Deal or No Deal: late 1930's Rockford Economy Lathe w/ 12" swing

[Robrods]

New Member! Been lurking for a few months & looking to buy my first lathe for personal use. I am a total noob to machining; I'm a computer guy by trade. I found a late '30s Rockford Economy lathe with 12" swing advertised locally. Being a noob, I am probably using the wrong search terms, so apologies if I missed a post similar to my question(s). I play with classic cars and I'm looking to make dies for my bead roller, some misc tools, reproduce a few parts, etc.

I inspected a lathe today and seeking opinions if I should buy & repair or am I better off walking (running) away. I've been looking at a new Precision Mathews 1228VF-LB and have read alot about them on this forum (thank you!). The only reason I'm looking at this Rockford is (perceived) lower $$$ entry point.

Issues: When operating the crossfeed manually, there is at least .050 of play when going forward to back. The main feed(?) there is play in the lead screw, I can see the whole shaft move when going from left to right (toward headstock versus toward tailstock), probably .020 to .030. The most troubling issue is when the half nut is engaged the lead screw stops turning. Are these problems major issues or can be reasonably repaired?

The positives are this has been converted to a 3hp 220hp V-belt driven motor, it's 5 miles away, comes with 2 boxes of drill bits, misc tooling, and 2 massive chucks. We are at $1,000 - pending research. So... ideas on what's not working right, other things I should be looking at, and ultimately... deal or no deal?

 

[benmychree]

I would buy it and sort out the problems, it is likely 10 times the lathe compared to any Chinese POS on the market, peeling paint is not a problem and the lead screw stopping is likely just a sheared pin/

 

[Shootymacshootface]

Agreed, thats a lot of lathe there. You won't be looking for an upgrade like I did in just a couple of years.

 

[Superburban]

You are a better judge of your abilities, and persistence towards projects, then we ever can be. The lead screw issues do sound relatively simple. The cross feed is likely due to wear, and can be worked with. And new parts made down the road when you get some experience under your belt.

Take inventory of the accessories. 4 jaw & 3 jaw chucks, center & following rests, Extra gears, tool holders, ect. Those will add up quick if you look for them later. Chances are the seller may have them, just not know they are for the lathe. If it does not come with a 3 jaw chuck, and only has a 4 jaw, it may get intimidating for a learner to practice on. Or it could make you a great machinist quickly.

Personally, I would have had the lathe loaded on my trailer, and tyring to figure out how the hell I will fit it in the shop.

 

[Martin W]

Deal.
Cheers
Martin

 

[Downunder Bob]

Looks like a good solid lathe, but it does need a fair bit of work. Do you have the time, energy and enthusiasm to do this. if your not sure about the skill level, you will learn, it's the enthusiasm, time and energy that will get you there. If I was a younger man I'd love to have a go at something like that.

The other thing you will need is somewhere to do the work. You will ideally have it under cover. and with adequate heating and cooling depending on where you live.

Good luck.

 

[projectnut]

It sounds like the machine needs a fair amount of work to bring it up to speed. Hopefully you can negotiate the price down a bit since you'll need to be spending both time and money before it can be used on a regular basis.

If you can get the price to the point it will be competitive with purchasing a new machine I would certainly consider it. Just keep in mind it in itself is a project, and will probably take weeks or months to complete. I've never purchased a machine needing that much work. However all machines wear over time and I've spent my share of time repairing or upgrading them.

 

[Choiliefan]

I used a Rockford Economy lathe for awhile in the eighties and really liked it. I had a wonky phase converter at the time and the clutch lever on top of the headstock made it easy to gently engage the drive. Pretty sure it's newer than you think.

 

[Nogoingback]

The "conversation" about the merits of an older American lathe vs. a new Chinese or Taiwanese lathe is a never ending topic around here,
with good points on both sides. Buying an older lathe like the Rockford can be a great project and the older machines were certainly
built to a generally high standard. But, you have to enjoy and have the skills for a project like that.
Old lathes like that basically have zero parts support,
so anything you need will need to be repaired, fabricated or found on eBay. The purchase price for machines like that tends to be the
down payment: costs can add up quickly depending on what's needed and what tooling you wind up buying. That's all good if you're
into it, but if you just want to have a lathe to make parts, it could be an exercise in frustration. So, rather than focus on the cost difference I would
think about what you really want and need. If you are inclined towards a new lathe, the Taiwanese PM machines are a good choice, with
lots of satisfied owners around here and of course a warranty and parts support.

 

[pacifica]

If the ways are worn(which is very likely) it is not cheap or easy to get fixed. It means you will constantly be getting tapered parts.
Check the runout on the spindle nose( should be less than .0005"), wear on the ways, no chips or missing gears, amount of vibration with a chuck.
older machines usually have smaller spindle bore and less top speedAlso depends on how much time you want to be fixing things or using the lathe. Some enjoy the journey, others the destination.