# Bought a Lathe for myself on my Wife's Birthday --- and Survived...barely



## GrizzlyBagWorks (May 14, 2019)

A couple weeks ago my wife turned 35.  It was a big birthday not only for her but because we survived the first year of parenthood and our son turned 1 years old the very next day.  Because of that she decided to treat herself and spend the morning at a Spa getting a massage and manicure or whatever they do there.  My mother-in-law was in town for the week and was enjoying the time with the baby.  She offered to watch him for a few hours while I went and picked up flowers and ran a couple errands.

So here I am, enjoying a cup of coffee and watching a few youtube machinist videos when I'm compelled to open craigslist.  I don't even know why I did it, but I did.  No more than 3 lines down I run across an ad that says "Lathe/mill plus - $3000".  It piqued my interest so I clicked.




I didn't even give a second thought to the machine 1) because of the price 2) I just finished restoring a Clausing 5914 3) I don't 'need' it 4) wife would kill me.  What did catch my attention was the "machinist tool box w/ tools $200".  




You never know what you'll find in those boxes and sometimes one item will be worth more than what you paid for the whole box.  It was only 5 minutes from my home and hey, I had a few free hours.  What's the harm right?  So I call, and head over there.

I arrive, chat a little bit and take a look at the box.  Unfortunately everything had been taken out and it was basically empty.   Just a few screwdrivers, some taps, and wrenches.  I thank him for taking the time to show me the box and was about to head out when I saw the lathe.  "Very neat little machine, do you mind if I check it out?  I'm not the market for one but I've never seen an "Emco" in person" "Sure" he says, and let's me take a closer look.

As soon as I turned the handwheel on the cross slide I knew I was in trouble.  Effortless movement and no more than 1 or 2 thou backlash.   I'm not even realizing it but I start going through the motions of inspecting the machine and I'm realizing it has essentially no wear.  Turns out...1 owner -- hobbyist.  I turn the machine on "Wow, I can't believe how quiet this is for a gearhead machine".   This is becoming dangerously tempting and knew I was playing with fire.  Thankfully I stop myself before I looked at what tooling was included.  I didn't need any more reasons to torture myself with this kind of temptation.

So I thank him once again and head out to run my errands.  The whole time I'm thinking about that cross slide and how quiet the headstock was.  I start taking myself into why I need this lathe.  It didn't take long before I call the guy back and make an offer.  He pauses for a moment and says "okay, let's do it".  I'm shocked.  I finish my errands, run home, grab the cash and head over to his place.  By this time my wife is leaving the spa any moment.  I drive over as fast as I can, hand him the money and explain the situation.  He laughs and tells me I can pick it up tomorrow.  Thank god!  Drive home, beat my wife back by a couple minutes and play it totally cool.

At dinner, after a drink or two and how she's talking about what a great day she had, and how much she loved her gifts, I drop the bomb.  "I may have bought another lathe".  She gives me the look of death for a split second and responds.  "Of course you did" and then just smiles.  I have a feeling this is going to cost me.  She just tucked it right in her back pocket and I'm just waiting for the "hey babe, remember when you bought that lathe on my birthday?".  Oh well.  WORTH IT.  

When I went back to pickup the machine I was absolutely SHOCKED.  This guy was giving me a lifetimes worth of tooling.  I can't even list it.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.


----------



## mikey (May 14, 2019)

I don't think "you suck" quite covers this one. You may have gotten into trouble with the wife but it looks like it was worth it! You did great!!


----------



## Janderso (May 14, 2019)

She’ll get over it.


----------



## jcp (May 14, 2019)

Reminds me of my next door neighbor some years back. For Christmas he bought his wife a new outboard motor for his fishing boat.


----------



## nnam (May 14, 2019)

With all the extras, you saved her tons of money  

I think she'll be fine.  Giving birth is hard on lower back, give her some back rub often and you'll have a 3rd lathe soon


----------



## ThinWoodsman (May 14, 2019)

That guy really hooked you up. Good call.


----------



## ConValSam (May 14, 2019)

Emco, Emco, Emco,
More pictures, more pictures, more pictures

And spittle flows profusely....


----------



## bhigdog (May 14, 2019)

When we got married we had about $175 in gift money. I used it to buy a new Beretta shot gun. That was in 1961. We're still married and my son has the shot gun.  You'll be fine...........Bob


----------



## savarin (May 14, 2019)

Thats Victoria cross type bravery there but its still a


----------



## alloy (May 14, 2019)

A you suck doesn't even cover it. Wow.

For all that when your wife calls her marker in just think back on this and smile and say "yes dear" 


My wife called a  marker in this last weekend.  Our fridge died and we went looking.  I found a nice one that met our needs perfectly for $800.  But,  she liked the one for $1488.  

So,  after her mentioning the machining center I bought on my birthday the $1488 one was being loaded on my trailer.


----------



## BGHansen (May 14, 2019)

GrizzlyBagWorks said:


> Because of that she decided to treat herself and spend the morning at a Spa getting a massage and manicure or whatever they do there.


I'm guessing she was chatting with the gals about what a great guy she married.  "His hobby doesn't involve burning gasoline or have blond hair.  He's home in the basement doing whatever it is he does down there with his tools.  He isn't in the bar coming home with beer on his breath and glitter on his trousers.  Whatever keeps him happy, I'm good with . . ."    Or something like that.

Bruce

p.s.  Congrats on finding a great deal.


----------



## brino (May 14, 2019)

Wow, all that stuff!
That's thousands of dollars worth of accessories.

....and all I bought on Mothers Days was a heavy old band-saw to convert to metal cutting.

-brino


----------



## Superburban (May 14, 2019)

jcp said:


> Reminds me of my next door neighbor some years back. For Christmas he bought his wife a new outboard motor for his fishing boat.


Of course she liked it, saves her lots of rowing.


----------



## GrizzlyBagWorks (May 14, 2019)

Here's a pic of what the lathe looked like when I saw it.  Filthy of course, covered in "stuff".  I'll post pictures when I'm done with the clean up.  I'm in the process of completely breaking it down, cleaning and reassembling.


----------



## hman (May 14, 2019)

Hmmmm ... rotary table atop the cross slide.  Interesting possibilities for milling operations.

PS - You mentioned that most of the tools had been removed from the tool box when you looked at it.  I guess your seller included all those tools in what he gave you along with the lathe.  Congrats!  Ya done good.  Now go do something extra special for your wife.


----------



## RobertHaas (May 14, 2019)

25 years ago I knew a guy that owned a Lathe/Mill that looked alot like this one. It had some interesting cutting tools that mounted in the chuck and then used the cross slide for x, and y was handled by the lathe's normal z. The guy that owned the one I saw built some interesting parts with it.


----------



## Dabbler (May 14, 2019)

You need to see Stefan Gotteswinter's setup for his Enco lathe.  Really impressive!


----------



## rock_breaker (May 15, 2019)

Do you suppose you may have a surprise on your birthday?  My wife has passed but she looked favorably on tools. She liked new shoes (the dressy type) and every so often I would trip over a pair I hadn't seen before. I think women taught elephants about memory.
Have a good day
Ray


----------



## brino (May 15, 2019)

hman said:


> Hmmmm ... rotary table atop the cross slide. Interesting possibilities for milling operations.



I was thinking ball/radius/cove turning on the lathe.....
-brino


----------



## MrWhoopee (May 15, 2019)

Janderso said:


> She’ll get over it.



She may appear to get over it, but in reality she has just put it in the bag with all the other times you've disappointed. You will be reminded, and more than once. By the time we divorced, I could recite all of them from memory.

My father once bought my mother an electric edger for mother's day.....


----------



## Splat (May 15, 2019)

You must be a Jedi. "You will include your tooling with the lathe....You will....."    As Vader said, "the suckage is high with this one." ☺


----------



## GrizzlyBagWorks (May 15, 2019)

Making some progress on the lathe.    I still have to address the mill head and the headstock but the tailstock and carriage were both completely torn down, cleaned and reassembled.  I'm thinking I need to mill some oil grooves and add some ball oilers into the cross slide. 

The table it's on is an absolute mess, so I'll have to build something deserving of this machine.

And it appears lightning has struck twice.  The lathe came with a very very nice Tripan quick change tool post but only 2 holders.  I put some feelers out and was offered an incredible set for as good, or probably even better of a deal as the lathe.  These holders are pretty tough to find stateside so I'm feeling very lucky.


----------



## higgite (May 15, 2019)

If you’re looking for an objective, unbiased opinion from a perfect stranger who has no skin in the game…. I hate you.

Nice score! Congrats.

Tom


----------



## Dabbler (May 15, 2019)

Nice score on teh tripan holders!  they are as rare as hen's teeth here also!


----------



## hman (May 15, 2019)

Congrats!   ... and that tool post looks almost like it would hold AXA or BXA tool holders.  But no luck, eh?


----------



## alloy (May 15, 2019)

My friend you need to buy a lottery ticket. 

So,  does wifey know you bought more stuff for the lathe,  or were you able to fly them under the radar?


----------



## mikey (May 15, 2019)

I wonder if you realize the value of the accessories he gave you. The Emco V10-P is the power cross feed version (the V-10 didn't have it) of this lathe and it is a very good one.  The V-10 was the first of the Emco lathes to come with a separate saddle feed rod with clutch, which is a very good thing; it saves the leadscrew for threading only.

You would have a very difficult time finding many of the things he gave you. The rotary table alone is worth almost $1000.00 all by itself, and he gave you the indexing plates that increase its utility. The rotary table can be used vertically with an angle plate. The chucks are probably made by Rohm so big bucks. The faceplate, while seldom used, is rarely seen on the used market. The vise is worth well over $500 to a collector. I don't see a steady or follow rest but those two items would buy you a brand new mini-lathe. I think the milling attachment is an earlier version of the one that came on the Super 11 so it is capable of real work. You also have the Emco thread dial indicator and carriage stop - hard to find and essential on any lathe.

The guy who owned this stuff knew what he was doing when he bought his accessories. Try buying them now. If you could even find them, the sticker shock would knock you on the floor. Search carefully. A guy like this was likely to buy a spare cross slide leadscrew and nut and a full set of change gears and you will need them. 

At the time the V-10P came out, it was the best that Emco made. Later lathes had a hardened and ground gear train but are otherwise of similar quality. This lathe has a very dedicated fan base for a good reason. It is very well made, like all Emco lathes, and the previous owner took decent care of it from what I can see. You are luckier than you probably realize.


----------



## mikey (May 15, 2019)

I should add that unlike most suppliers, Emco lathes only came with a 3 jaw chuck, dead centers, basic tool post and a few paltry supplies. Everything else you needed to run the lathe - steady/follow rests, live center, face plate, change gears, and so on had to be purchased separately, and they were not cheap. Emco supplied parts for each of their lathes for 10 years only (German legal requirement) so you are going to have to compete with all the other V-10P owners for parts and that is going to be expensive. Still, you have a very fine Austrian-made lathe that is built to a very high standard and with care, it should outlast you.

I suggest you join the Emco Larger Lathes Yahoo group for support, manuals, etc.


----------



## Bill_729 (May 15, 2019)

GrizzlyBagWorks said:


> So here I am, enjoying a cup of coffee and watching a few youtube machinist videos when I'm compelled to open craigslist. I don't even know why I did it, but I did. No more than 3 lines down I run across an ad that says "Lathe/mill plus - $3000". It piqued my interest so I clicked.



Amazing! That's almost exactly how I arrived here, except I'm still looking for a lathe. Nice story and a nice "haul"!

Bill_729


----------



## GrizzlyBagWorks (May 18, 2019)

mikey said:


> I wonder if you realize the value of the accessories he gave you.,,



Oh I'm aware, that's why I'm so ecstatic.  On my first lathe I spent probably 2-3x the price I spent on the lathe on tooling.   I knew when I saw that it came with the 3/4 jaw, faceplate and rotary table that there was probably more.  The fact that they were basically unused was just icing on the cake.  I've never seen an Emco in person but I've restored close to 50 vintage woodworking machines and 50+ vintage industrial sewing machines.  I also recently finished a restoration on a 1966 Clausing 5914 (requiring a spindle replacement and reeves drive overhaul) and a 1950s Clausing 8520.   Having an intimate familiarity with these machines along with the other machines I've restored gave me a real context to this Emco in terms of it's quality.  I never thought I'd go back to a lathe of this size after getting my 5914 so dialed in but there's just something so enjoyable about working on on a machine of this size.  

This Emco reminds me in a lot of ways to Inca woodworking tools.  Compact combination machines made to high standards.  They have the same Hammerite finish as well.  

Needless to say I'm thrilled.  It's really really rare to run across a vintage machine of this quality with very low hours.  Not to mention a lifetime worth of tooling.  

I'll post more photos as I move along on this machine.   I need to build a stand for it and am debating what style.  I'll probably need some input from you guys to make a firm decision.


----------



## mikey (May 18, 2019)

When you tear into that lathe, I think it will  surprise you. Emco lathes are simple in design; they only include what has to be there to do the job well but they precisely machine what has to be machined. Everything fits without force and tolerances, where they need to be tight, are very tight. I suspect that the quality of this machine will surpass that of other machines you have restored. Well, at least that has been my experience with Emco lathes.

This lathe uses the same cross feed leadscrew nut that comes on the later model Super 11. It is a Zamak nut with a 1/2-10 LH BSWhitworth thread so it can be adjusted to have zero backlash. The compound nut is similarly capable. This zero backlash thing is why an Emco lathe can take cuts that similarly sized lathes cannot. The typical Emco compound feed is capable of tenths accuracy, and you can confirm it with a dial indicator. 

The spindle on Emco lathes tends to be heavier than comparable machines. Preload is adjustable and you should see very little spindle run out, on the order of a tenth or less. 

Congratulations again. You got a smoking deal on a fine little lathe. Only the Super 11 and the V13 surpass it in Emco's manual line.


----------



## GrizzlyBagWorks (May 18, 2019)

Thanks again for the feedback and info Mike, much appreciated!  

Funny you mention runout.  I was making some test cuts in steel and aluminum after tearing the chuck apart and was noticing  that the material was staying surprisingly concentric as I was taking in and out of the chuck.  I took my .001" test indicator to it and saw almost no movement.  Grabbed my .0001" test indicator.  .0002" runout on this little 3 jaw right next to the chuck and 3" out.  Crazy.  Maybe this is why the 4 jaw look unused.


----------



## mikey (May 18, 2019)

Check the spindle concentricity; that is what you need to accurately assess. It should be well under 0.0002" TIR, or under 0.0001" actual run out. Typically, Emco used a hardened and ground spindle on their better lathes like the V-10P.

Emco used to make their own chucks way back but I think by the time the V-10P  came out, all their chucks were from Rohm. This is one of Europe's best chuck makers so I'm not surprised at your results. It is only a 3 jaw chuck but Rohm makes really good ones as these things go. Their 4 jaw chucks are of even higher quality. Not sure which spindle you have. The later V-10P came with a 3-stud arrangement but a specific spindle taper register. Commonly, Emco used a 7 degree, 7 minute, 30 second taper but you should check. While cheap chucks may fit your spindle, the register may not so you may want to stay with your fine Emco chucks. 

I own 2 Emco 3 jaws, 2 Emco 4 jaws and multiple others but they are all D1-4 camlock chucks. Funny thing is that I mostly use the simple Emco 3 jaw that was standard fare on my lathe; it is just as accurate as my Yuasa and Samchully chucks. Go, Emco!


----------



## GrizzlyBagWorks (May 18, 2019)

I tested the spindle right when I got it.  Less than .0001".  Needless to say, I was happy.  The spindle is ground 1.5x8 tpi (ground and hardened) with a L20/MT3 bore. I'm a little bummed that L20 collets are impossible to find but I have 5C on my Clausing so I can use when needed.  The chucks have a couple relief cuts made around the thread with a bolt to tighten everything firmly around the spindle nose so the machine can be ran in forward and reverse.  I was pretty happy about that because I thread away from the chuck with the machine in reverse.   

Really fantastic machine.  Now I get all the hype around them.  Once a new base has been built I'd like to install a DRO similar to this approach: https://lensprojects.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/touchdro-machine-position-digital-readout/ and figure out a way to effectively lock the spindle.

I'm really looking forward to testing out this little mill too.  I had to order a M8-1.25 x 120mm flanged bolt (drawbar) since it wasn't with the rest of the items.  I'll have to do some research but I wouldn't mind an airspring on there to assist with raising/lowering the head.


----------



## mikey (May 18, 2019)

I assume you have the user's manual and IPB. You can completely disassemble an Emco lathe with just the IPB, which is very accurate.

You might check your spindle preload. With the lathe cold and a glove on your hand, spin your 3 jaw as hard as you can and count the number of revolutions it makes before stopping. It should make 1 to 1-1/2 revolutions, max. If it goes more than that, tighten the preload nut to bring it into specs. Then check concentricity again. Might surprise you.


----------



## Tim9 (May 29, 2019)

Nice score. Your wife will get over it. 

  FWIW... my son tells me that Craigslist and EBay is like crack for me.


----------

