How Did I Do On This South Bend Purchase?

Nice score!!
You can get all the info on your machine by getting a "Serial Card" aka "Lathe Card". It is available through Grizzly, who is now the distributer for South Bend.
http://www.grizzly.com/brands/south-bend-lathe/serialcard
I got one for my SB,it gives lots of info, including the original purchaser, motor, included accessories etc.
 
That would have been a great deal where I live - the last SB I saw tooled like that went for $3500. Nice git!

John
 
Wanna make a quick hundred bucks? Maybe 200? Let me know. Seriously, In N. AZ a friend of mine just sold a 9in south bend with change gears for 2000. In this part of the world that is a great deal. I am a supporter of keeping all the equipment that came with the lathe, with the lathe. And if possible acquiring more, like a milling attachment or and a grinder attachment.

Tim
 
you got a great deal. The taper attachment is worth the price alone practically.
Seems very good. Like DoogieB said, felts.. I would not run it w/o replacing them. With it sitting so long, they are not going to lube the shafts.
Get it done before you do damage. They are hard and not transfering the oil
I restored mine, and it was not hard. http://imgur.com/a/6OT4a , today it is a well used lathe. BTW DON'T go the grease route for the cone on main shaft (when disconnected for back gear use), instead do the oil routine. Mine heated up and siezed (w/o damage just size) from grease. Oil is best, it flows freely , mine said oil, but many say they use grease, and it does not flow enough.
 
I am going to keep it all together. I was looking at possibly buying a milling attachment for it in the future. I am wondering if the milling attachments do a very good job on these small lathes? I will not be buying a mill and am wondering if the milling attachments are good enough for very limited work? Do you have to have a collet set to hold mill bits?
 
I have a milling attachment. I don't recommend it. It does very light duty. Much less than I was hoping for.
I have a 3/8 end mill holder mt3 and draw bar to hold the bits. I have a ton of 1/2" bits, but this really can't do larger cuts, so I'll wait until I find a suitable mill.
 
Keep you r eye out for a used mill drill or one of the little mini-mills. More usable than a milling attachment and will get you started milling. I got a little sherline mill, and it's kinda frustrating after having used a full sized milling machine. But for you would be a new experience, no frustration if you don't know anything else.
 
I think you did very well. Saw a 9" on craigslist here in Houston yesterday for $4K. it's nice but not as nice as yours. Congratulations on an excellent purchase.
 
mordamer said:
I am going to keep it all together. I was looking at possibly buying a milling attachment for it in the future. I am wondering if the milling attachments do a very good job on these small lathes? I will not be buying a mill and am wondering if the milling attachments are good enough for very limited work? Do you have to have a collet set to hold mill bits?
Click to expand...

Your opening post asked if there was anything obviously wrong with the lathe. I noticed there were no chips, needs some chips, can you get some on it?, On a more serious note: I would definitely get a milling attachment. But in my experience most lathes, especially smaller ones just don't have enough mass and rigidity to be very effective as a mill. The three in one machines approach this problem by making the carriage and cross feed larger, and again in my experience they don't really do the job. Yet having the option to use the lathe as a mill is better than no option. You can use a three jaw chuck to hold the end mill, but it needs to run really true. A four jaw would be better and a collect would be the best. Also you could build an arbor and use slitting saws and saw like mill cutters that are small, diameters, keep in mind the forces and how they multiply as the cutters get bigger...... I look forward to your first chip making day.

Tim
 
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