Question On How Bad Is It / How Did They Do It.

Keith Foor

Keith Foor

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In my search for a lathe I came across one that at first looked like a smoking deal but then I got scared off it. Reason for being scared off it was it had somehow crashed in such a way that one of the chuck jaws had come about half way out of the scroll chuck. Now I know that there wasn't a gib in the rear of the carriage but that still doen't explain how that would have happened. And the other thing I am now wondering is was I right to walk away from the lathe. The lathe was a Sheldon 3 horse 13 swing 36 inch ish table. It was missing the tail stock and from what I could find, a Sheldon isn't something I was going to find parts for.

Did I screw up not buying it for $500
 
Did you happen to get a picture? Not quite shure what you mean.
 
Sorry, no picture. Picture a 3 jaw chuck that one of the jaws had started to tear out of the face of the chuck.
Guy said he had made several light cuts with it and all went well, when he attempted to take a heavier cut the carriage shifted and something created enough force to break one of he chuck jaws part way out of the chuck..
 
If it was my decision I would walk. I am not a mechanic like my Dad. Dad was use to tearing down machinery for work and rebuilding it.
 
Yeah I'd stay away, abrupt stops can cause cracks from all the force generated....severe shock
 
....and the missing tailstock seals the deal.
 
I did walk away. I couldn't get past the idea that if there was enough force generated to break the chuck, what did it do to the headstock bearings, mounts and ways that I wouldn't be able to see until I loaded the lathe down on a heavy cut and it went bang again.
 
That one sounds like scrap metal. I would run from any lathe that has been hit that hard. AND missing the tail stock.
 
One sure way to break a chuck this way is holding a part the is nearly to large for the chuck, lets say one of the jaws is being held in by only a partial part of one scroll groove. Crash the apron, tool or cross slide into the chuck and bad things can happen. I turned an 8" square in an 8" 4 jaw this morning, the jaws were 1/2 way out of the screw almost 1" outside the body diameter. As usual I ran the program in blocks without the tool first, also one can generally run the jaws on a 4 jaw our rather far as the screws extend closer to the body OD then a scroll chuck as there is no need for a pinion gear.
 
Yep, I did some turning on 7-5/8 diameter with my 6inch 4jaw, still had thread left to hold bigger, have held bigger actually
 
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