Help me decide on my first lathe: South Bend light 10, or Sheldon 10, or Logan 2557VH

40Phil

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Hi Everyone. I've been searching through threads for the last week or so looking for advice on buying my first lathe.
I have a vintage lathe budget and have been searching Craigslist for a while and found these three... The Logan 2557VH and the SB L10 are roughly the same price, the Sheldon TS56-P is quite a bit cheaper, but needs some love to get working.
I found a lot of helpful information about each of the lathes listed but I didn't see any direct comparisons and I could use a little push in a direction bases on what I've seen of them in person.

The South Bend is a cream-puff. It's used obviously but looks like it wasn't used much and was well cared for. It's complete with a 5"chuck and a quick change setup, but no real tooling.
The Logan is a little more lived in but still seems tight, clean and well taken care of. It has a bit more tooling and a Variable speed controller.
The Sheldon is more warn, but the bed seems unharmed and true. It had a problem with the belt tensioner so I couldn't run it much, but everything worked. Although it had a heaving coating of grease on all of it. Honestly, all things equal, the Sheldon wouldn't be on the list but it was $600 cheaper than the next cheapest option and I'm pretty sure I could fix what was ailing it.

So what would you do? I gather each brand has their fans, but I wasn't sure if that was more up to personal preference or something more. I came into this thinking the South Bend was what I wanted, but the more I've read, the waters have muddied a bit.

Oh, I also found a Monarch 10EE, but at $10G, I shed a tear and moved on.
Thanks!
Phil
 
I'm a fan of all three..south bend and Logan are easier to get parts for if needed..that being said I have a 11" Sheldon I wouldn't trade for nothing..depends on condition and tooling..good luck..Phil
 
I own a Sheldon EXL '40s vintage. It was military issue with minor issues. I changed out 1PH motor with 3PH and purchased a VFD to run it. It really is a sweet machine. I've run SBs but do not own one. Here are some differences I noted between Sheldon and SB:

Sheldon has replaceable precision tapered rollers in the headstock. The ones in mine are better than 0.00005 TIR (measuring in the bore). SB's are plain bearings. Not sure that matters for your needs. But it is a difference.

Sheldon spindle feed gear is 32 teeth. SBs seem to be 40 or more and I would argue that seems to be better design for strength. I haven't had problems with mine, but it is surprisingly thin.

Sheldon change gears are all standard 16DP no mixtures of 16 and 14 like the SouthBends I've seen. That may not be true of the Heavy 10s Just something to consider.

LeadScrew on the Sheldon is 8TPI

Both Sheldon and SB have proprietary spindle tapers. This makes it difficult, but not impossible to find reducers and 5C attachments for them.

My Sheldon EXL (10)" has a 7" bed width. This is similar to the SB Heavy 10. The Sheldon TS 56 you are looking at has a beefier bed at 8" width. That is the same as their 12"/13" lathes as well in that series. Also I believe your TS has 10DP gears in the headstock instead of 12DP in the SB. So it's a beefier lathe overall.

If I had it to do over again I would select the biggest Sheldon I could afford. Their larger R series lathes are real industrial work-horses. SBs are very popular as others have said and easy to get parts for, but they generally run 50% to 100% higher prices than Sheldons. That also depends on your location, but around here you can get 50% more machine for the price of an SB.

I have no experience with Logans so I can't give much advice there. However, I think the company is still around and you can buy parts directly from them. Hope this helps.

Best Regards,
Bob
 
You aren't comparing like machines.

The Logan 2557 is a 12x36" lathe, the Southbend a 10". You don't mention the size of the Sheldon.

If you have room and the ability to move the Logan it is going to be a more capable machine. 1-3/8" bore vs 5/8", more power, more weight. The variable speed is a nice feature and fairly simple system being a belt / variable size pulley drive, not a complex electrical or hydraulic system as with some.

The Southbend would be nice in a small shop, and will be a lot easier to move but is far more limited in capability.
 
You aren't comparing like machines.

The Logan 2557 is a 12x36" lathe, the Southbend a 10". You don't mention the size of the Sheldon.

If you have room and the ability to move the Logan it is going to be a more capable machine. 1-3/8" bore vs 5/8", more power, more weight. The variable speed is a nice feature and fairly simple system being a belt / variable size pulley drive, not a complex electrical or hydraulic system as with some.

The Southbend would be nice in a small shop, and will be a lot easier to move but is far more limited in capability.

You are correct. They aren't like machines in a lot of different ways actually.

The sheldon is a bench top model that's been mated to what looks to be a standard Sheldon Base for that era. With that model number I believe it's supposed to be an 11" lathe, with a 56" bed. But I measured it at about 5.25 on center so I figure it's a 10" lathe. And it probably qualifies as "rough" condition. It's been in a few machine shops in the area that I can figure. It's been modified with a 110V, gear reduction motor that required the lip of the base tray to be cut to clear. It does have a bunch of tooling with it but it's all well warn. That said, it's got hand scraped ways and you can still see the scraping. The bed has no damage and seems true. The gears all look fine, although with the belt tensioner not working, It was a little hard to see them work. Oil cups just had a drop of oil in them, and the entire mechanism had a healthy coat of grease on it, which may be masking other problems.
I love restoring old machines and I love a deal, but this one has me a little skittish, mostly because I've never really dug into a lathe before.

The South Bend, like I said just seemed to have paint wear from sitting so long... I don't think it was used all that much since the 1940s when it was made. That was nice, but no tooling at all other than the new Chinese QC setup.

The Logan is everything you said. It's the biggest and most expensive by a few hundred, and also the most capable. I couldn't run it but it has some tooling in decent shape and the machine itself seemed decent. I understand Logan has it's fans and it's detractors. Doesn't seem as universally loved as say the South Bend, or have the firm believers Sheldon has but they seem to have a solid rep. Oh, and it's on a wheeled base which is actually pretty huge for me.

So my hang-up comes down to is the Logan worth the extra money? Is the savings on the Sheldon, (I don't think the seller even has a bottom on that one), worth the unknowns and work required to get her right again? Will the safe-bet South Bend be enough machine for me in the long run?

Thanks again for all you're input.
 
Logan and Southbend seem to be Ford & Chevy, Miller and Lincoln etc. Seems like a lot of personal preference and selective reasoning for why one is better than the other.

I have a weird 11" Logan with a 10" spindle made in the 1970s by Powermatic. It has the same type of variable speed control as the 2557. I haven't had it all that long, and it had a hard life but seems to work just fine and I've been happy with it so far.

What I can say for Logan is you can get just about any parts you need (although they are not cheap), as well as manuals / parts lists and can get answers to your questions directly from Scott Logan (the founders grandson) who ran a Logan Yahoo group for years, and currently runs an io groups forum.
 
Logan and Sheldon sold. Would the South Bend be enough Lathe for a home shop/hobbiest, or should I keep looking.
I see people recommending 13x40 as a single shop lathe (south bend) is that what everyone else thinks as well?
 
Do not buy a lathe without a quick change gearbox as your first machine....

I have 2 South Bend Heavy 10 lathes and they are great machines for a beginner.....
 
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Logan and Sheldon sold. Would the South Bend be enough Lathe for a home shop/hobbiest, or should I keep looking.
I see people recommending 13x40 as a single shop lathe (south bend) is that what everyone else thinks as well?

I started with a 3.5x17 Sherline, and it is still a fine lathe for most of what I do. I have however added some larger machines as my interests have gotten bigger. My bigger machines are a lot larger than my Sherlines, but are still well on the smaller end of the scale. I mostly have small projects and I have a small shop so they work well for me.

What a good size for you depends a lot on what you want to do and how mach room you have. There are a lot of people on this site who seem quite happy with their less than 13x40" lathes, and I'm sure a few who wish they had bought a 14, or 15". Surely there is at least one who still regrets not buying the 8 ton giant that was for sale at scrap metal value.


Personally I think a 10" lathe is a nice size to start with unless you know what your needs are. Price wise they are very affordable, and they are in demand so sell pretty easily if you decide to go bigger or this isn't thie hobby for you after all. The bench models can be moved with just a couple people and minimal equipment (200-300lbs) but can still do pretty good size work. Most 10" lathes are available with 22-24" between centers, where most larger tend to be 36" or longer between centers, adding well over a foot to the length (good if you work on long stuff, not so good if space is at a premium). The underdrive pedestal type (like a SB Heavy 10) trade some of that mobility for added rigidity, but still maintain the smaller foot print.

10" is also kind of at a crossover point between hobbyist / utility lathes and "real" full featured lathes so you really need to look at the specs of a particular lathe. Smaller than 9" you rarely find a quick change gear box, bigger than 10" (within the usual home shop size range) you rarely find a lathe without unless it is ancient, or made for a specific purpose that didn't include threading. You will find 9 and 10" lathes with and without a QCGB, and that was only an option on many older lathes.
Spindle bore also varies widely, that light SB 10 only has a 5/8" bore which is not much larger than a 6" Atlas or even my Sherline. Most 10" lathes have a 3/4" or larger spindle bore, with some 1" and a few as large as 1-3/8" like most common 11 and 12" lathes. If you want to be able to use a collet closer you need at a minimum a 1" spindle for 3C and 1-3/8" for 5C collets. Lacking that you will be limited to a collet chuck.


Of course a bigger lathe has its own set of advantages (bigger) and limitations (bigger). New a bigger lathe costs a lot more. Used the big lathes can sometimes be cheaper than smaller lathes. Small lathes are in demand because more people have room for them, which helps keep their value up. Tooling costs are tied to size, a 5" chuck is cheaper than an 8" chuck. Weight and storage space for tooling also increases with size.

Beyond size and features, for a used lathe look at what it comes with. Tooling is expensive, and getting a well tooled lathe is worth paying more for. They usually do not cost nearly as much as a package as buying the tooling separately.



Whether or not that light 10 is a good fit for you depends on the price and what you want to do. With practically no tooling you should plan on spending at least another $1000-1500 for basic tooling (another chuck, steady rest, follow rest, centers, drill chuck etc). Does the price still seem appealing if you add $1000 to it?
 
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Agreed... It's got a drill chuck, QC tool holder, backing plates for 2 other chucks. No cutting tools, no second chuck, no centers no rests, etc.
My plans are to learn and expand my knowledge. I won't be making big pieces, although, I'm sure as soon as I get my feet wet, I'll think of a million big things I want to do, that won't fit on the machine I buy. :rolleyes:
My shop is bigger than most suburban garages but not by much so compact is good. And the flipside of the tooling thing is it's a lot easier for me to buy tooling over time, in small chunks than it is for me to add another $1000 or more to the initial purchase. Obviously, for some of the higher dollar things like a full 10" chuck, etc, it would be really nice to find a machine that came with them.
Around here though, I think everyone sees the tooling as a way to make extra money and they sell it separately.

Just to level-set... What's a fair price for a SB 10k with little to no tooling in decent shape? Maybe my perspective is off.
 
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