New Acquisition, Shenwai SW-900B

[ChandlerJPerry]

After meditating on the subject, I decided to purchase this lathe for sale in my area. It looks to be of the same design as the Jet/Grizzly/Enco 12x36 lathe if I'm correct? It is an older version with a belt driven head rather than geared.

Moving it was a snap, I rented a hydraulic drop deck trailer from a local rental house, and the seller owned a skid steer, and already had the lathe inside the bucket when I showed up. He was able to drive right into the trailer and we walked it out of the bucket. Highly recommend this style of trailer for anyone else moving heavy machine tools, with the aid of a couple dollies and my engine hoist I was able to unload it by myself.

Does anyone know of a place to get a manual for this or one of the similar rebranded machines? I'm not sure what model numbers cross over. Unfortunately the information tag on the back of the headstock is damaged so I'm missing a few specifics on it.

I also have a few other questions that I will be posting to this thread as I gather pictures, as well as trying to post some updates because it appeared that info on Shenwai branded machines was scarce when I was investigating.

 

[matthewsx]

Should serve you well, IMHO the ideal size for a hobby lathe.

There are some manuals in the downloads section here, available to members with a small donation.

Also plenty of stuff out on the WWW that might help.

As always, you can ask questions here and we’ll do our best to answer.

Here’s my thread on a similar (not quite the same) lathe.

Samson (Tida) TD-5AA lathe

Just picked this up today. And.... So I can check it against what Mr. Fang found in 1981 :grin: John

www.hobby-machinist.com

John

 

[matthewsx]

Looks like an easy move. You’ll want to get I’d down off those dolly’s soon, they’re less than ideal for moving a lathe around.

John

 

[markba633csi]

Great score! enjoy

 

[ChandlerJPerry]

I gave it a good pressure washing today and am shocked about how well it cleaned up. It took many passes and a lot of degreaser but the original paint is in fairly good shape. I do still need to pull the saddle off and clean the internals, as well as getting surface rust off the ways, compound etc. but beyond that it's looking great so far. The chuck seems stuck on the spindle so that's another bridge to cross, but so far definitely seems to have been a worthy buy.

 

[ChandlerJPerry]

Looks like an easy move. You’ll want to get I’d down off those dolly’s soon, they’re less than ideal for moving a lathe around.

John

Definitely, they're a temporary measure while I clean it and then scoot it into where it will live in the garage.

 

[woodchucker]

yes, lathes are top heavy, and have a tendency to fall over.. And most of the time you are unlucky. So please take Matt's advice.

 

[matthewsx]

Wheels are not a bad thing. But they need to be bolted on and significantly wider than the stand.

It only takes a moment for a machine to fall and none of the possible outcomes are good.
John

 

[jdm23]

Wheels are not a bad thing. But they need to be bolted on and significantly wider than the stand.
It only takes a moment for a machine to fall and none of the possible outcomes are good.

That is right, but how much of a risk depends by the height of the machine, and the depth of the stand.
I use these castors that come in different sizes and can "retract" the wheel to level the machine, bolted to the stand without extending.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003594350219.html
On my 250 x 550 combo lathe (it has a milling column), on the wheels there is no way I can tip the machine even with full force applied at the top of the milling head. However using it that way is unpleasant and just wrong, so I leave it on wheels only when moving it. I have a car screw jack with protrusions cut off, which fits under the stand and makes the transition easier.
When on the solid stands (wheels retracted) the machine is totally firm on the ground.

 

[woodchucker]

@jdm23 bad link