28, 2022)

Until this weekend I may have had been a contender in the ratio game. This 93 vintage said goodbye this weekend, having restored and rebuilt the below shown 1947 Logan 210.


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## maspann (Aug 28, 2022)

Since my lathe is a PM 1236-T, a more relevant question might be which is older the invention of the wheel or me.....


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## great white (Aug 28, 2022)

Hmmm, I guess I didn’t realize when I asked the question that there would be so many equipment “hoarders”….


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## 7milesup (Aug 28, 2022)

great white said:


> Hmmm, I guess I didn’t realize when I asked the question that there would be so many equipment “hoarders”….


That is exactly what I was thinking!  "Well, this lathe was made in 1923, the other one is 1952,  the one I use most is a 1965, and the one over in the corner is new."   Sheesh.  I only have money and room for one!


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## C-Bag (Aug 28, 2022)

Cast in ‘53, shot peened by my x for 30yrs.

 Lathe was made in 2004. I got shoes older than that!


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## Bi11Hudson (Aug 28, 2022)

I'm a '50 model, my Craftsman is around the same. A 101.27440, it was superceded ~1955, give or take, I never cared to run it down any closer than that.


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## JimDawson (Aug 28, 2022)

I think my lathe is ''vintage'' 1985ish, but I'm an antique.


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## Ben17484 (Aug 28, 2022)

Lathe from 1953, and I’m a relative young ‘un being born In 1988. No idea of the age of my mill, but I’d guess at 1980’s


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## benmychree (Aug 28, 2022)

My main lathe, a Regal Leblond 19" is built about 1943, I think, about a year older than me, my other lathe, a 9" Monarch Jr. is likely from the 19 teens.  I have owned over a dozen lathes over the years, but these are the ones that I have retired with.


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## Karl_T (Aug 28, 2022)

I must be a lathe collector:

Got a flat belt drive Leblond 16"x120" must be about a 1920 vintage
Got a 1941 10EE
Got an early 50s 10EE,  about my age
Got a mid 60s Leblond servo shift 13x54
Got an early 80s Mazak M4 CNC  16"x72"
Got a late 80s Hardinge CHNC


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## rabler (Aug 28, 2022)

In order of acquisition:
1944 Monarch 12”CK,  (14x30)
1967 Monarch 612 (25x50)
1964 10EE, matching my age.


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## Beckerkumm (Aug 28, 2022)

My birthdate, 1954

Monarch 61 16x54 1953
Smart Brown 1024 about 1965
CVA ( 10ee clone kind of ) 1951


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## ARC-170 (Aug 28, 2022)

Lathe (Atlas Craftsman): May 1944 bearing dates
Me: May 1969 birth date
It was meant to be! Ha! (Groan, I'll see myself out.)


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## lordbeezer (Aug 29, 2022)

Me 1952.  9” south bend 1937 to be restored this winter. 1943 11” Sheldon.


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## cathead (Aug 29, 2022)

I run geriatric octogenarian and centegenarian lathes.


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## BGHansen (Aug 29, 2022)

I was born in 1959.
Clausing 5418 - 1964
Grizzly G0709 - 2015

Only things older than me in my shop is a DoAll bandsaw (1948) and probably my Oliver Die Filer.  There are mornings when I feel older than the DoAll. . .

Bruce


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## Eyerelief (Aug 29, 2022)

I want to be younger than my lathe, but I'm not.  Me, originated in '62, Victor 1640 in '77.  I think I have been working longer though.  I say this because the owner of the lathe, me, thinks the lathe looks and runs great with minimal adjustment.  The owner of me claims that I'm out of tolerance, heavily oxidized, annealing, and noisy.  She has increased the scheduled maintenance but she's not optimistic.


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## Janderso (Aug 29, 2022)

Let's see. I was born in 1957.  (USA)  
The Colchester lathe was made in 1975ish. (England)
The Sharpe knee mill was made 1980ish. (Taiwan)
The B&S Micromaster was made in 1966. (USA)
Delta 14" Bandsaw was made in 1977. (Canada)

I am proud to say the equipment is in very good condition considering the age.


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## neonguy (Aug 29, 2022)

I was born in 1961, my Axelson 16x54 is a war baby, 1944.


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## DavidR8 (Aug 29, 2022)

Me - born 1966
Lathe - South Bend 10K 1975
Mill - Long Chang LC-30 1980's so far as I can tell


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## westerner (Aug 29, 2022)

My manufacture date- 1960
Millrite MVN- 1974
Chinese 12x36- 1994

I wish I could find a way oil for my knees
that works as good as Vactra


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## Eyerelief (Aug 30, 2022)

westerner said:


> I wish I could find a way oil for my knees
> that works as good as Vactra


I find that Jack Daniels works for me.


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## Just for fun (Aug 31, 2022)

I'm a little older...... May 1959
Lathe and Mill both 2021


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## MikeInOr (Sep 1, 2022)

great white said:


> Just a fun type of topic that came to me today thinking about when my Atlas was built.
> 
> It’s got a good 13 years on me.
> 
> ...


It is not polite to ask a man how old his lathe is.


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## AGCB97 (Sep 1, 2022)

My lathe has 32 years on me and I'm 70


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## JPMacG (Sep 6, 2022)

I was born in 1956.  Robert (HM moderator) estimates my lathe at 1954.


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## Chips O'Toole (Sep 8, 2022)

I bought a new Taiwan lathe. After I bought a Clausing that was about my age. I learned some lessons about "old iron." 

First of all, it's not really better than Taiwan iron. Not unless you get something crazy like an old Monarch. Second, parts are insanely expensive and hard to find, and if you want to do metric, you are going to have to wait years for the things you need, and then you'll have to disassemble and reassemble the lathe when you use them. Third, there are a lot of shady and obnoxious machine dealers, and many will lie to get your business. I bought my first lathe from Joe Bergamo at Plaza Machinery, and he cheated me like you would not believe. No shame at all. Sold me a worn-out machine and said it had very little use. Sold me the wrong model after lying about the model number. Refused to take it back unless I paid half the freight. He also sold me micrometers that couldn't be used because of solidified lube, and he never made it right. And he was a real jerk about everything.

Here's a tip from a guy who got burned: if you insist on buying used machinery online, ALWAYS use a credit card. Bergamo insisted on cash, checks, and money orders, and there was a reason for it. He knew it made it easier to cheat people. A credit card company may go to bat for you. If you pay with cash or a check, you have to sue. People I thought had brains assured me Bergamo was the salt of the earth, but honest people don't insist on cash and checks.

My Taiwan lathe was about $13K, brand new. It had a VFD, a coolant system, tons of metric and inch threads, a 7.5-horse motor, a QCTP, a work light, a 2.25 bore, a D1-6 spindle, a gap, hardened ways, a lube system, and probably some other things I'm forgetting. I bought it from Eisen Machinery, and I recommend them highly. Zero problems with the machine or dealer. They even gave me a huge discount, and I mean a real discount, not a fake discount from a markup. Other people were paying $3000 more for the same lathe. If I had to get a new machine today, I would start with Eisen before considering anyone else.

I know a lot of people can't come up with $13K for a hobby tool, but when I got my lathe, there were very nice 12" through 14" Taiwan lathes that cost about what you would pay for a piece of worn-out American junk plus tooling. Even Chinese is better than junk that quit working accurately during the Truman administration.


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## Shotgun (Sep 8, 2022)

I was cast in '67
My Sebastian in '41.

Both of us are still as strong as an ox, and some claim as dumb as a rock.


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## twhite (Sep 17, 2022)

I am of the 1962 vintage 

My wards lathe is 1943 and my South Bend 9 is from 1947. All 3 are in fine working order. 


Cutting oil is my blood.


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## GT-6 Racer (Sep 20, 2022)

in order 
haas tl1 2013
monarch 10EE 1971
hardinge DSM59 1970
me 1967
south bend 13 1958
monarch series 60 1949


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## Tubby (Oct 1, 2022)

I am a 1958 model, my South Bend YC 9x46 is a '29, 2 Craftsman 6x18, a Webster Whitcomb watch makers lathe from the '40s, a drill press from the early 1900's a UND 6x30 lathe very early 1900's and a 1942 Burke no. 3 horizontal bench top mill.


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## gjmontll (Oct 2, 2022)

My Logan 820 is from 1944. And I'm from 1948.
Here are: 
   1) the lathe when I took possession in 2013, before restoration
   2) after I finished its 1+ year restoration


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## rwdenney (Oct 5, 2022)

The SB 14-1/2”x6’ with my name on it is a few years older than me. 

My Peerless watchmaker’s lathe is probably about my age, but it’s hard to be sure. 

Rick “‘mid-century’ is the term used by hipsters” Denney


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## higgite (Oct 5, 2022)

Me or my lathe older? Well, let me put it this way. My friends ask me why I only date younger women. Because I don't have a choice.

Tom


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