Help with old craftsman lathe!!

[Dmoen]

Hey guys. A lathe local to me has just turned up for sale. I want to get a lathe and learn. Maybe some bushings, turning down a socket, shift knobs. Small stuff. He gives no info as fas as working, year, model, size, attatchments or tooling. He has it listed for $225, and I'm going to get it as soon as I get a call back. Also has a large south bend, with parts for $200. But that's much too large for me. Here's a picture of both. I kinda want to know what to look for, and what to expect.

I have never ran a lathe. well Ive run a brake lathe, but different. Have worked a little bit at a machine shop, mainly resurfacing cylinder heads. And assembling heads and valves.

 

[Dmoen]

....

 

[In The Doghouse]

I would like the South Bend. Where is it?

 

[Dmoen]

North Dakota.

 

[Steinmetz]

No change gears? No back gear? Lack of a quick-change gear box would be an immediate show-stopper on any engine lathe.

 

[Dmoen]

English please? Haha change gears, back gears, quick change? I'm lost now

 

[larry_g]

English please? Haha change gears, back gears, quick change? I'm lost now

In the soouth bend picture there is a stack of gears that look like a tepee, those are the change gears that are needed for threading. On more advanced machines there is a quick change gearbox where you only have to move some handles to select threading options.

If that SB is operating I would suggest that you get it. There is near $200 in parts laying on that table. Even if you sell it on you could make a profit with it. The little craftsman is really a weak machine. I started on one of those and it only took a couple months to realize it will not work for a mechanic.

lg
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