9C for beginner.

[DavidR8]

Hello all,
I’m a beginner metal worker on the hunt for a lathe.
I’ve been looking at small imports up to 8x16 but South Bend was a brand recommended to me.
There’s a NC9R for sale nearby.

south bend lathe

south bend lathe. baldor motor 3&4 jaw chuck, faceplate, change gears.

r.used.ca

Fellow is asking $1100 which seems rather steep to me.

Thoughts on this lathe as a first lathe?




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[benmychree]

For a non quick change lathe with not a lot of tooling, it seems a bit much.

 

[woodtickgreg]

Seems steep to me as well. I would keep looking, take your time. Southbends are nice, I restored and own one. But there are a lot of other nice vintage lathes out there as well. Try and find one with a gearbox so you can cut various threads if need be. A southbend 9A or even better yet a southbend heavy 10. You have to be carefull when looking at any older lathe, sometimes when they are low cost the are also significantly worn out, especially the beds. Just take your time when looking at them. Try and see them running if you can to make sure everything works and see how the sound.

 

[francist]

As a first lathe I don’t know if I’d recommend that one. Actually, not necessarily that particular one but rather any lathe in pieces on the floor. You may do ok with it and it might turn out great, but there’s an equal chance that there’s a reason it’s not up and running. The change gears are a bit of a downer too, not just for threading (it’s not like you thread every single time you turn on the machine) but more so for the power feed. Not as easy to change your carriage feeds so you end up feeding by hand to save the hassle. On a small machine it’s not so bad, but bigger machine usually means bigger parts, so that can be a lot of hand cranking.

Trouble is, Victoria is an awful market for machines. Vancouver is better, but it costs 200 bucks to get off and on the Island again to go and look at anything! The worst position to be in Victoria is without any machine because it could be months before another one shows up.Way better to have one that you may not want forever but that can get you in the door while you discover what your needs are. Then, when the over-expectant Victoria pricing kicks in you are more prepared to jump or pass.

Having said all that, if I had the room and didn’t already have two lathes I’d probably offer the guy 750 and see what happened. But that’s just me — I’m impatient and a sucker for old iron!

Good luck in the hunt!

-frank

 

[DavidR8]

Thanks for your perspectives!

I’m really on the fence about it.
It does seem like the seller is asking too much. It’s been for sale since May so there’s got to be something up.

I didn’t think about the change gears and feed rate. That would be a drag to to switch gears out to change feed rate.

On the other hand like @francist said maybe lowball the seller and see what happens.
I can order a 7x14 import for $750 and if I could get the SB for the same price I might be in a better situation.


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[DavidR8]

@francist very cool to meet someone local on HM!


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[jwmay]

I guess I’ll be the devils advocate on this one and say that if you’re new to all this, I’d recommend against buying some old piece of junk that used to be nice, when you can get a complete import machine brand new delivered to your doorstep, with two chucks, and all the accessories...and a warranty. You want to learn machining, or learn machine rebuilding? If the answer is both, I’d suggest learning machining first, and machine rebuilding second. Buy new.

Full disclosure: I didn’t even look at the machine you’re thinking about. I just read the comments.

Good luck no matter what you decide. Even if you buy something (used or new) that doesn’t end up being exactly what you were hoping for, this hobby kinda sticks to you. You’ll sort it all out eventually.

 

[jwmay]

Ok I looked at it. It’s at least worth a visit. Unless you have to pay 200 dollars to go see it. In which case, I still say you’d be better off with a new mini lathe.

 

[DavidR8]

Thank you for your wise words everyone.
I am an old tool fan, I have a1965 Unisaw, 1960's Beaver 12" bandsaw and a 1976 Kira 13" drill press.
But I admit that an older metal lathe is a completely different animal from older woodworking machinery.
I might get in touch with the guy with the South Bend but I'm more inclined to order a new 7x14 mini.

 

[SLK001]

Trouble is, Victoria is an awful market for machines. Vancouver is better, but it costs 200 bucks to get off and on the Island again to go and look at anything!

Why is this, are they holding you people hostage?