Should I buy this lathe? (Been crashed)

[BGHansen]

My personal "pay point" for good used is at most 67% of new price. $5K seems a little high. I have a Grizzly G0709 14" x 40" with all the bells & whistles (DRO, taper attachment, 5C collets, 40+ QC tool holders, etc. etc.) and I'd be surprised to get $5K if it was for sale. The one you are looking at would be a very nice machine to have at the right price.

Here are some Craig's List lathes in WA/OR area for some comparison shopping. I used the search engine "www.searchtempest.com" for Craig's list shopping. You can specify a price range, drive distance, etc. There were others in your area. You could at least use some of these ads to show the seller that there are other options out there for less.

To your original question, I wouldn't be too worried about the crash. My dad was a high school shop teacher. I bought at auction the first lathe he ordered for the school when the shop was originally set up. The compound has some "character" where kids ran it into the chuck (Clausing 5418). The lathe is still a joy to run.

Bruce


12 x 36 Grizzly 4003, asking $3300 (little high)

12"X 36" Gunsmith Lathe

Grizzly model G4003G Metal Lathe. Has a homemade taper attachment and some other extras. It weights around 1300 pounds. Buyer is responsible for transport. NEW this model sells for $3950.00 plus...

oregoncoast.craigslist.org

13 x 40 Jet - asking $3800

Jet Lathe - tools - by owner - sale

Jet brand lathe with tooling. Model GHB1340 541 two nine 7- four 0 six 0

eugene.craigslist.org

14 x 36 Clausing - asking $3K

Metal Lathe 14x36 Variable Speed

Clausing Variable Speed metal lathe. Runs on three phase.

portland.craigslist.org

 

[Tim9]

Machinery deserts definitely affect hobby level machines. In fact, areas up north with basements being the norm seem to make lighter machines go for a premium while that same machine wouldn’t get that premium price in States where ranch houses with two car garages are the norm. It’s all relative.

 

[Chips O'Toole]

The lathe and condition look very nice, but the price seems nuts. Depends partly on your area, however. I would think a machine like that would go for $3500 with tooling, if it had not been crashed. I would expect a big discount for the repair cost.

As for electricity, I would get a VFD, and based on recent experiences, I would go with a Lapond. I have a Hitachi VFD, and their support is worthless. Lapond actually tries to help customers, and the VFD would only cost around a hundred bucks.

Parts for the carriage ought to be available somewhere. Eisen Machinery helps people find parts for Taiwan machinery. You can find them online. I would ask the seller to let me open the carriage up, identify the screwed-up parts, and find replacements before buying.

 

[DavidR8]

@Chips O'Toole Can you use a VFD on a 440v motor?

 

[DavidR8]

Thanks for all the input guys!
The guy selling it is an older man who got more into woodworking than metal and is the reason for the sale. Hes a good guy and appears to genuinely not know that it had been crashed. it appears that he has not used it much himself, and probably wasn't him who crashed it. I will go there again with a mic and indicator and check out the spindle and runout, and see what I can work out on the price.

It strikes me as odd that this lathe is 3ph 440v yet the seller sounds like a hobbyist not someone who had access to industrial power.

 

[Chips O'Toole]

I have never bought a VFD for anything but 240, but I know they make them for other voltages. I would check Ebay for a new motor. It's usually easy to get a nice 3-phase motor for a hundred bucks or less.

 

[ACHiPo]

@Chips O'Toole Can you use a VFD on a 440v motor?

I think you need a transformer to deal with the voltage difference in addition to the proper VFD.

 

[Chips O'Toole]

Check this out.

Delta VFD-V series Inverter VFD-007V43A-2 Frequency Drive 1HP/3PH 460V | eBay

Delta VFD-F Inverter Drive. All VFD-V series drives are constant and variable torque rated. Orders under 150 lbs. Orders above 150 lbs. Model Number: VFD-007V43A-2. Piscataway, NJ 08854.

www.ebay.com

 

[DavidR8]

Wow, that's expensive! I would expect a new motor would be less?

 

[PJE]

This reply is more than a year later.

I own the same lathe, although another name. My nephew that is a Lathe expert with 35 years of precision machining experience on lathes, just serviced mine. His opinion is that this lathe is vergood in comparison with other Eastern imports. We just replaced the spindle bearings, and O-rings in the auto feed Apron. He adjusted the Tool slide, Carriage and Saddle. The play on all the spindles was also adjusted. The Lathe feels as new now. I was on the verge of buying a new machine and thus own him a lot. I did the cleaning and painting and assisted with the other work. See attached files.