# Anyone want a shorty!



## Tool-in-the-Box (Feb 3, 2015)

SB shorty that is. I guess this would be the opposite of a long bed model.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOUTH-BEND-LATHE-CL3117-LATHE-HEAD-19-X-15-/261757967278?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf1fd9bae


This is the kind of thing that has to scare ya. Imagine buying a SB on craigslist with no pictures but the price is so good you jump in the truck and drive 3 hours. On arrival you see this machine.....eek!


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## Ulma Doctor (Feb 3, 2015)

there's the other half of my lathe....hew:


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## Billh50 (Feb 3, 2015)

I guess if someone needs the parts it might be worth it.


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## tommymotto (Feb 4, 2015)

I hope it was half price


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## invisabledog (Feb 4, 2015)

Precision lathe, purpose built that way.  MrPete222 aka tubalcain has one, not sure it's a SB.  He explained in one of his videos, on youtube, what their purpose was.  I can't remember what he said they were most commonly used for.


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## Ulma Doctor (Feb 5, 2015)

invisabledog said:


> Precision lathe, purpose built that way.  MrPete222 aka tubalcain has one, not sure it's a SB.  He explained in one of his videos, on youtube, what their purpose was.  I can't remember what he said they were most commonly used for.



unless there were some made with extensive mods to the carriage, it won't drive the carriage, maybe somewhere .... 
i don't think this is one of them, it has a gearbox with a stub leadscrew sticking out that looks to have been cut off where the acme threads would have started- no need for a gearbox if you aren't going to power a carriage.
the size of the chuck would also prevent the use of a carriage, the length of the bed would make a tailstock useless as well.

i think this one was custom made at the scrap heap :thinking:


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## invisabledog (Feb 5, 2015)

Ulma Doctor said:


> unless there were some made with extensive mods to the carriage, it won't drive the carriage, maybe somewhere ....
> i don't think this is one of them, it has a gearbox with a stub leadscrew sticking out that looks to have been cut off where the acme threads would have started- no need for a gearbox if you aren't going to power a carriage.
> the size of the chuck would also prevent the use of a carriage, the length of the bed would make a tailstock useless as well.
> 
> i think this one was custom made at the scrap heap :thinking:



Could be, but the tag says "Precision".  I have no idea why it has a gearbox.  It's defintely odd the way it's set up.


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## Andre (Feb 5, 2015)

Maybe a speed/polishing lathe?.. For deburring and polishing parts as a second OP. But that wouldn't explain the QCGB, and it looks like it came from the factory like that. Almost too small for the carriage to fit on!

Interesting


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## Thoro (Feb 6, 2015)

It looks like it was hacked to me...perhaps the ways were worn and it was repurposed as a polishing lathe as someone else thought of or.....it was cut for convenience of moving....who knows.  Bizarre.


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## invisabledog (Feb 6, 2015)

Definately bizzare.  Ways look to be clean cut, so nice job by someone.  I'm wondering if it had some companion machine with it, that is missing?  Maybe something fed in from the cut off end or something driven by the gearbox.  We'll probably never know.


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## w9jbc (Feb 6, 2015)

I guess the first thing that came to mind here was a government demil job. they love to cut things in half!


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