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Seuss54

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Hello all, I've been crawling facebook marketplace for awhile and saw this just today. I was wondering if I might be able to get a second opinion on the listing as well as some advice on what to look for if i get the chance to take a look at it.

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I'm hoping to set up a home hobby shop in a few months when I finally move out of my apartment like I've been hoping to do for a few years now so I want to get an idea of what I'm looking at when I see machines. I'm looking to make steam engines as well as clocks and other geared mechanisms mostly so I also am open to advice on what specifically machines to look for. I am new in hands on practice to the machining game but I've been reading a lot and have (like many people) been watching youtubers for years.

I'm not afraid to get out of my comfort zone and I love older machines, just the styling and the simple complexity are a big draw for me but obviously I have nothing to start out so fixing one up will come with the price of needing someone else to make parts if necessary.
 
First, I have a soft spot for that style of South Bend so the rest of my comments are not hating on them. They’re tough. They’re fairly large. That one doesn’t seem to have a chip tray. You’ll constantly fight chips on the floor. Looks like it has a taper attachment which can be handy. Does it have a steady rest? They can be found but are often expensive. The price is not a bargain but may be fair if the bearings and ways are in very good condition.

That lathe is old. It looks good but that’s no indication of its condition. I’ve only been in the shop of one steam engine builder. He has a pristine Monarch 10EE that’s capable of great accuracy. From what I observed the accuracy seems necessary for steam engine building. The top spindle speed of the South Bends is not high. That means that the usefulness of carbide tooling is limited because carbide works best at higher rpms. That’s an over generalization focusing on small diameter parts. Once the OD is up to 1.5”-2” the rpms can be lower to get the needed surface feet per minute. At a minimum I would want the seller to demonstrate that the lathe can take a final cut of .008”-.020” and hit the target depth reliably and see it cut threads.
 
Welcome to the forum. Lots of friendly knowledgeable people here who will politely answer your questions. Make a list of what you want to make. Then figure out what features the lathe needs to have to make what you want to make I call it a statement of requirements (SOR). To start with put everything on the SOR. Now comes the hard part. You have to prioritize the SOR with the absolutely must have on down to nice to have but not really necessary. Only you can make these decisions. Let the SOR be your guide as you look for a lathe. Don't be afraid to make changes to your SOR. Have fun with your search.
 
Mickri’s post is pure gold. Among your criteria you may need to include a minimum spindle bore. A collet system is a bonus for precision work. Definitely look for a steady rest, three and four jaw chucks and hopefully a follow rest. If a quick change tool post is included that’s something that can be added without breaking the bank. Include a “space budget” so your machines will fit the available area. Consider the electrical supply available along with the req of the machinery. I consider 240v power to be a necessity and have a table saw, dust collector, mill, lathe and welder that all run on 240V. Don’t turn down a 3 phase machine just because it needs 3 phase power. VFDs are very affordable.
 
David2011 said:
Mickri’s post is pure gold. Among your criteria you may need to include a minimum spindle bore. A collet system is a bonus for precision work. Definitely look for a steady rest, three and four jaw chucks and hopefully a follow rest. If a quick change tool post is included that’s something that can be added without breaking the bank. Include a “space budget” so your machines will fit the available area. Consider the electrical supply available along with the req of the machinery. I consider 240v power to be a necessity and have a table saw, dust collector, mill, lathe and welder that all run on 240V. Don’t turn down a 3 phase machine just because it needs 3 phase power. VFDs are very affordable.
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Good to know, do you need an individual circuit for each machine? I'll be honest I don't know much about electricity in that regard.

How do you determine some of these things like minimal spindle bore? And how do you go about testing a machines accuracy? Or can a machine be repaired/refurbished to become more accurate once you have it?
 
For metal working you’re unlikely to run more than one machine at a time. Pulling numbers from thin air, you can have many 5, 10 and 15 amp machines on a single circuit so long as only one is run at a time. My biggest draws are the welding machine if cranked up high and the table saw or thickness planer plus the dust collector at the same time. I’ve never run two metal working machines at the same time. My compressor has its own circuit.

I designed my shop from scratch so each wall has a 120V and a 240V circuit. Except for the welder all breakers are 20 amps whether 120 or 240 volts. The wire in the 240V circuits is oversized due to the electrician’s mistake so I can go to 50A on any 240V circuit if necessary. He ran 8 gauge wire for 20A breakers and outlets. A 20A 240V circuit will run over 6 HP and 30A is good for over 9 HP. A sketchy area is running 1 hp (real horsepower; not “Craftsman“ or shop vac horsepower) on a 120V circuit. I’ve had two machines, a 10x24 lathe and a Jet 16 (same as Rong Fu) mill that would pop a 20A circuit breaker when set for higher speeds. Eaton makes “switch duty” breakers that react more slowly than standard breakers. I put one on the circuit that ran that mill and it never popped the break again. If your breaker box isn’t in the shop or garage area you’ll probably be better off adding a second load center in the shop area. The convenience down the road far outweighs the initial cost.

It’s my preference to have two lighting circuits in a shop in case one has to be worked on. For the same reason I prefer to have multiple wall outlet circuits.

The minimum bore to suit your needs depends on your projects. You’ll have to figure that out. The spindle bore will be listed in the machine’s specs if you can find them. Otherwise it can be measured. A caliper or ruler is all that’s needed since it’s usually a common metric or fractional inch measurement in 1/16” or coarser increments.

With enough money most machines can be rebuilt and have good accuracy. The question is whether it’s worth the cost. Is there a company near you that can do the specialty work? There’s a YouTube series on a guy rebuilding an old Craftsman contractor’s saw to like new. He even had the table Blanchard ground. When done it was still just a Craftsman contractor’s saw and no better.

There are lots of YouTubes on buying used machinery so take a look there. Also look at videos where people have bought used machines. Some have great tips on spotting wear. Some imported machines have true inch measurement lead screws and some have metric leads screws that are “sorta close.” I’ve used one of those. I kept cutting diameters larger than expected by the numbers on the cross feed dial. Finally I figured out that 0.100” on the dial was a few thousandths short on the actual travel because it has a metric lead screw and Imperial graduations on the dial. That’s designed into the machine; nothing reasonable will fix it.
 
If your lathe doesn't come with a QCTP and money is tight, for a fraction of the cost of a commercial QCTP you can make a Norman style QCTP. Lots of members have made them. Making one will give you lots of practice learning how to use your lathe. All you need is a lathe and a drill to make one.
 
Seuss54 said:
Hello all, I've been crawling facebook marketplace for awhile and saw this just today. I was wondering if I might be able to get a second opinion on the listing as well as some advice on what to look for if i get the chance to take a look at it.

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I'm hoping to set up a home hobby shop in a few months when I finally move out of my apartment like I've been hoping to do for a few years now so I want to get an idea of what I'm looking at when I see machines. I'm looking to make steam engines as well as clocks and other geared mechanisms mostly so I also am open to advice on what specifically machines to look for. I am new in hands on practice to the machining game but I've been reading a lot and have (like many people) been watching youtubers for years.

I'm not afraid to get out of my comfort zone and I love older machines, just the styling and the simple complexity are a big draw for me but obviously I have nothing to start out so fixing one up will come with the price of needing someone else to make parts if necessary.
Click to expand...
For a guy just starting out, that old beauty is probably capable of doing better work than YOU will be for years.
It is a nice size too. I would rather have an oldie like that one than All the mini lathes in China.
Price may be a bit high - depending on wear but maybe not if he ways are decent.
My approach to machines is that buying a lathe, mill or drill press, etc is not a once and done deal. I see them as stepping stones that as your skills improve you can sell the one you have and take a step up to a better one.
I'm on my 5th lathe and would not hesitate to sell the one I have for a better one.
 
I'm very fond of these 14.5/16" SB lathes. This one is fairly late as they go, in that it appears to have larger dials on the compound and cross feeds.
The plate for threading and feeds on the gearbox seems to be MIA. Would like to see a few close-ups rather than all the pix shot from a safe distance, as it were, but the six-jaw chuck is good to have especially when working with thin-wall materials. Wonder what tooling it comes with it?
 
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