Need info on this big lathe quick.

[chris fresh]

http://savannah.craigslist.org/tls/4076456651.html


so i see this today on craigs,i went and looked at it,couldn't find a tag on it anywhere.Can anyone tell me who it is?,doesn't look like an import.has a few things that come with it,he wanted 1000 obo,i offered 700,he said 800.

It's single phase and fairly close (30 min) for less than a grand.I was there looking at it and they guy's kind of a *****,he say's one thing and then another,tells me he has someone lined up for 800,i said call him,he does the phone call and the guy isn't solid,so now we are back to me.

typical bullshitter,but end of the day he has a big lathe that works,that i can make look and work like new for no money.

i would just like to know who it's made by if possible and roughly what year.

TIA,hopefully i'm loadin this thing monday morning.

 

[JoeFin]

Looks like an older Logan

My biggest concern is why does he have a bungee cord holding the gear selector lever in place.

I see a 4 Jaw Chuck, Quick change Gear Box, a Tail Stock a Steady Rest, and what looks like a Taper Attachment, so you can say its fairly tooled.

Of course every thing depends on how it works so you might want to pick up a chunk of round stock and an .001" indicator and go check it out before you hand over any cash

 

[DenisG]

It looks similar to this LeBlond-Regal lathe: http://www.lathes.co.uk/regal/page3.html

 

[woody 73]

I am guessing the guy must have swapped out the old three phase motor for single phase, be sure and see it under power if that is the case.

 

[chris fresh]

WOW!,awsome!,i went through and compared areas to the pics i have in my phone and it's gotta be the same thing,only thing is that it doesn't have the raised letters of the name,other than that,it's identical in every way.

thanks a bunch for that link.

 

[Chuck122]

Looks like an older Logan

My biggest concern is why does he have a bungee cord holding the gear selector lever in place.

I see a 4 Jaw Chuck, Quick change Gear Box, a Tail Stock a Steady Rest, and what looks like a Taper Attachment, so you can say its fairly tooled.

Of course every thing depends on how it works so you might want to pick up a chunk of round stock and an .001" indicator and go check it out before you hand over any cash

Looks to me like a 6 jaw with only 3 jaws in it. Or the jaws look individually adjustable but the angle is all wrong for it to be a 4 jaw. Idk, weird chuck. Te bungee has me worried as to the condition of the Quick change gearbox.

 

[chris fresh]

I am guessing the guy must have swapped out the old three phase motor for single phase, be sure and see it under power if that is the case.

he turned it on in front of me,but i will run it for a minute.it has a lower bracket with the motor on it,i could always swap out to a baldor like i did my compressor if need be.this would be a winter project like the clausing dp in my sig,i have plenty of time to break it down piece by piece and rehab.finished project is the goal,and also to have a big,turn anything i want lathe of course.

 

[chris fresh]

Looks to me like a 6 jaw with only 3 jaws in it. Or the jaws look individually adjustable but the angle is all wrong for it to be a 4 jaw. Idk, weird chuck. Te bungee has me worried as to the condition of the Quick change gearbox.

i moved the lever,it moved freely.i'm not familiar with a lathe of this size or gearing and such,i asked and he said to keep it from popping out of gear,i'm thinking maybe the spring loaded ball that fits in the indent is worn?,or maybe gone?.didn't feel bad when i moved it.

 

[zkling]

My biggest concern is why does he have a bungee cord holding the gear selector lever in place.

^ First thing I thought too. Does look well tooled, steady, taper, etc. What do you plan on turning with it? As long as it will do what you want, and you realize it's limitations, go for it. Careful during loading and transport. They are VERY top heavy.

 

[iajonesy]

That sure looks like an old LeBlonde to me. If so the knob on that lever is spring loaded and the button goes into a hole in the lathe housing. Should be an easy fix. I'd jump on that lathe in a heartbeat. Make sure to check the headstock for excess play. Use a dial indicator and a long bar to pry the chuck up and down. If it has less than .005" movement it can be adjusted out very easily. Good luck with it,you will love it. Probably won't do metric threads but that's o.k.

Mike

 

[chris fresh]

from what i'm finding,it's a LeBlond,just haven't found out what model,the 19 is close.i plan on breaking it down and goin through it top to bottom,as in,new condition when i'm done.as i see it,if it were once new and good,what would wear that i would have to replace or source for it to be perfect again?
as for metric threads,i'm not advanced enough to thread anything yet.i've been slowly learning on a 6'' craftsman /atlas for the past year and change.i want to move up to a big boy lathe for larger stuff,one item being a collar that i have to make for another project that won't fit in my lathe.

along with a piece of tube 4.5 O.D. x 30'' i need to sand out and polish.i did my column for my clausing dp in my 6'' with some creative ideas,but this is bigger.

so you know,just things in general and so when my buddies come in my shop they make that, DAMMMMMNNNNNN! face. lol

 

[chris fresh]

^ First thing I thought too. Does look well tooled, steady, taper, etc. What do you plan on turning with it? As long as it will do what you want, and you realize it's limitations, go for it. Careful during loading and transport. They are VERY top heavy.

as for the loading,it will be loaded onto a fairly low trailer.it is almost inline with the guy's door,other than all the magazines and **** all over the floor,place is a complete **** hole.going to bring a few large floor jacks,some pipe for rollers,a come along and a few other goodies.

then she will get strapped down with 2'' straps we use on the car trailer.

 

[DenisG]

Glad to help! That website is a good reference for lathes and milling machines. Hope that you have everything you need so that your transport proceeds without any problems.

 

[DocsMachine]

Looks to me like a 6 jaw with only 3 jaws in it. Or the jaws look individually adjustable but the angle is all wrong for it to be a 4 jaw.

-It's a 4 jaw, look at the photo where you can see the chuck from the back. You'll see four bosses in the casting where the jaw screws go.

The other grooves are T-slots, so the same chuck can also be used as a faceplate. Like this:

Doc.

 

[chris fresh]

Yes,it is a 4 jaw,saw it from the front,just didn't get a pic of it.

 

[larry_g]

Check with your local library andsee if you can get a book "machine tool reconditioning" http://www.amazon.com/dp/9996967085/?tag=atomicindus08-20

It will lead you through a lot of the process of what is important. When rebuilding a machine tool with ways then the trueness of the ways are what determines a large part of the accuracy you can achieve in the part your machining..

lg
no neat sig line

 

[chris fresh]

thanks larry.


so apparently i have the nack for finding machines,equipment,tools,ect,that i can never find info on.i have looked at every other LeBlond lathe made,except for this one.every time i think i have it,nope!.

but at least i'm learning along the way,still think i'm gonna go get it monday.

 

[evintho]

Take lots of pics of the loading, transport, placement, etc. That thing's a beast! Awesome price too!

 

[JoeFin]

From the number of post you've made today on this lathe I would say it is already sold.

Be sure to check the run out on the chuck, set a bar between centers and follow with the indicator, as well as put the machine through its gears before you hand over the cash. Even if you still want to take it home the price is still negotiable until the money is in his pocket.

Glad it turned out to be a LeBlond - your in good company.

Here is the LeBlond I'm using currently when I first brought it home

and here it is now as it sits in my garage

 

[nikh]

if it is still available... Do it. looks like an awesome money/time hole.

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Very nice

Adam

 

[chris fresh]

Hopefully it works out,the guy's a real gem.we walk in his shop and theres stuff everywhere,couple of bikes on lifts and an old frame sittin ontop of a shelf.i ask what the story is? he starts telling me it's the proto type for harleys first soft tail and his best friend (arlen ness) has offered him 45,000 for the frame,but he's not letting it go.

that was the first ten minutes in.he's telling me that as soon as this lathe sells,he's out,he's moving.meanwhile his property is FILLED with stuff,a lot of good stuff.all i can hope for is that he moves and leaves it all behind.i'll will DEFINITELY get pics of the place when i go back.

 

[chris fresh]

So friday i walked away from this guy and his lathe because of his mouth basically.i want the lathe but he was being a ***** so i told him i'de call him monday and let him know.I let yesturday come and go and sure enough,my phone rings this morning.I took a ride and had a little chat and got some more infne of the large handles is not original to the lathe,a small one is missing and one lever on the tail stock is broke off.I opened up the lid on the gear box and the gears are flawless,oil is clean,i spun all of them for inspection and not one chip.Shifted through all the different gears and no problems.he changed his tune after i let his *** sweat for the weekend.Turns out it's an 18'' regal,found the tag this morning,after the back and forth,700 bucks and coming home tomorrow,i'm pretty stoked on this one.All i need now is a 1000 dollar bridgeport with some tooling and i'm good for a while,or atleast a couple weeks.pics to come of said freshness.

 

[chris fresh]

Here we go!,heres the LeBlond 18'' regal.we and loaded it today with a cherry picker,a big floor jack,some blocking 4 car dollies.slow and steady wins the race,we took our time and everything went smooth.

 

[chris fresh]

next batch

 

[chris fresh]

Here's a couple more,plans are to use it as is for a little while,then do the break down,everything will get blasted and painted.The resto on this will go really quick.

 

[chris fresh]

And the last ones for now.last pic is a buddy of mine,he was wiped out at the end,he lives 4 doors down and couldn't get to his easy chair fast enough,it was him and i for the whole thing.The guy who sold it to me stood there watching with his buddy bitchin about how i stole it from him.I finally said,you sold it to me because you had no one else to hand you this much money for a rusted ************* like this.then him and his buddy shut up while we finished loading.I didn't steal it,but i paid what i thought it was worth and will make it new again.

oh,and for those who mentioned it earlier,damn near zero run out as is.

 

[chris fresh]

if it is still available... Do it. looks like an awesome money/time hole.

Don't really know what your saying there.As for time,not a whole lot,as for money,not really a whole lot.I could buy one new and be done with it,but what fun is that?

 

[454ragtop]

Cool lathe! Might want to change out the oil in the headstock and run it for a while and use it. If no problems, I wouldn't take the headstock apart, those high precision bearings are very pricey, and pretty tricky to install and setup correctly. Does it have an oil pump in the headstock? No sense making a problem where none existed..........
Good luck, Jim.

 

[chris fresh]

Cool lathe! Might want to change out the oil in the headstock and run it for a while and use it. If no problems, I wouldn't take the headstock apart, those high precision bearings are very pricey, and pretty tricky to install and setup correctly. Does it have an oil pump in the headstock? No sense making a problem where none existed..........
Good luck, Jim.

No pump,they just drag in the oil,don't know the proper term.As for the break down,i won't be opening any of that up,strickly clean up and paint.Right now i'm starting to search for a few handles.My largest problem right now is that i do not know what certain parts of the lathe are called.I need to learn the names of things,so that i can find parts for those things.It's hard to find a handle for something when you don't know what that somethings called.

I do know this,after using my 6'' craftsman for a couple of years now,i know i want a real cutter,i've been using hss cutters and grinding my own for situations where need be,but i've only cut brass,aluminum,delrin.

Only steel i cut was the handles for me jet mill,and those were just a clean up,i went really slow and didn't bite off more than i could chew.They came out nice,but i need to get in the game with some real stuff like i see in youtube vids.

I was drooling watching guy's make things out of steel with zero effort with real cutters.I need to spend some time with a friend who has his shop and has been a machinist his whole life.i love his shop,it's all old machines from his father,a true old school hand work shop,a great place to learn the right way.

 

[larry_g]

Chris, do you plan to scrape in the ways? I'm sure that you know to tape them off if using any abrasive blasting media. The ways are the heart of the precision that a lathe can do and must be in good shape and straight and true. That old of a lathe will have wear and you do not want to make it any worse. The rusted ways on the tailstock end I would suggest that you chemically remove what you can and then polish with the lightest abrasive you can find.

For handwheels look here or in the Reid catalog.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[chris fresh]

Chris, do you plan to scrape in the ways? I'm sure that you know to tape them off if using any abrasive blasting media. The ways are the heart of the precision that a lathe can do and must be in good shape and straight and true. That old of a lathe will have wear and you do not want to make it any worse. The rusted ways on the tailstock end I would suggest that you chemically remove what you can and then polish with the lightest abrasive you can find.

For handwheels look here or in the Reid catalog.

lg
no neat sig line

Larry, for now i just sprayed them down with some pb blaster and gonna scotch brite them tomorrow.the pics make them look worse than they are,it's only slight surface,no pitting.Wife fly's out friday morning for a wedding,so i get friday to monday night of tinkering.

As for blasting,yes they will all get taped of with a double layer of 2'' wide electrical tape.we shoot DuPont StarBlast and using any kind of rubber tape is the way to go.

When it all starts i will start a new thread and have an entire build.
All i have done is watch youtube vids,lol,and don't get me started on cnc lathe stuff,sheesh!,wish i never saw how cool that is.

 

[454ragtop]

Chris, take a look here to ID the parts http://www.lathes.co.uk/latheparts/index.html Note what they call the tool slide or top slide is typically called the compound or compound slide over here in the US.
HTH, Jim

 

[chris fresh]

Chris, take a look here to ID the parts http://www.lathes.co.uk/latheparts/index.html Note what they call the tool slide or top slide is typically called the compound or compound slide over here in the US.
HTH, Jim

Thank ya sir!

 

[chris fresh]

Larry_g,check it out.I sprayed the ways down with PB blaster last night and let them ride.Tonight i went out and rubbed the back side down with a gray scotch brite pad,then some WD-40,then some degreaser.A quick wipe down and heres where i'm at.I literally have about 10 minutes in this one stretch about 3 feet long,and this was the bad end,the other end was coated in oil from cutting.I will start a collection of pics,then a build thread at some time.Right now i would love to get involved with this project,but there is no way,i'm swamped with work.

That is the worst part of the machine,everything else will clean up easily and i have already freed up all the knobs,levers, cross feed,ect.Basically anything that should be moving but wasn't.

 

[larry_g]

Looking good. I just get a bit concerned with some people who don't know the harm that can be done to a precision machine with a sandblaster or a grinder. I'd rather insult the intelligence or experience of some one on the internet that have to explain later why what they did is wrong. Sounds like your on the right road to ending up with a good working machine.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[chris fresh]

Thanks man,i hear what yer saying.Check the builds in my sig,you'll see how i get down.Probably going to spin my column from the JET mill/drill i'm redoing and get it cleaned up,that will be the first thing this lathe see's,a polishing job!,LOL!