Well just bought a Sheldon TRB-S56

Yeah I guess I was excited and it all flew out of my head. Yes it's a 6' bed.
 
Every move has a story, I like yours.
Enjoy your Sheldon, they are nice lathes. Send us pics along the way.
My Clausing has the yellow paint on the wheels.
I believe that means it was in a school at one time. Most shop teachers make sure their equipment is maintained.
 
byrdman said:
Yeah I guess I was excited and it all flew out of my head. Yes it's a 6' bed.
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See I was thinking it was much larger and would just barely fit on an 8' bed. That lathe is actually worth more being smaller. That's what most hobbyists want. Smaller will be a big plus if you ever go to resell it. It's still a BIG lathe as hobbyist lathes go. Like I say, I'm jealous as all get out.

Those chuck look to be in excellent condition. If that was in a school it's amazing that there aren't any signs of crashing into the chuck. That's the first thing I looked for in those photos. And I saw the photos on eBay so I was able to zoom in pretty close. Those chucks look pristine to me. And the collet closer is another big plus, even without the collets, you can acquire them as you need them.

As far as not following my advice in loading the lathe, you're not alone. I almost never do what other people tell me to do. :grin:

The good thing is that in your case it all worked out well.

The reason I mentioned about putting it on the truck headstock first is to get the major weight in the center of the truck. Having the bulk of the weight at the tailgate end can result in some surprises if you need to make a quick swerve on the highway to avoid an obstacle. The next thing you know the headstock is tossing the truck around in ways you may not have been prepared for. Of course that's not going to be as pronounced with the smaller lathe in a 6' bed. But put a much larger lathe on an 8' bed with all the weight at the tail end of the truck and you'll quickly notice that it affects how the truck corners. I learned the hard way. :grin: Fortunately no major accident, but a scary ordeal when the lathe starts driving the truck for you. You slow down real quick! I'll never do that again. Put the weight to the middle of the truck. Good rule of thumb.
 
My truck is a 3/4 ton cummins it did great. About the collet closer I didn't get a draw tube or chuck for it any idea where I could get one? Size or anything?

Also any idea what this is for?
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byrdman said:
My truck is a 3/4 ton cummins it did great.
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Yeah, it looked really stable in the photos. When I had the problem I was driving an old 1/2 ton pick-up that was overloaded to being with. Putting all the weight to the rear only made a bad situation worse. Me bad. I was young back then. We all make mistakes, and some of us are lucky enough to live to tell about them. :grin:

So now I'm overly concerned about weight distribution which is probably a good thing.

byrdman said:
About the collet closer I didn't get a draw tube or chuck for it any idea where I could get one? Size or anything?
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I would imagine they are pretty standard. I still think that having the closer handle mechanism is a good start. You could probably make the draw tube. I don't know about the chuck for the collets. Is that built right into the spindle? Or do you need to actually buy a special collet chuck? I don't know the answer to that question to be honest. I'm sure others on this forum will know.

byrdman said:
Also any idea what this is for?
Click to expand...

Clueless here.
 
That's true Brino. The best thing anyone can do is ignore my advice. You got me there! :grin:
 
Vintage machinery site has a lot of info.manuals on Sheldon lathes.
 
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