1870s Brown & Sharpe Engine lathe

[beakie]

local ad,
http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-...-Brown-Sharpe-Engine-lathe-W0QQAdIdZ581304460

I have wanted a lathe for a while (mill too, but all in good time)

I have never used one, no experience what-so-ever.

I have asked if they can ensure all parts are there, did they disassemble, etc. I'd hate to see a good piece go to scrap... BUT I also don't want a project I may never finish, or be able to use once it's "back together"


Thoughts, usuability ??, offer $$, value?

 

[Cadillac fan]

I wouldn't bother. It's been disassembled and that is one of my pet hates, fixing/rebuilding anything that has been completely disassembled, because it is a huge challenge to make sure everything is right.

Also, you can't check if anything is straight or not. That is one thing that is really important to use a lathe correctly.

 

[beakie]

Yes... I know... that's all true.

I was just hoping someone would pop in and say "easy peasy, check this out they have a complete walk thru talk thru youtube video, you'll be up and spinning in a weeks time"

may contact them anyway, the table maybe useful for a future table build not lathe oriented.

if they are willing to sell for scrap, maybe offer $50 and go cart it away.

 

[sasquatch12]

JMO , i personally wouldn't buy it, it would be babbit bearing, (Not that that is always a bad thing,) but the RPM limits of it won't be too high for turning smaller work.
Agreed, it's too bad the owner dismantled the project then gave up on it.

 

[rsanter]

Depending on how things look I might offer $100 espically if it had a chuck with it.
Should not be that hard to get together as those were simple machines but they are not are useful/easy to use as a machine made after say the 40s

It is very cool...

Bob

 

[Fretters]

Personally, I'd snap that up in a flash if he was wanting a reasonable amount for it and if all the parts are indeed present. You can easily enough look at the bed and test it with a straight edge to check for wear. It will be a project to some degree, even if in good condition, but it's one I'd be willing to take on if I had the chance. That might not be a new machine, but it'll be a damned sturdy one and should do just about owt a normal person is liable to need, by the looks of it.

 

[zkling]

Depends on your ambition, current skill level, resources and price wanted.

Is it a practical working lathe? Heck no. Would it be cool. Yep. You could always repurpose it into something like a wood lathe or ????. Would be better than going to scrap. If all the parts are there it might be fun to put back together if you have time and space to kill. Me, personally? At this point in my life I wouldn't even think about it. Just my 2¢

 

[Sheriff Roscoe]

OK, that's just cool. 1870's...complete or not, just way cool IMO.

Don't you just love my informative advice

 

[Steinmetz]

"...Thoughts, usuability ??…"

You need to decide if I want to own a marginally useful curiosity, or something having some real utility. It shouldn't be a hard decision.

 

[larry_g]

If you check you find that those legs are in the $250-$500 just for the antique value. So if your in it for less than that and nothing works then make an arts&crafts table and sell it for $1000.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[beakie]

as I mentioned in my second post, I am now looking at getting this "mostly" for a purpose other than a lathe.
any tooling/chucks/jaws/etc that come with it is great for future use... but I'm thinking rebuilding this would be a very big project for me (taking into account my skills/knowledge)

I appreciate the thoughts and advice.
If I can get an approx weight I will make an offer around scrap value and see what he says.

 

[A_Pmech]

You need to decide if I want to own a marginally useful curiosity, or something having some real utility. It shouldn't be a hard decision.

Agreed.

I am now looking at getting this "mostly" for a purpose other than a lathe.
any tooling/chucks/jaws/etc that come with it is great for future use...

Most any tooling that fits that machine will not really work with a newer machine. The Morse taper was only standardized 10 years earlier! The tapers will be B&S proprietary.

 

[rsanter]

The legs and the bed with a granite top om it would make a bitchen bar or couch table

Bob

 

[paulsomlo]

If you're up for a project and adventure, go for it - but don't pay much more than scrap price. If you're looking for a lathe that you can get up and running easily and make parts, keep looking.

 

[Fretters]

as I mentioned in my second post, I am now looking at getting this "mostly" for a purpose other than a lathe.

Hadn't noticed that post. It's criminal to break something like that up. Why not mention it over on OWWM where there's likely someone who'll buy it and put it to it's intended use.

 

[beakie]

Hadn't noticed that post. It's criminal to break something like that up. Why not mention it over on OWWM where there's likely someone who'll buy it and put it to it's intended use.

I have never been to, or know of, OWWM (excuse my ignorance I'm new here and not exactly "savvy" with the lingo)

But the passion/market for restoring and/or reselling machines like this up here isn't as prevalent as it seems to be south of the border or in Europe. Not just doing the work, but sourcing the parts/pieces to do it properly. Well maybe there is, but I have never experienced it.

Please feel free to point me in the right direction if anyone knows otherwise.

 

[Fretters]

I have never been to, or know of, OWWM (excuse my ignorance I'm new here and not exactly "savvy" with the lingo)

It's simply another website, where they're dedicated towards older machinery.

http://owwm.org/

Both for trying to find parts/info or seeing if someone there has it on their wishlist, it's a worthwhile place to check. Much better than it being scrapped or broken, IMHO. It merely seems a crying shame to break up a potentially good, working machine, though that's only my personal opinion.

But the passion/market for restoring and/or reselling machines like this up here isn't as prevalent as it seems to be south of the border or in Europe. Not just doing the work, but sourcing the parts/pieces to do it properly. Well maybe there is, but I have never experienced it.

I can sympathise with that. Even over here, we're sometimes classed as a weird breed for wanting to collect and do up old equipment.

 

[MotoDave]

I'd say it depends on whether you want a lathe project, or a useful lathe

I'd pass, too many newer more useful lathes around to bother with someone else's basket case project. Then again I bought my lathe because I needed to make some round things into smaller round things!

 

[beakie]

finally got word back from seller
$300firm
after I offered $75

hate to see if go to waste, will pass it onto that other forum and hope for the best.

thanks for feedback and link