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[Seuss54]

I found another lathe on market place this week I may go take a look at I'd like some more experienced opinions on if possible.

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I've realized the biggest things I want in a lathe are at least 10" of swing that's probably the absolute maximum diameter of a piece I'd be working on it (and that would be too often) and then the ability to cut thread. Looking at the link posted above it meets one requirement but I'm unsure about the thread cutting ability. I understand there is normally an attachment on the cross slide that can show you when to engage the half nut? I'm not sure I see anything like that on the craftsman but I'm also not particularly familiar with these machines.

As always thank you all for your wealth of knowledge.

Additionally I found a little more information about the south bend I posted last weekend. The seller was kind enough to provide the serial number for the lathe and I paid the $25 to grizzly for the card.

Based on this I am led to believe the lathe has hardened ways? I understand a lot of people seem to prefer hardened ways and it became a more common option in lathes as they matured into the second half of the 1900's. Is there any additional considerations with hardened ways I should keep my eye out for when looking at the machine tomorrow?

 

[Asm109]

The thread dial is present on the Craftsman.
There are a LOT of accessories and tools that go with it.
Price? THAT is ALL the money and then some.
Talk him down to under 2k and it is an ok deal.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I found another lathe on market place this week I may go take a look at I'd like some more experienced opinions on if possible.

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

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I've realized the biggest things I want in a lathe are at least 10" of swing that's probably the absolute maximum diameter of a piece I'd be working on it (and that would be too often) and then the ability to cut thread. Looking at the link posted above it meets one requirement but I'm unsure about the thread cutting ability. I understand there is normally an attachment on the cross slide that can show you when to engage the half nut? I'm not sure I see anything like that on the craftsman but I'm also not particularly familiar with these machines.

As always thank you all for your wealth of knowledge.

Additionally I found a little more information about the south bend I posted last weekend. The seller was kind enough to provide the serial number for the lathe and I paid the $25 to grizzly for the card.
View attachment 485518

Based on this I am led to believe the lathe has hardened ways? I understand a lot of people seem to prefer hardened ways and it became a more common option in lathes as they matured into the second half of the 1900's. Is there any additional considerations with hardened ways I should keep my eye out for when looking at the machine tomorrow?

The thing you want for threading is the thread dial. It is a round dial with 1,2,3,4 on it that turns as the lead screw turns and tells you when to engage the half nuts. Normally on the right side of the apron. I believe I see one on that lathe.
The lathe and tools look cruddy and rusty to me.
I think you would be paying near premium $ for what you see. Where are you located again?
I will be selling a 13x42 South Bend one of these days if you are anywhere near the Twin Cities.

 

[Janderso]

I like the South Bend.
As long as the headstock always had oil those bearings are probably fine.
You'll know if they need to be adjusted by a simple test.
Easily found online or here. Put a bar in the chuck and lift up and side to side and measure the play.
.001" or less is what I recall.
Good luck and welcome.

 

[rwdenney]

How much precision do you estimate one could get out of something this size? I don't expect to be machining anything accuractely to a thousandth any time soon but would 5 or 10 thousandths seem reasonable?

I'm assuming from other comments that you are looking at a South Bend Light Industrial lathe of 14-1/2 or 16" swing--I don't want to log into Facebook just to see the picture. Edit--I see from the production card that it is a 14-1/2 by 6 from 1964--one of the late 14-1/2's.

I can do lathe work to the thousandth on my South Bend 14-1/2. But it depends on where you need the accuracy. Diameter over a short distance is a matter of how accurately you measure. Facing is a matter of the squareness of the headstock and cross slide, and mine are within a thousandth over the full swing. Problems here can be wear in the spindle bearings, but these lathes, unless they were starved of oil or damaged by incompetent mechanics, are adjustable to the specified spindle slack of about a thousandth (officially 7-12 tenths, which is eliminated by oil-film pressure when running). Spindle runout on my lathe is a couple of tenths.

Tapers are more common and more difficult. Turning tapers can have a number of causes from a misaligned tailstock to sag-wear in the bed to the head and tail not being leveled identically with respect to each other. My lathe will turn tapers of several thousandths over 8 inches or so, and I'm working on that. With an old lathe, addressing that will usually mean finding adjustments and levels that form a reasonable compromise so that the error is minimized.

When these were new and in good shape, machining to sub-thousandth accuracy was the normal expectation, especially the toolroom variants.

Rick "South Bend light industrial lathes were designed and used for accurate work" Denney

 

[Seuss54]

The thing you want for threading is the thread dial. It is a round dial with 1,2,3,4 on it that turns as the lead screw turns and tells you when to engage the half nuts. Normally on the right side of the apron. I believe I see one on that lathe.
The lathe and tools look cruddy and rusty to me.
I think you would be paying near premium $ for what you see. Where are you located again?
I will be selling a 13x42 South Bend one of these days if you are anywhere near the Twin Cities.

Thank you,

Unfortunately I'm in the panhandle of florida and it isn't easy for me to get out that far often because of work.

 

[Seuss54]

I went to see the 14 1/2" Southbend earlier today. I know I'm inexperienced but it seems like something I would absolutely like and I'm feeling pretty positive about purchasing it. There is not a ton of machines that have been available near my area and most are in much worse condition or 3-4X more expensive although I understand this price seems to be on the high end from what comments I've gotten on here. Attached are a few pictures I took today, The gentleman selling it was super nice and helpful. He turned the machine on for me and gave a decent history of where he bought it and the things he's noticed with it.

1. It does not have a front switch so he turns it on and off from the rear of the lathe.
2. It has a new motor that is 1.5 HP
3. He has never used it to thread but he ran the machine for me and it did seem to work, the saddle moved as predicted. As well the power feed worked in all directions as well although the clutch seemed a bit finicky to get it to engage. Seems to be not to big of a deal and I imagine it can be fixed, please correct me if I'm wrong.
4. Max cut depth he's done successfully was 0.050" (taking a total of 0.100 off the diameter of the piece)
5. In the close up of the ways you can see there is definitely some wear, as to be expected, It was deep enough that I could feel it with my fingernail but it wasnt deep enough that I could actually hook my fingernail underneath it, if that makes sense.
6. I played with the hand wheels and there was maybe half a turn of backlash on all of them

The quick change tool post comes with it as well as the tool holders pictured. He also offered the 2 chucks in the ad as well as a number of drill bits. He even offered if I decided to take it he would go through his shop and anything I could use he either doesn't need or has duplicates of and would give me all those as well. There is also a steady rest but it is currently in pieces.

This lathe fits my needs I think and then some and seems to be the best deal I've seen since starting my search a few weeks ago now. Any thoughts?

 

[rwdenney]

1. Normal. That’s the way they came.

2. That’s the factory-specified size, also normal.

3. The lever-handle clutch is adjustable. You’ll eventually want to rebuild the apron just to replace the felts. But you can adjust the handle from the front for now.

4. That lathe will make bigger cuts than that—I’ve made 0.100 cuts (0.200 off the diameter) with no trouble.

5. Nobody gets a super-precision lathe their first time out But you can still make good parts on old lathes.

6. Replacing the bronze nuts on the cross-slide and compound screws will take up a lot of wear. But you’ll always have backlash on any mechanical system.

The threading plate on the front is available in the aftermarket as a reproduction, as are most of the things you’ll need.

Looks fairly decent. It even has the usually missing carriage clamp. The bed is the newer style with X-bracing in the casting. This was called an “engine lathe” in the catalog, vs. the toolroom version, so you’ll have to scrounge a collet sleeve, a thread protector, and a drawbar for the later spindle (with the much more common 2-3/8x6 spindle threads) if you want to use collets. And you’ll need a Morse taper sleeve for inserting a center to turn between centers, but there’s a fellow on eBay making them now.

Rick “have fun!” Denney

 

[matthewsx]

Appears to be a solid machine capable of real work. If it’s in your price range I’d say go for it. South Bends are very well regarded and plenty of folks here can guide you through anything that might come up.

Be careful moving it!!!!!

John

 

[Ultradog MN]

I went to see the 14 1/2" Southbend earlier today. I know I'm inexperienced but it seems like something I would absolutely like and I'm feeling pretty positive about purchasing it. There is not a ton of machines that have been available near my area and most are in much worse condition or 3-4X more expensive although I understand this price seems to be on the high end from what comments I've gotten on here. Attached are a few pictures I took today, The gentleman selling it was super nice and helpful. He turned the machine on for me and gave a decent history of where he bought it and the things he's noticed with it.

1. It does not have a front switch so he turns it on and off from the rear of the lathe.
2. It has a new motor that is 1.5 HP
3. He has never used it to thread but he ran the machine for me and it did seem to work, the saddle moved as predicted. As well the power feed worked in all directions as well although the clutch seemed a bit finicky to get it to engage. Seems to be not to big of a deal and I imagine it can be fixed, please correct me if I'm wrong.
4. Max cut depth he's done successfully was 0.050" (taking a total of 0.100 off the diameter of the piece)
5. In the close up of the ways you can see there is definitely some wear, as to be expected, It was deep enough that I could feel it with my fingernail but it wasnt deep enough that I could actually hook my fingernail underneath it, if that makes sense.
6. I played with the hand wheels and there was maybe half a turn of backlash on all of them

The quick change tool post comes with it as well as the tool holders pictured. He also offered the 2 chucks in the ad as well as a number of drill bits. He even offered if I decided to take it he would go through his shop and anything I could use he either doesn't need or has duplicates of and would give me all those as well. There is also a steady rest but it is currently in pieces.

This lathe fits my needs I think and then some and seems to be the best deal I've seen since starting my search a few weeks ago now. Any thoughts?

Lathes wear out the ways close to the head stock because that is where most of the work is done. The carriage wears the ways down. They get sway backed there.
Here is a test you can do to check the condition of the ways of a lathe even if it is not running.
Notice in your photos he has a box end wrench on a bolt on the carriage.
That is the carriage clamp. You can tighten it down to stop the carriage from moving when you are making a heavy facing cut. It works kinda like a parking brake on a car.
Move the carriage all the way to the left end of the ways. Now snug up the carriage clamp. Not tight but just so you can feel a bit of drag as you turn the handwheel and move the carriage. Now move the carriage to the right. On a new lathe you could move the carriage all the way to the right and the drag would be the same amount all the way.
On a worn, swaybacked lathe the the clamp will cause the carriage to tighten and make it hard to move.
On a badly worn lathe a light snugness at the left end will become so tight on the right end that you can not move the carriage.
I do see some grooves and wear in your ways. But those don't affect the accuracy so much as swayback does. It is swayback that kills a lathe.