I've been lurking for a long time reading and trying to learn what I can from everyone. I want to thank everyone for the great information you all bring to this site.
I finally took the jump and bought a lathe. I got to check it out under power and watch some practice cuts and decided to bite the bullet go for it. I won't say I got one of the best deals around, but as far as I can tell I got a good lathe with lots of tooling for a fair price. I saw the lathe on the Chicago Craigslist decided to take a chance and drive out from Wyoming to check it out. The headstock is a 1955-TH from 1966 but the bed and tail-stock are early to mid 70s Serial number 87449. The bed is in great shape and head and tail-stock are in line so it doesn't bother me. I also found a 1.5hp motor instead of the .75hp I was expecting which I also see as an upgrade, but cost me a bit more for a VFD. (AC Tech SMVector 1.5 HP (1.1 kW), 120/240V 1Ø input NEMA 1 (IP31)). Now I have to get my garage cleaned up and reorganized so I can get it leveled and under power.
I finally took the jump and bought a lathe. I got to check it out under power and watch some practice cuts and decided to bite the bullet go for it. I won't say I got one of the best deals around, but as far as I can tell I got a good lathe with lots of tooling for a fair price. I saw the lathe on the Chicago Craigslist decided to take a chance and drive out from Wyoming to check it out. The headstock is a 1955-TH from 1966 but the bed and tail-stock are early to mid 70s Serial number 87449. The bed is in great shape and head and tail-stock are in line so it doesn't bother me. I also found a 1.5hp motor instead of the .75hp I was expecting which I also see as an upgrade, but cost me a bit more for a VFD. (AC Tech SMVector 1.5 HP (1.1 kW), 120/240V 1Ø input NEMA 1 (IP31)). Now I have to get my garage cleaned up and reorganized so I can get it leveled and under power.