Free lathe!

[evintho]

Don't know much about Smith lathes, it's missing the chuck but it looks like a beast and the price ain't bad either! Posted a couple of hours ago.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/zip/6084366281.html

 

[Musicinabottle]

Dang....... You get?

 

[CNGsaves]

Yep, that beast is listed in thread . . . . Craigslist Finds.

My BIL has 6 car garage and he's a machinist. I've alerted this find to him and who knows . . . . . Roadtrip with a big **** trailer ???

 

[laser3kw]

(wipes eyes)
no - not 12" (inch) 12 foot!
holy cheezes

 

[Boilerhouse]

(wipes eyes)
no - not 12" (inch) 12 foot!
holy cheezes

The size pretty much explains why it is being given away. Too old for a shop which needs something modern, reliable and probably CNC. Too big for the home gamers who would never have the room or the need for something that large.

 

[Squashfest81]

Besides being totally hack. Could one just torch off 8 feet?

 

[braidmeister]

That lathe is setup for doing industrial work. CNC isn't the end all be all of machining. In fact, there are plenty of applications where CNC would complicate machining - like machining hydraulic components where you need to knock down a weld, add a groove or face off a piston.

 

[My Old Tools]

It would be gone if it were near the oil fields.

 

[holt2ton]

Dean Smith & Grace Type 21
I don't think it's 12 foot. Look at the yellow cabinet or something at the end with the blue Kurt vise sitting on top of it. That doesn't look 12 feet away.

 

[67King]

Dear heavens, that thing has to be worth a ton in scrap value, alone.

 

[IndyGarage]

That looks like a big one. if it has a 12 foot bed it probably weighs 10,000 or more.

I had a chance at a big warner swasey awhile back for $300. It had about a 6 foot bed. - kick myself for not taking it.

 

[454ragtop]

Suspect total length of lathe is 12'. Have a similar size Monarch gear head, about 4500 lbs, so this one will probably be 5 or 6 thousand at most. Looks clean, if one has the room, and wants a lathe, it's a smoking deal.

 

[evintho]

Yep, that beast is listed in thread . . . . Craigslist Finds.

My BIL has 6 car garage and he's a machinist. I've alerted this find to him and who knows . . . . . Roadtrip with a big **** trailer ???

Tell him to save room in the trailer! Just up the road here, a machinist is retiring. He's dumping everything. Don't know the prices, though.

It seems craigslist scores are like homeruns. They come in bunches!

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/tls/6084072173.html

 

[chrismenke]

And more, just across the Bay:
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/zip/6066913149.html

 

[DocsMachine]

That's not just a "Smith" lathe, that's a Dean, Smith & Grace, one of the top names for lathes of that size and power. That's probably either an 18" or 21", so figure closer to 8,000 to 12,000 lb, as a rough guess.

Almost anywhere in the country outside of San Fransisco, that's still a $5,000+ lathe.

Doc.

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

It's very hard to get much more than scrap value for very large equipment like that unfortunately. Lots of talk and lookers but when it comes down to it, no serious takers.

Just spent a year and a half trying to unload a couple 7' lathes and other equipment. The tooling will sell but not the big iron. It's sad but in the end it comes down to almost giving it away just so it doesn't end up as scrap - and no guarantee it doesn't anyway.

 

[L.Cheapo]

I've long wanted a lathe, but around here a worn out turd with no tooling requests $2k.

For that price, If that thing wasn't on the other side of the country, I'd find room for it.

 

[ttpete]

And more, just across the Bay:
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/zip/6066913149.html

Those machines are in a UC Berkeley shop, and I bet they are very low time and in decent shape. I have a Burke Millrite that came out of Western Michigan U, and it is like new.

I'll bet those machines were used to build the cyclotrons that Ernest O. Lawrence invented in the 1930s at Berkeley.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Lawrence

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

If you've got the room, sounds like a good deal.

I'm not a machinist nor do I deal in machine tools like this ... but I suspect you could drop $1,000 to $2,000 pretty fast in chucks, tools, accessories, quick change tool post, and various kinds of tooling and do-dads.

I didn't see ... three phase or single phase?

 

[rsanter]

Damn.....I am drooling over that machine
Too bad my trailer can't handle that weight

Bob

 

[DocsMachine]

I'm not a machinist nor do I deal in machine tools like this ... but I suspect you could drop $1,000 to $2,000 pretty fast in chucks, tools, accessories, quick change tool post, and various kinds of tooling and do-dads.

-Worse than that. The big tooling adds up fast. If it's an 18" to 22", you'll need a CXA or CA sized toolpost- those go for $500-$700 all by themselves. And that's used. New ones are $1,100.

Spare tool blocks are $100-$200 each.

Big L1 or L2 chucks can be $500 for a ratty used one, or $2,200-$3,000 for a good, new import. A good heavy-duty live center could cost you $300 for a cheap import.

Cutters aren't so bad, as a machine that size is typically too slow to need carbide on a regular basis, and you can get 1" bars of high speed steel for less than ten bucks each.

I didn't see ... three phase or single phase?

-Machines that size are virtually guaranteed to be 3-phase. I'm not terribly familiar with that brand, but those are considered "super duty" lathes- the kind that can peel off exotic alloy steels at a rate of half an inch per pass. I'd bet money it's got a 20HP motor, and when you get that big, 3-phase is virtually a requirement.

Doc.

 

[braidmeister]

-Worse than that. The big tooling adds up fast. If it's an 18" to 22", you'll need a CXA or CA sized toolpost- those go for $500-$700 all by themselves. And that's used. New ones are $1,100.

Spare tool blocks are $100-$200 each.

Big L1 or L2 chucks can be $500 for a ratty used one, or $2,200-$3,000 for a good, new import. A good heavy-duty live center could cost you $300 for a cheap import.

Cutters aren't so bad, as a machine that size is typically too slow to need carbide on a regular basis, and you can get 1" bars of high speed steel for less than ten bucks each.



-Machines that size are virtually guaranteed to be 3-phase. I'm not terribly familiar with that brand, but those are considered "super duty" lathes- the kind that can peel off exotic alloy steels at a rate of half an inch per pass. I'd bet money it's got a 20HP motor, and when you get that big, 3-phase is virtually a requirement.

Doc.

Word. Listen to the Doc. ^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[dr_clyde]

Man, if that were not on the other side of the country, it'd be in my shop already. I already have CA sized tooling and L2 chucks and face plates from my LeBlond.

It would be nice to have a lathe with a bit more swing sometimes.