Is This a SB Heavy 10?

The ways don't look all that bad but like you said the picture isn't great (pretty normal for CL to be honest). I find dirty oil from the wiper tends to leave marks that look like wear but are not really. It should have hard bed so you have that working for you.

I bought a much better tooled 9A for $1000. It is a lot older though but it's not worn to much.

What I ended up doing is realizing that none of these are going to be prefect but that also means you shouldn't buy one your not comfortable with. Wear is OK, worn out isn't.

K
 
The bed doesn’t look that bad to me either. If it’s close to you it’s worth going by and taking a look. The cabinet mount with large dials are the most desirable of the 9” south bend lathes. It’s hard to find them unless you are in the northeast or something.

Look for a wear ridge on the ways near the headstock. That will be more of an indicator of wear than the nicks. Also turn the dials and see how much back lash is in the screws. Don’t expect a 40 to 60 year old machine tool to look like new.

It’s definitely a 9” machine. You can go to the picture section on Practical machinists forum and see documented pics of a lot of them just the same. If you are looking for a 10” machine this is not the one. However having owned both a 9” And a 10K there is not much difference between the two. A heavy 10 is a noticeable step up.

Good luck!
 
Thanks again everyone for all the comments and advice! :encourage:

It's about a hour and a half drive away. If it were here in Vegas I'd go look for sure. A 9A like this would actually be just fine for me, and I really do like the cabinet undermount drive and dials.

Anything would be a BIG step up from the little Atlas MK2 6x18 I've been learning on and using. I got a really good deal on it, and it's in really good condition. But, the 3rd project was just a bit more than it can easily work with, LOL!
 
Sounds like your on the same path as I am.

The various colors that thing has going on is really the only red flag for me. I'm guessing the tail stock was just replaced, not sure why the cabinet is green but things happen over the years. I also wonder where the switch went.

That being said I would prefer that setup (under drive) over what I have. I also like that the head stock has a guard, the open head stock on my 9A bothers me a little bit simply because I have young kids.

I drove 1 1/2 hours for mine. I think I paid a good/fair price for my location. I don't know if that holds true in your location. What I'm saying is I don't think the price is terrible as long as it's not beat up.

K
 
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markba633csi said:
I think it's what's called a "light ten" -? or 10R
Click to expand...

10R's are Heavy 10's. 10K's are the "light ten."

10R and 10L are both heavies, but the 10R has a smaller spindle bore of 1", compared to the 10L's 1-3/8".

When most people talk about a "heavy 10," they're referring to the large spindle 10L, but there are in fact two "heavy 10's."

If I'm not mistaken, the spindles are the only difference between the R and L, and are interchangeable.
 
Thanks again for the education on these SB lathes. In the end I've decided to pass on the one I was looking at, and another one about 3 hours away (LA area) as the guy couldn't seem to be bothered to send me some pictures beyond the one crappy one on CL, so that wasn't a good start. I'm going to be retiring and in about a year will be moving to a new place. Perhaps better to not have to move a heavy lathe twice in a year - I'll wait.

Unless... I just happen to run across something too good to turn down. ;)
 
Well, as usual I seem to have spoken too soon. :boxed in:

On a whim I called the guy up today, he still had it, so I took the drive out since I had a free afternoon. It's dirty and could use painting, but it's tight and functional, everything works, no damage or significant wear on any gear teeth. Only about 0.001" runout on a piston wrist pin (new, should be straight!) in the 3 jaw chuck. Had a 4 jaw chuck, face plates, dogs, steady rest, lots of HSS tools. Ways have some dings on tops of the V's but little very little wear along where the carriage rides, and the carriage moves smoothly the entire travel distance with no binding towards the tailstock. Talked him down a bit on the price, gave him a deposit, and will be headed back in a few days to pick it up!
 
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Here's the catalog number on the gearbox plate: CL370ZD
And the serial number from the ways near the tailstock: 22994NKR7

From what I can gather the catalog number indicates a threaded spindle (yep), 10k underdrive (partly yep, but 10?), 3.5 foot bed (yep).

The tailstock number indicates a 9" model, QCGB, friction feed apron, underdrive cabinet with a regular spindle bore and swing. I never actually measured the swing while looking at it, as I was convinced from this thread it's a 9" model.

Early 1950's model I think.
 
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