New EMCO Maximat V10 and Mystery Box of Accessories!

Rich Henderson

H-M Supporter - Diamond Member
H-M Lifetime Diamond Member
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May 8, 2021
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Hello Hobby Machinists!
Today is my first official post on this forum. Up to this point I have been a lurker skimming tricks and tips where I can for my home shop. I've always been an operator of those slightly disappointing Chinese import machines (mostly Grizzly) and although they do the job I have always lusted over the beautiful high quality and high precision machines on this forum, especially those Swiss, Austrian and German imports from the 40s-70s.

I am finally the proud owner of one of these coveted Austrian Imports. The EMCO Maximat V10. It seems to have been built in 1969 based on the catalogs and books that came with it, I think... Can anyone confirm that?
Maximat V10.jpg

This lathe mill combo was a craigslist find in northern CA and I paid $2,400 for it, which was at first a little too rich for my blood. Heck I could almost buy a bench top CNC Grizzly Mill for that kind of money. But after inspecting the machine and realizing that it was hardly ever used, and properly stored, it felt like a good deal. The real climax of this story however was the bomb the seller dropped on me right after we agreed on a price. He pointed to a 5 foot tall stack of Craftsman tool boxes and said, "those are full of tools and attachments that come with it". Every drawer is completely full, Yea...

Tool Chests.jpg

Over the last few weeks digging though these tool chests I have realized that the value in tooling exceeds significantly what I paid for the whole machine. I have not only every accessory that EMCO sold for this machine, but the receipts for every purchase as well.

All original EMCO matching vices, full collet sets, 3 and 4 jaw chuck, compound quick tool post, tool post grinder and the list goes on. It seems the only part I'm actually missing is the EMCO dividing head. In addition to these machine accessories there are drawers full of micrometers, calipers, jewelers vices, reamers and taps of all sizes and at least 25 or 30 tools that are a complete mystery to me. As I sort and categorize each of the mystery tools, I hope the folks of this forum can help me devine their purpose.

If any one spots a tool or accessory that they are absolutely dying to get their hands on please let me know. Ill bet many of these tools I won't have a need for. I get the feeling the the original owner was a bit of a tool hoarder as many of these tools appear to be unused.

Post edit: I assign the "tool hoarder" title in a somewhat endearing manner. I am not innocent of buying the right tool for a job and only using it once. The original owner was methodical and purposeful in his tool selection and I wish I could have seen the things he built with this beautiful machine.

Looking forward to picking some brains and just having a good-ol chat with you all.
Signing off,
Rich
 
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Congrats on the score. In my last couple purchases, the associated tooling has been just as much fun as the machines.
 
Over the last few weeks digging though these tool chests I have realized that the value in tooling exceeds significantly what I paid for the whole machine. I have not only every accessory that EMCO sold for this machine, but the receipts for every purchase as well.

All original EMCO matching vices, full collet sets, 3 and 4 jaw chuck, compound quick tool post, tool post grinder and the list goes on. It seems the only part I'm actually missing is the EMCO dividing head. In addition to these machine accessories there are drawers full of micrometers, calipers, jewelers vices, reamers and taps of all sizes and at least 25 or 30 tools that are a complete mystery to me. As I sort and categorize each of the mystery tools, I hope the folks of this forum can help me devine their purpose.

If any one spots a tool or accessory that they are absolutely dying to get their hands on please let me know. Ill bet many of these tools I won't have a need for. I get the feeling the the original owner was a bit of a tool hoarder as many of these tools appear to be unused.

Welcome to HM, Rich, and let me be the first to say ...

:you suck:

The value of the stuff in the tool chest far exceeds the value of the lathe itself. Emco typically sold their lathes with just a 3 jaw chuck and a few dead centers; everything else was ala carte and their accessories were not cheap. A fully tooled Emco lathe is really expensive, especially if those accessories were genuine Emco items. DO NOT SELL stuff until you are absolutely sure you don't want them. It sounds like the previous owner was discerning, not a hoarder.
 
Great score, deals like that don't come around often! I'm sure you waited a while for it too. Congrats and welcome to HM
Years ago I passed up a deal on a Super 11, still kicking myself
-Mark
 
Welcome to HM, Rich, and let me be the first to say ...

:you suck:

The value of the stuff in the tool chest far exceeds the value of the lathe itself. Emco typically sold their lathes with just a 3 jaw chuck and a few dead centers; everything else was ala carte and their accessories were not cheap. A fully tooled Emco lathe is really expensive, especially if those accessories were genuine Emco items. DO NOT SELL stuff until you are absolutely sure you don't want them. It sounds like the previous owner was discerning, not a hoarder.
Thanks for the welcome mikey, and honored to have you respond so quickly to my first ever post. You are a bit of a legend on this forum as far as I can tell. I will heed your advice of not splitting up this tooling unless I've really given it a hard think. And yes, I think the previous owner would classify much more accurately as a discerning machinist and not a hoarder. I'm really floored by the attention to cleanliness, organization and maintenance I can observe on these tools.
 
Great score, deals like that don't come around often! I'm sure you waited a while for it too. Congrats and welcome to HM
Years ago I passed up a deal on a Super 11, still kicking myself
-Mark
Thanks Mark, I've certainly passed up some deals prior to finally going for it on this one. It's funny you mention the Super 11. Included in the paper work I found with this lathe was several original catalogs for the 7 10 and 11 series Maximats. I expect the original owner was considering the super 11 before buying this one. Ill post some pictures of the original catalogs, they are pretty neat.
 
Great score, deals like that don't come around often! I'm sure you waited a while for it too. Congrats and welcome to HM
Years ago I passed up a deal on a Super 11, still kicking myself
-Mark
Check out these awesome original catalogs from 1969. I even found the original owners guarantee from the sale in 1971. The catalog on the left advertises some "future" models that look like the Super 11. Those must have come out later? Late 70s?Maximat catalogs.jpg
 
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