Well just bought a Sheldon TRB-S56

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byrdman

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I probably paid a little more than its worth considering the had it listed for 1300 and i offered him 900 and he took it, but I hope it is good. Bought site unseen just pictures. I'll share those, most probably saw them on Ebay already though. Looking for a manual but this site says I am not allowed to look at that section for some reason.

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I'm currently looking at a Sheldon lathe myself at about the same price you paid. The one I'm looking at isn't as in nice as shape as your (at least as far as I can see). Those pictures are quite tiny so it's hard to see what your lathe is actually like.
 
Ok, I found the expired ad on eBay. They still have the full-size pictures up. Looks pretty darn good to me. I think you got a good deal personally. Especially if you like the older equipment like I do. I certainly wouldn't have hesitated to pick that lathe up at the price if it was close to me. I see you get two large chucks with it. That's nice when you get both the 3-jaw and 4-jaw. Those chucks look to be in pretty nice condition to.

In fact, the whole lathe looks to me to be in pretty good shape. No obvious nicks in the chucks or table. So it doesn't look like it's been crashed up. It appears to be in pretty good condition. The lead screw looks good too. I mean, these are just photos, but still. I've seen lathes in photos where you could see nicks and bangs that simply aren't there on yours. It looks like it was taken pretty good care of.

The ad says that it hasn't been run in 20 years. That's actually good. That means that it wasn't being worn down or abused for 20 years. :grin:

I think you got a good lathe there.
 
Thanks, I think it has a collet locker? on the back as well. Thats what I was thinking about the 20yr thing. Unless it was rode hard and put up wet for 53yrs or so before hand that is.
 
byrdman said:
Managed to get them resized take a look now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it looks great!

On the eBay site I was even able to zoom in for more detail on their photos. I think it looks real good. I can't see any obvious signs of abuse or serious wear.

Make sure you oil everything up really good before running it though. Don't want to burn up dry bearings that have been sitting around for 20 years without turning.

If it were me I'd take it apart as far as I feel comfortable doing and make sure everything is well cleaned and oiled before trying to run it for any extended period of time.

That's a nice lathe. I think you got a good deal barring any unseen surprises. Just make sure to lubricate everything and you should be fine.
 
Thanks! Another question, what QCTP should I get an AXA or BXA?
 
The only thing I'd change on that lathe right away (before I got used to it being where it is) is the placement of the on/off switch. It might seem to be convenient were it's located on the front of the lathe under the table, but my thinking is that it's far too easy to bump it accidentally turning on the lathe when you didn't mean to turn it on.

I'd take that off and move it so that it's up above the headstock or somewhere it isn't likely to be accidentally bumped on. And I'd do it right away before I got used to it where it is.

That's just what I would do personally. It's just a safety consideration. Where it's located right now my dog could switch it on by accident.
 
byrdman said:
Thanks! Another question, what QCTP should I get an AXA or BXA?
Click to expand...

I don't even know the difference. :grin:

I just jumped on your post because I happen to be looking at and reading about Sheldon lathes myself lately. From what I've read Sheldon lathes are pretty nice machines.
 
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