1984 South Bend 10" never turned on?

pontiac428

pontiac428

John Newman
H-M Lifetime Diamond Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Messages
6,852
It might just be true
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/tls/d/seattle-south-bend-lathe-1984-vintage/6872775421.html
00w0w_4bMg2UQBR5o_1200x900.jpg
 
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
 
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.
 
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
Click to expand...
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.
 
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....
 
Looks like a great candidate for the Smithsonian !

Ted
 
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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