? Quality of KCB lathes

[Bob V]

Hello,
I have a friend who has a mechanical shop and he repairs hydraulic cylinders of farm and yellow machinery. He is looking for a lathe to work on the rods in these cylinders that occasionally need truing up and cleaning up of threads.
He found a KBC 20*60 lathe built in 1979 with a 3" bore (which suits his needs) for $7,800.
While he is a professional mechanic-- he can rebuild engines, hydraulic pumps etc. etc, he does not know about the quality of specific lathe manufacturers and asked me to post on this forum to get some informed opinions about the quality of KBC lathes. He is a menonite so he does not use the internet.

Any advice or comments about KBC lathes would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Bob

 

[durableoreo]

This might be worth asking on the Practical Machinist forum. Not to send you away but those people tend to have more industrial sized machines.

 

[markba633csi]

Is he comfortable making gears? That might be necessary if there are any broken ones, say under the carriage/apron
If the spindle bearings and the bedways are good then it sounds like a good price to me- make sure it has a steady rest

He uses machine tools but not the internet? Smart fellow- probably live longer

 

[MrWhoopee]

Most likely a generic Asian made lathe. KBC didn't manufacture anything, they just re-badged stuff.

 

[Chipper5783]

Per MrW - the KBC badge means nothing. If the machine is in good condition, then it will be fine. If it is now in poor condition, then it doesn’t matter very much what “quality” it was 45 years ago (if it is still in reasonable condition after 45 years, I‘d conclude its a keeper). As a minimum , it probably needs cleaning, servicing, minor repairs and acquisition of tooling and extras (basic kit that would have been supplied with - like a wrench for changing chucks, headstock taper sleeve, a 2nd chuck, a faceplate, tailstock tooling, etc).

 

[Beckerkumm]

At 7900 the lathe should be in good condition and the ways shouldn't see a lot of wear. 1970's Taiwan lathes don't hold a lot of value unless very well cared for - or have a lot of tooling. Dave

 

[Eddyde]

It really depends on its condition, can you post pictures, get any more info?

 

[Bob V]

I don't have any more info, and my friend doesn't have any more info.
--thanks to everyone for all the help-