Enco is it worth it?

[powerhouse820]

Just came across this Enco on marketplace. Tag said made in tiawan. And insight would be helpful. Also says come with tooling no pictures though. He is asking 1500 says everything works as should.

 

[JimDawson]

Looks to be worth $1500 if it's not worn out or damaged in some way.

 

[cathead]

I have no experience with Enco lathes but I will say that I have been very satisfied with my Enco vertical knee mill. I have
owned it since 1996 when purchased new and it has been a very satisfying machine.

 

[Martin W]

Taiwan built machines are usually of higher quality.

 

[jwmay]

Looks like a winner from here. Of course since it runs, you should be able to check that both feeds work, run it in every gear, and listen for strange noises. If all seems good, then it probably is. Be sure and read up on evaluating a lathe for purchase first. It's been written so many times, it should be an easy search. But if it were local, I'd be racing you to see it...If I could shoehorn it in somewhere.

 

[ConValSam]

All things being equal, that's a total bargain. The tooling could be worth that much.

What size is it?

 

[powerhouse820]

Going to look at it Saturday thanks guys, only thing that worries me is getting parts for a machine like this. Been looking at southbend mama and older iron it seems this would be a much better route

 

[powerhouse820]

Thanks guys this is helpful, been looking at older southbend model a’s I’m sure this would be a much better option, looks like a 12x36 in the pictures

 

[NCjeeper]

only thing that worries me is getting parts for a machine like this.

Literally thousands of those machines were sold. I imagine if you end up needing something you could find it. I have the 13x40 version I bought new back in 2004. It has been a solid machine.

 

[JimDawson]

Going to look at it Saturday thanks guys, only thing that worries me is getting parts for a machine like this. Been looking at southbend mama and older iron it seems this would be a much better route

I have owned machine tools for 50 years or so, and have owned 30 or so machines of various brands and ages. In that time I have purchased exactly 2 parts for machines.* In both cases I was just too lazy to make those parts and they were available. It is very rare to actually need parts, they just don't break in normal use. Nothing wrong with buying old iron, but parts availability would not be a deciding factor for me.

We are machinists, we can make new parts if needed.

* I need to qualify that statement by saying I have only purchased 2 machine specific parts. The normal wear items are pretty much off-the-shelf hardware items like belts, bearings, and electrical.