Crying Shame. Project Lathes & Mills

middle.road

middle.road

Granite Stoopid...
H-M Supporter Gold Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2014
Messages
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Warning: Do Not surf the GOV auction sites, it'll make you ill.
WTH?! They couldn't afford any tarps?! Whoever made up the listings needs to learn what they're doing.

(13) Manford Horizontal (Vertical) Milling Machines -=- LINK-=-
What I would give for one of the DRO's on them....

(10) Standard Modern Engine lathes -=- LINK-=-

EDIT: and this Gem in TX -=- LINK -=-

Some of the accessories on them look very decent.

So they obviously came from a Gov contractor and they can't treat taxpayer owned equipment any better than that?
I worked for a defense contractor out in SoCal in the 80's and when something was sent off to surplus it was coated and covered.
My how times have changed...
 
YEP, those Standard Modern lathes just sitting there rusting away, SAD
 
I purchased a Standard Modern 1334 lathe a few years ago through that online auction site. It was in an uncovered lot and was coated with red rust, and looked just like the ones that are currently for sale.

I looked it over before bidding, but there was absolutely no way to test run it. All I could do was spin the chuck by hand, and listen for any suspicious sounds. An obvious flaw was that the lead screw was detached from the thread gear box. That was due to a shear pin that was sheared. Additionally, the crossfeed and tailstock ram were frozen solid (solidified oil and grease).

It took some effort to clean up. The rust was just surface rust, and actual pitting was minimal. A new shear pin fixed the lead screw issue, spray soaking the cross slide with a mix of transmission fluid and acetone freed it up. The tailstock took days and days of soaking, then the hand crank and ram screw were removed and it was soaked some more. Ultimately, it took some hard raps with hammer to free it up.

The lathe was also equipped with a DRO that surprisingly was fully functional. Actually, I thought it was busted, so I took it off, then on a whim, I opened it up and found a loose connection. So, I put all the components s back on, and have fallen in love with using a DRO equipped lathe.

Ultimately, the machine was found to be fully functional with very little wear (minimum backlash and the ways have little, if any wear). My guess is that when the shear pin sheared, it was put out of service, and placed on the auction block.

I took a chance and got real lucky. The machine now looks good, came well equipped, and works perfectly.
 
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Glad that worked out for you. You probably got it for a real good price too.
 
Z2V,

The final price, with added fees, was about $1800, so I wasn't the only person willing to take a chance! That seems to be about the going price for them.

If you look closely at the pictures, you will see that some have more accessories than others. That needs to be noted when bidding. Also, these machines look like inch/metric models. (Some 1334's are inch only.).

My bet is that every one of those machines worked perfectly when it was taken out of service. The only ailments they suffer is from the elements.
 
I noticed some have extra chucks visible and some not- one even has a VFD
another one is really in bad shape
That site seems to charge a high fee, GSA auctions charges little or none IIRC
Mark
 
I looked about a week ago, yes it does make YA sick but that's this country's way of doing things. Just tax the living out of us for them then let's us buyem back . The money just don't go the right way. I'd love to buy a lathe like that but then you have to go get it , well I'm not able but I'd buy one if I could . But my money couldn't afford the scrap dealers bidding amounts. Oh well dream on mcduff
 
Might be nothing wrong at all. More than likely these got replaced by CNC machines, or they went out of tolerance for aerospace work. Went you count tenths, doesn’t take much wear. And Doesn’t matter how well they work if CNC moves in.

GPB
 
Could have been a training program that was discontinued, or a contract that wasn't renewed. Who knows, but it's a shame they
didn't tarp them at least. Nasty time of year to be doing this too with the weather and all..
Mark
 
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Maybe they were in a flood or something.
 
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