Am I in over my head? Machine ID

I think that lathe is a good score. The ways don't look bad, hopefully thats just a line from dried up oil. It has a travadial, and the compound appears to not hsve a nick in it. I would put any motor on it just to spin it and check its health. The original motor could have been removed because it failed, or the lathe had problems and they used the motor elsewhere. Hopefully not the latter. Keep us updated.
Good luck!
 
I've bought several older large machines, not a Clausing, but my thoughts on a large machine like this:

Are you willing to invest some extended time in getting it into good shape? If you do, you will have machine you will be very proud of, and have really good knowledge of it's operation. But it may easily take you a year or two to work everything out. To keep that from getting too daunting, I'd suggest getting a motor in it and trying it out. Avoid getting into a major overhaul with everything torn apart all at once. Pick one issue at a time and address it. Anything that can be done while fixing that one thing that generally improves the machine without sidetracking the project, do it. But try to go in small bites that frequently lead back to a running machine, even if that is not a fully functional machine. Otherwise it can get overwhelming and discouraging with too many things in pieces.

Don't know what sort of power you have available. If you don't already have 3 phase, I'd suggest buying a 3HP 3phase motor, and a VFD that can be run off single phase 220V. 3HP should be plenty for home hobby use, but you can always upgrade the motor down the road if you can power it.

Do you know anyone else that does machining work? If not, @Larry$ is likely right, you may find yourself pursuing a mill and lathe to fix this lathe. You can likely get by with something small. This is how you get addicted ;)
 
HillbillyDeluxe39 said:
I purchased this machine Friday, it was supposed to be a package deal along with a smaller Clausing 15x50. However when I arrived the other machine had already be sold. I ended up purchasing this 15x60? and a Kalamazoo 13" bandsaw.

On to my issues, I can't seem to positively ID this machine or find any numbers on it that make sense.

The Bad: This thing is huge and heavy. The cover over the gears was removed some time ago, seller didn't know why.
Motor was removed and missing.
A few handles are broken off.
Threading gears look chewed up and I think I'm missing some.

This is my first lathe, I'm not scared of it just don't want to spend and arm and a leg on something not worth it.

Anyway if anyone can help with ID, I can get a manual and source parts. Thanks
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without power you can check runout of spindle nose, straightness of the bed.
 
The machine looks pretty nice! I hope it works out. My lathe is a 15 x60” but likely not quite as heavy. I have never taxed the 5hp motor.
 
Qc tool post, D1-6 chuck, trava-dial… you will be okay on your investment!
 
There's a lot to process.

1. Was told the motor was removed for rewinding and the final price was more than quoted, so they didn't move forward.
2. The machine is filthy but looks fairly undamaged, unlike my mill table with holes all in it.
3. Step 1 is to do a good clean and inspect.
Step 2, drain and inspect head oil for "glitter".
Step 3, install single phase motor just to get it powered up.
4. I don't have access to 3 phase and don't know that the future will either. I'm not sure what size single phase motor would be sufficient for my work, original had 7.5hp 3 phase, the TECOs 1 to 3 phase go up to 5hp, after that things get expensive. I suppose the machine could be converted to single phase by changing out motor, coolant pump and electronics for single phase.
5. Is this thread a good place for Q&A? Or should I start a new one.
 
That's quite the first lathe, if you fix it up it may be the first, last and only....

Others may have different thoughts but if were me I'd bite the bullet and get a 5hp 3 phase motor as that will likely be enough power for anything in the "hobby" range. If in fact it was taken out of service simply because the motor failed and everything else is decent you'll have a very nice machine for way too cheap. :grin:

You can power the whole thing with a static or rotary phase converter, converting to VFD power is a great option but you can always do it later down the road if you go with a 3 phase motor. Doing this will be the quickest way to get it running as you won't have to try and figure out wiring besides hooking up the motor. Even with a static converter the loss of power probably won't be noticeable for hobby use.

Do check the spindle and bed as noted above but even if those aren't perfect it's probably worth getting power to it unless you really just decide to part it out which will be a big hassle and take up a lot of time and space. Running machines are much easier to sell than projects or parts machines.

Clean and inspect is definitely in order, you can probably just use the same "tractor oil" I get at Tractor Supply.

Yes, keeping your questions in one thread is usually best because you can look back at comments without having to go all over the place. Start new threads as needed but keep the main fix-up thread here would be my advice.

John
 
P.S. That thing's worth an arm, leg and a couple of toes in my book. If you want to see what not to do it's here....
 
If the threading gears are chewed up/missing there's the Clough42 electronic lead screw that would be the bee's knees on a machine like this....
 
matthewsx said:
That's quite the first lathe, if you fix it up it may be the first, last and only....
Click to expand...
I went to look at a 12" Atlas few weeks ago, as I pulled in the driveway it was on a trailer headed out.
I agree, shouldn't ever need much more lathe than this. Thanks for the advice, I'll post questions/progress as I get to it.
 
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