# 1984 South Bend 10" never turned on?



## pontiac428

It might just be true
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/tls/d/seattle-south-bend-lathe-1984-vintage/6872775421.html


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## ThinWoodsman

That's a nice collection, but eight grand? That's more than I spent on my entire shop*.

* That's my story, and I'm sticking to it


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## francist

This is interesting. Same lathe posted in February for 11k, earlier this week for 9k, and now 8k.

Someone asked in one of the previous threads what was the quality of South Bend in the 1980's? I would think it was good, but I don't know that for sure. But the reputation is certainly good, was quality on the way down?

Assuming it's legitimate and the quality remained high, someone would be buying essentially a 50-year machine in my reckoning. I mean, that thing should run great until 2050 or something -- would I expect a new offshore machine to last that long? I don't think I would, but then again, we haven't had the chance to see that yet I guess. Maybe that's part of the problem, you'd be buying a 50-year machine but realistically the type of person buying it has 20 years at best to use it! 

In my area, I've seen a Myford Super7 list for near the same dollar (ok, not including the US/Canada exchange) but still crazy high. This one really doesn't seem that far out of whack to me. But then again, I'm not the most pragmatic person around.

I still think it's an interesting process to see what happens with this. It's sure a nice looking machine with a bunch of tooling.

-frank


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## jwmay

I agree. I think 8 grand is a fair price.  I didn’t see it at 11k, and wouldn’t have felt the same at that price. But I don’t think there’s a single lathe available that comes with all of that new. The ad says it’s a once in a lifetime deal, and I think it just may be.


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## stupoty

ThinWoodsman said:


> That's a nice collection, but eight grand? That's more than I spent on my entire shop*.
> 
> * That's my story, and I'm sticking to it



I think for 8k I would rather have 2" spindle bore and a lot of change left over?



			https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-1440bv/
		




Stu


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## projectnut

ThinWoodsman said:


> That's a nice collection, but eight grand? That's more than I spent on my entire shop*.
> 
> * That's my story, and I'm sticking to it


I would have to agree.  It's nice, but pricey.  For the same money in this area I could buy several good quality machines.  They probably wouldn't be as pretty, but they would be more than adequate.  In fact I might be a bit scared to have something that nice in the shop.  I would probably be afraid to use it in that I might scratch it, and if I did I would probably have a heart attack.  As it is now I would never know if I added another nick or scratch to the paint on one of my machines.  Don't get me wrong I don't abuse them, and I do take care of them.  I just don't want to be on pins and needles afraid to use them.


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## jwmay

Maybe we could define the probable buyer.

1. Retired and considerably well off.
2.Avid fan of American made machinery.
3.Possibly owned or ran a machine of similar model in his younger days.
4.Collector and preserver of these type of items.  Meaning to say he probably won't use it either.
5.Widower
6. Or ditch all of the above, and he's a Youtuber making a couple hundred grand a year from ad revenue and he knows we'll all watch his video series on running a 1984 Southbend lathe that is completely new in every regard.  He'll have it paid for in a month.

Maybe I watch too many of those criminal "profiling" shows....


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## ThinWoodsman

jwmay said:


> 5.Widower




Ha!


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## talvare

Looks like a great candidate for the Smithsonian !

Ted


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## wrmiller

I don't see the attraction, but I never bought into the mythical/magical 'US made' story. My poor little Taiwan made 1340GT is super accurate, does everything I need (and then some), and will outlast me which is all that matters to me. And it was cheaper than this one by a fair amount.

Someone above was right, in that this needs to go to some nostalgic collector who will appreciate it as something from the good ol' days.


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## stupoty

wrmiller said:


> I don't see the attraction, but I never bought into the mythical/magical 'US made' story. My poor little Taiwan made 1340GT is super accurate, does everything I need (and then some), and will outlast me which is all that matters to me. And it was cheaper than this one by a fair amount.
> 
> Someone above was right, in that this needs to go to some nostalgic collector who will appreciate it as something from the good ol' days.




I have old us made iron and i live in the uk 

Was mainly because it was a good price and suited the bill though not just desire, i would have liked old uk iron too 

I think most of the good quality tiwan lathes do look fairly solid to be honest and if i had the cash a brand new zero ware lathe would be very tempting.

Stu


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## Buffalo21

ThinWoodsman said:


> That's a nice collection, but eight grand? That's more than I spent on my entire shop*.
> 
> * That's my story, and I'm sticking to it




The one true fear a man has, is his wife sell his stuff off after he has passed, based on what he told her he paid for it.


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## Jimsehr

Buffalo21 said:


> The one true fear a man has, is his wife sell his stuff off after he has passed, based on what he told her he paid for it.


I wonder what it’s price was new?


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## Cooter Brown

Jimsehr said:


> I wonder what it’s price was new?



This is the closest year I can find to 1984 with a price 1964 it was $941 so in 1984 it was probably around $1000 - 1300...



			http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/1617/20083.pdf


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## martik777

Schools here auction off their 9A South Bends for $450 - 800 every year or so.  Market value - about 2500.  Most of them have almost zero wear and will cut as true as this one. Usually the compound has some gouges from running into the chuck. Sadly I missed 3 of them last Sept.


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## Cooter Brown

They are close to retail value for it but no one is going to pay that much


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