This Southbend 9” lathe a good buy?

[DaveBarbier]

$950
“With thousands of dollars in accessories included”

Talked to the guy on the phone and he says it’s in great shape with a little bit of wear on the ways close to the chuck. I might look at it this weekend. He also says “you could easily wrap on the handwheel with your knuckle and dial in a perfect half thou”

Says he’ll include a face plate, 4 jaw chuck and other stuff. Not exactly sure what else would be included.

Crappy pictures attached.

Anything you guys can tell me based on the picture? This is a 9” right? I do not know the model number or serial number. I guess I find out more when I check it out if it’s still available.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Al 1]

Hey Dave, What is thousands of dollars in accessories? Check out All gears back gear etc for any missing teeth. Gears can be about 100.00 ea.
Run the machine. Or have owner run it. See if everything is working.. I always try and get the best price under asking price. Good Luck/. Al

 

[DaveBarbier]

Hi Al, thanks for the reply. He just texted me some more pictures. See below.

Yes, my plan is to either run it myself or have him run it. I might bring some aluminum and/or some cold rolled in case he doesn’t have anything. He says he hasn’t run it in a few years. To me that’s similar to the car ad that says “ran when parked”, kind of means nothing without a test ride.

And thanks, good to know about the gears price, I’ll check them out. I know nothing of south bend other than what I’ve seen from tubalcain. I currently have a small 618 craftsman so this seems like a nice upgrade.

And as far as model, any ideas?

Pictures:
Looks like maybe risers for the stand, some device with a lever?, lathe dog, tool posts, high speed steel blanks...other pictures are too blurry to see.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

I think that would be a good deal. I'd buy it for that. One thing to ask about are a steady or follow rest. Looks like plenty enough tooling there to get you started, including what looks like a collet closer. Save finding some busted teeth or missing gears, I don't think you can go too far wrong with that for the price. I'm in the same boat with an Atlas 618 - love it to bits but wouldn't mind something a bit bigger!

 

[bob308]

not a bad price at all.

 

[mikey]

$950
“With thousands of dollars in accessories included”

... he says it’s in great shape with a little bit of wear on the ways close to the chuck.

Be wary about this. Not sure what he means by "a little bit of wear" but the ways are the heart of the lathe - check this carefully.

 

[Bob Korves]

Make sure that all the accessories actually fit the lathe. Install them and see for sure.

 

[T Bredehoft]

Saw the clollet closer, don't see any collets.... Should be whole set.

 

[DaveBarbier]

Thanks for the tips guys. I’ll check that all out. Good to know the price seems fair.

In reading about checking for wear on the ways, it seems a little complex and it has a lot to do with if the lathe is level with no twist. Like the method of using an indicator on a mag base on the tail stock. I “believe” the tail stock runs on the same ways as the carriage. I have a small Starrett level but it might be too small to span the ways. I don’t have a precision ground straight edge either. Maybe the best way for me (but least accurate) would be to move the carriage to the chuck side, nip it down a bit so there’s slight drag and crank it to the right to see if it gets tighter, and by how much. Any other tips? I’m kind of thinking if the guy can tell that there’s wear it might be significant because I doubt he has measured it but maybe he just notices it when he turns something. How much wear is too much?

 

[Janderso]

The spindle bearings are critically important. If they were kept oiled they are probably fine.
If I were to buy another older South Bend, I would check the condition of the bearings before I laid down the cash.
IMHO