At what point is a lathe bed too far gone?

Yep . Ok , so I know where the surface grinder is that could do it . The price will be the decision maker . It needs a gib and it's wired 440 , so there is money . I may just part it out ! :)
 
I love the old iron and do what rebuilding that I can, but it can be an expensive hobby.

Sometimes if you say that it is low priority and that you can wait until they get around to it - you can get a break on the price. One machine shop near here I got a lot of waterjet cutting at half price cause I could wait 3 months for the result!
 
Yup . This lathe was headed to the scrapyard and I intercepted it . I'm going to bring in a chuck for the Colchester that they didn't have , so they said take it ! :cool: I'm never in a hurry for home projects as I have the shop at work , but I ALSO hate seeing old iron hit the dumps . But , I know my limits ...........and the wifes ! :big grin:
 
or a LeBlonde, Rockwell, Makino, some southbend, there are a lot worth saving...
 
That one should go to the scrap yard. the screw in angle iron inserts mean the actual cast iron saddle is badly worn. The time and expense to rebuild that machine would far exceed its value. Unless you have a lot of time and money to put into the rebuild I would suggest spending your money on a lathe in better condition. My experience tells me you could buy a new similar size lathe from Matt at Quality Machine Tools for much less than you would spend having the bed ground, attending a Richard King class, buying a surface plate, straightedges, indicators and scrapers then re-surfacing the cast iron, and gibs. We have not even gone into the mechanical wear, bearings gears bushings etc. Oh and dont forget the lead screw, nut, half nut feed clutches etc. For example a 12x36" lathe can be had for $3500, Richards class is $1800 plus 5 or more days of lodging and meals to attend. Start adding needed tools and you quickly see my point. While romantic to think of restoring your own machine its expensive, especially to do the first machine.
 
Sorry I missed this and I should have answered earlier. If you have a budget of $400.00

Use the Tail Stock base and indicate the wear in all the ways. write down the measurement's on the bed and take some photo's for us to see.

Then I would call around and see who can plane the bed. Set the lathe bed on the machine and indicate Try to be there when they indicate in the bed. Under the head-stock and on the far right end of tailstock ways is not worn much. Be sure to shim under the bed to take the twist out. After they have the bed clamped down measure all the surfaces and then machine it to clean up, making sure to mark down what is removed.

Then set the saddle on the bed down on the tailstock end and shim under the saddle (crap wear strips out ) so the top of saddle is parallel to bed. you cold also use a level on bed and then on clearance top surface between the cross-slide flat ways. Or use a mag base and indicator to indicate top when pushing it to and fro and the top of clearance surface is again parallel, Then calculate how much Rulon or Turcite you will need to be glued to bottom of saddle. I will write more in the morning. You can get some insight from watching the following You Tubes. This one and the others he has after this one.
 
savarin said:
I've never used this stuff but have heard its an excellent product
http://moglice.com/moglice.html
Click to expand...
It is excellent stuff, but too prone to impact damage to leave exposed. It is good in the cross slide, compound slide, and the under side of the carriage and tail stock, but not so much for the top of exposed ways. It is a type of epoxy resin with metal additives, there are many varieties with different properties. It needs to be "cast" in place after getting all the oil out of the metal surfaces and then roughing the surfaces up, then casting it in place on to the surface. After it is dry, it is scraped to the correct thickness and fit. I have not worked with it, but do have some experience with Turcite (Rulon), which comes in sheets ready to cut to size, epoxy in place, and scrape to fit. Scraping it is fast, as it is soft (but tough). All of it is expen$ive, but often worth it to get the job done when you are running out of metal thickness to make things fit together. Once installed and fit properly, these products stay good for a long time with normal and proper care. All need to be precision scraped for machinery sliding surfaces.
 
I've been trying to say the same as Richard. Even a well worn lathe can be used if used carefully. I had to use one in a shope that was worn out even more, and we made good parts on it.
 
Price was right so do a rattle can rebuild.

Tear it down and clean it up.

Minor repairs and new gets.

Buy the book and kit.

Now use it.

You will learn much and while doing this watch for the next one as there always will be another one along the way.

A working worn lathe is much better than no lathe and good parts can still be made.

It can be sold as is too.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
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