Buying my first lathe, no experience and need help

[arcsnsparks]

I'm a fairly new hobby machinist who was like you about 3 to 4 years ago. I dove in at a machinery dealer who had an old Atlas TH42-28. Not much came with it but the price I thought was right at 300 bucks and trade for my little AA Dunlap lathe which was very incomplete. He'd never seen one and I paid 5 dollars for it at a swap meet two years earlier. Couldn't find any parts for it. The Atlas came with the pretty rare maple top cabinet, a steady rest, 2 original motors, drum switch with reverse, a dead tailstock center, a spooky 4 jaw chuck with MALE square adjusting bolts circa 1890, and that gawd awful lantern tool post. It also came with lots of wear on the bed ways near the head stock.
What it didn't come with was a full set of change gears (always $150 on eBay). Trust me, there will come a time when you will want to cut threads. It also didn't come with the necessary rigidity desired of a lathe or the respect of people who own other makes such as a South Bend, Clausing, Lodge and Shipley, Hardinge, Lablonde
What I don't like about it is that there isn't a flat place on it other than the ways. I can't set a dial indicator anywhere beside these areas. It seems that I am making parts for this lathe more than I am making parts for other projects. The reverse/forward transmission crashed and busted so I'm now remaking that from aluminum. The Atlas loves aluminum. The spindle hole is smallish, under 25mm.
So I like your thinking about getting a newer machine. Something from the 1970's and newer.

So looking back, Id look for a bit more swing, the largest through spindle I could find, a good (new!) 3 jaw chuck, a modern 4 jaw chuck, an Aloris toolpost with all the adapters and cutting tools,quick change gearing, a VERY slow lead screw travel for a fine finish, a DRO setup, and affordable/ available tooling. Also made in USA for me, anyway.

 

[Gr1m3eaper]

Ah okey dokey ive been going to machinery dealers and keeping my eye out, i stumbled across this one on gumtree today. I like it cause its australian made, looks to be good condition and is a southbend clone so parts are easy to find from what ive read. What would be a fair price for something like this? I tried googling it to find the dimensions, swing, distance between centers etc but nothing came up

 

[Downunder Bob]

Ah okey dokey ive been going to machinery dealers and keeping my eye out, i stumbled across this one on gumtree today. I like it cause its australian made, looks to be good condition and is a southbend clone so parts are easy to find from what ive read. What would be a fair price for something like this? I tried googling it to find the dimensions, swing, distance between centers etc but nothing came up

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Hercus a well regarded name. These lathes were very capable in their day providing they were in good condition. I did quite a bit of work on one of these during my apprenticeship, in the early 60's.

The name AR 9 gives it away. A is for feed screw gearbox, R is for roller bearings on the main shaft. 9 is 9 inch swing. The lathe is a little small for my liking, but it may suit you. I think it originally came with a 1/2 HP single phase motor, and that is all it needs. 3 phase will give you reverse, but be careful if the chuck is screw on. The lack of motor and drive belt is of concern because you cant see and hear it run, I wouldn't buy it without that, it could be a basket case, in which case I wouldn't give it a value of more than a couple of hundred dollars.

The serious collector and dedicated re-builder would probably consider it worth more, because of it's historical value.

I would be more interested in the Hercus 260 also advertised on Gum tree and in Melbourne, a much later model looks to be in fair condition, and better specs also with quite a few tools and accessories, A fair price in my book.

 

[Gr1m3eaper]

Okey dokey well hes asking $1000 atm but says its negotiable, so would it not be worth buying with no motor? Id love to get it seeing as its made in australia but i dont want a crap lathe that im going to be fixing and getting frustrated with, im going to have a look at it this weekend what would you guys offer him for the lathe as is?

 

[Laytonnz]

Okey dokey well hes asking $1000 atm but says its negotiable, so would it not be worth buying with no motor? Id love to get it seeing as its made in australia but i dont want a crap lathe that im going to be fixing and getting frustrated with, im going to have a look at it this weekend what would you guys offer him for the lathe as is?

It's pretty damn hard to determine how worn a machine is if it can't be tested out.... it may look fine and be totally clapped out.. take the saddle to the headstock made sure it's all tight then try go towards the tailstock. .. at least that will give you an idea how worn the bed is if it gets tight there is a fair amount of wear, not to say it's unusable just given you an idea what you are buying maybe even chuck a piece of drill rod or something and try slip a feeler Guage in the front of the chuck jaws see how bell mouthed the jaws are might give you an indication how much use its seen

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[Gr1m3eaper]

Okey dokey will do, ill write that down and keep and eye out. Ive been watching a few youtube vids today on what to look out for wheb buying a used lathe and got lots of pointers so ill be checking all that when i have a look. The thing im concerned about is the price, ive got no idea how much these lathes are worth brand new or even what similair size/brands go for. If the bedways are in good condition, the tail stock, apron, cross slide etc all work smoothly and theres no binding what would it be worth? Note that it has no motor attached to the lathe atm, hes got a three phase motor hes chucking in that used to be on there, ill provs be going for a single phase or getting a 3 phase inverter whichever is the cheapest option

 

[Laytonnz]

Okey dokey will do, ill write that down and keep and eye out. Ive been watching a few youtube vids today on what to look out for wheb buying a used lathe and got lots of pointers so ill be checking all that when i have a look. The thing im concerned about is the price, ive got no idea how much these lathes are worth brand new or even what similair size/brands go for. If the bedways are in good condition, the tail stock, apron, cross slide etc all work smoothly and theres no binding what would it be worth? Note that it has no motor attached to the lathe atm, hes got a three phase motor hes chucking in that used to be on there, ill provs be going for a single phase or getting a 3 phase inverter whichever is the cheapest option

To be honest, I personally wouldn't want to spend anymore then $750 in fair condition, let's face is its seen 60?ish years of use? And abuse? Why did it have the motor taken off? Why did he stop using it? What was it used for? Why's he selling it? What tooling comes with it? Put you're finger in the tailstock and check how rough it feels if there's much scoring ...

I say around 750 due to here in new Zealand you can pick up a Boxford or similar in decent condition for $1500 with decent tooling there's many myford's they seem to fetch a good price...

But I'm sure somebody with better knowledge will chime in shortly

http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-f...ork/lathes-accessories/auction-1284915930.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-f...ork/lathes-accessories/auction-1286843058.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-f...ork/lathes-accessories/auction-1285087735.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-f...ork/lathes-accessories/auction-1285713928.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-f...ork/lathes-accessories/auction-1284960661.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-f...ork/lathes-accessories/auction-1284280042.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-f...ork/lathes-accessories/auction-1284474718.htm

The list goes on!

Ps.. check out prices for a decent single phase motor!

 

[graham-xrf]

Alright guys will do, ill message the guy to see if i can retract the bid and shop for something better, ill definently be asking lots of questions especially here.

Hi Gr1m3eaper
I am the Brit who broke the "don't have a beer with your buddies and go shopping on eBay at the same time" rule. Things worked out OK, but it shows the point that if the deadline has not passed, you can retract, and it "winds back" to the previous good bid.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/the-147-71-green-south-bend-something.47491/#post-401546

 

[Downunder Bob]

Okey dokey well hes asking $1000 atm but says its negotiable, so would it not be worth buying with no motor? Id love to get it seeing as its made in australia but i dont want a crap lathe that im going to be fixing and getting frustrated with, im going to have a look at it this weekend what would you guys offer him for the lathe as is?

 

[Downunder Bob]

Okey dokey well hes asking $1000 atm but says its negotiable, so would it not be worth buying with no motor? Id love to get it seeing as its made in australia but i dont want a crap lathe that im going to be fixing and getting frustrated with, im going to have a look at it this weekend what would you guys offer him for the lathe as is?

I wouldn't even make an offer if I couldn't see and hear it run. the fact that it doesn't have a motor or a drive belt rings very large bells to me. The seller is making sure you can't test it, That tells me he is looking for a sucker, don't you be the sucker. If you would spend $1000 on this why wouldn't you spend $1500 on the Hercus 260 also advertised on Gum tree and in Melbourne, a much later model looks to be in fair condition, and better specs also with quite a few tools and accessories, A fair price in my book. A much better deal all round. Go have a look at it.