Hello. New member, new clausing project

[2jz4me]

Just wanted to say hello to everyone and say how much I have enjoyed reading threads even before I was a member.

My newest project, I picked up this clausing 6955 turret lathe for 500 bucks. I'm going to do a full restoration on it, including vfd conversion. As you can see from the pictures, it has the apron but the carriage is gone and also has no steady rest. Any help in finding one of those would be greatly appreciated.

Please, enjoy some pictures and feel free to critique the pics or anything that catches your eye. I hope my introduction thread wasn't too over the top. Lol.

P.S. Please don't judge me on my garage, it's currently a disaster.

 

[ericc]

Nice lathe. Is it complete, or are there a few missing parts?

 

[2jz4me]

Nice lathe. Is it complete, or are there a few missing parts?

Thanks! The lathe is complete minus the carriage. Any missing knobs or covers were removed getting it off the truck and into my garage.

 

[markba633csi]

You might be in for a wait to find a carriage- you may have to buy another lathe and make one good one out of the two
Alternately, you could part this one out and probably recover most of the cost
-Mark

 

[2jz4me]

You might be in for a wait to find a carriage- you may have to buy another lathe and make one good one out of the two
Alternately, you could part this one out and probably recover most of the cost
-Mark

Yeah, I know they aren't "easy" to come by but I do see them on ebay. My only concern with an ebay purchased is unseen wear on such an item. Even with pics at every angle, you could easily miss wear on the ways etc... It may be my only choice. I may just have to go that route.

 

[Janderso]

Considering you have a production turret tail stock, how is the wear?
It looks like lots of work.
I like the idea of parting it out and finding one that is complete.
Maybe if I were a few decades younger with more energy I could see the potential.
My 2 cents.

 

[2jz4me]

Considering you have a production turret tail stock, how is the wear?
It looks like lots of work.
I like the idea of parting it out and finding one that is complete.
Maybe if I were a few decades younger with more energy I could see the potential.
My 2 cents.

The wear from what I can tell in its current condition is very little. The ways look very good, minus the surface rust. There is no grooving whatsoever, the top surface of the ways looks very good with nice edges, even through the rust. The turret is very smooth. Has very nice, definitive detent and lock mechanisms. Obviously, I don't know how well the reeves drive works but the green sleeve coating is in shockingly good condition. It looks MUCH better than the coating on my 6913. To be honest, I didn't plan on restoring the lathe when I bought it. When I saw the ad, it had the turret, a collet closer and that 8 inch 3 jaw chuck and I thought i would just take those off and sell the rest for parts. After getting it home, I would hate to do that to a lathe that is perfectly usable. You think its too much trouble sourcing a carriage and compound?

 

[markba633csi]

Sounds like you are already familiar with older Clausings, and you already have options figured out. One way or another I think you'll at least break even and maybe better than that- it is a nice lathe and worth saving
-M

 

[Janderso]

The wear from what I can tell in its current condition is very little. The ways look very good, minus the surface rust. There is no grooving whatsoever, the top surface of the ways looks very good with nice edges, even through the rust. The turret is very smooth. Has very nice, definitive detent and lock mechanisms. Obviously, I don't know how well the reeves drive works but the green sleeve coating is in shockingly good condition. It looks MUCH better than the coating on my 6913. To be honest, I didn't plan on restoring the lathe when I bought it. When I saw the ad, it had the turret, a collet closer and that 8 inch 3 jaw chuck and I thought i would just take those off and sell the rest for parts. After getting it home, I would hate to do that to a lathe that is perfectly usable. You think its too much trouble sourcing a carriage and compound?

Very good news!!
I know surface rust can look overwhelming and it can also hide important clues.
Those of us who have found a lost passion in this hobby of machine tool reconditioning have learned volumes along the way.
I'm just trying to share some insight I have picked up during my journey.

 

[matthewsx]

Hello and welcome.

Some of us get most of our pleasure in the hobby from bringing old tools back to life. Bonus, when you fix up a tool you can use it to fix the next one