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Military Firearm Restoration Corner

Used Lathe


montea6b

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looking for opinions from the peanut gallery on this unit: Used South Bend 9" lathe on Craigslist

 

Looks a bit like a relic from the industrial revolution to my untrained eye, but then they turned out some beautiful Mausers on cruder equipment back in the day. I don't want to let the lack of modern appearance, digital readouts and electronic controls cloud my judgement if this is indeed a fine old machine. Just wondering if there might be tangible limitations in terms of capability. (i.e. speed control, etc.)

 

Also, kind of hard to judge the size. Think a couple average guys could hoist it into a pickup truck?

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You might be able to commute to work in a 1967 Cadillac if it has 20k miles and is in mint condition.

 

But by the time Boeing and another company got done with my 1967 Clausing, it was ready to be restored by someone who was a fanatic.

 

Last month I got a new Chinese lathe of the same size, 12x36, but with DRO, and now I am getting things done.

 

Last week I put a used Krieger barrel on a used Rem700 and chambered it in 6mmBR.

The rear of the chamber was with in 0.00075" when I was done.

The second group out of that rifle was 0.55" 5 shots at 100 yards, with a 10X scope.

I think I can do twice as well with a 25X scope that lets me see the target.

 

What does it all mean?

I have screwed around with 3 marginal lathes over the last 10 years, and now I have one that gets the job done.

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looking for opinions from the peanut gallery on this unit: Used South Bend 9" lathe on Craigslist

 

Looks a bit like a relic from the industrial revolution to my untrained eye, but then they turned out some beautiful Mausers on cruder equipment back in the day. I don't want to let the lack of modern appearance, digital readouts and electronic controls cloud my judgement if this is indeed a fine old machine. Just wondering if there might be tangible limitations in terms of capability. (i.e. speed control, etc.)

 

Also, kind of hard to judge the size. Think a couple average guys could hoist it into a pickup truck?

 

 

A visual inspection will really tell you if it's worth it. Check the way's near the headstock for wear. Ask to cut a test bar. More importantly, check to see if it has a half nut for threading, if ya can't thread it's worthless. The headstock is likely to have too small a bore to chamber in the headstock with, check it and see. yo'll want a bore that at least approaches an inch and should be able to thread sporter barrels at least. And if it is a change gear model be sure it has the gears.

 

You could pick that thing up by yourself if you've been eating your wheaties! It's a small lathe, a table top model. That 3 1/2 ft bed means 23" between centers.

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Thanks guys. Bremerton is close enough to go for a killer deal if that was the consensus, but a little far to go for a casual browser like me. I think I will pass for now. I'm just dipping my toe in the "thinking about a lathe" pool and trying to decide what's good and what isn't. (needs versus wants, and budget too!) There seems to be an ongoing battle of opinions between the newer Chinese imports versus older used South Bend machines. Just wanted a little feedback to further my education.

 

Couple quick questions from Z's post:

 

1. What is a "half nut" for threading? I thought if you had powerfeed you could adjust the settings in order to cut threads.

 

2. In a "change gear model" is manually swapping out gears the method for changing spindle speed? (This particular machine appears to be belt driven with three potential speeds based on the pulleys selected. That doesn't seem like enough range to me.)

 

Speaking of gears, I have recently read that some of the smaller Chinese made lathes use plastic gears! That sounds to me like something to avoid at all costs. Is there a size or horsepower level at which metal gears are standard?

 

FYI, my machining experience is based on HS machine shop class 30 years ago so I know what a head stock and tailstock are, but not a whole lot else! :P

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Change gears vs quick change gear box has to do with changing the rates of feed and also the thread pitches you can cut. Mine uses a quick change gear box meaning I flip a couple of levers to the appropriate locations to quickly change the feed rate or TPI. Change gears require you to litterally swap out gears in order to get the right combination fo r the desired feed rate or tpi. It has nothing to do with spindle speed which is controlled by the belt placement.

 

I've not seen plastic gears in any chinese lathe but then again the smallest I have messed with was 12".

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I can tell you by looking at it that it doesnt have change gears, its certainly not the lathe I would pick to do gunsmithing.

 

I wanted old iron too and i bought a sheldon lathe. No parts available and worn parts everywhere is what u get with an old lathe. Many also have a small spindle bore making chambering through the headstock difficult or impossible.

 

Some people get lucky and find a barely used old lathe for cheap.

 

The minimum I would look for is a south bend Heavy 10

 

Heres a website with alot of info on old lathes

 

http://www.lathes.co.uk/index.html

 

I have a grizzly now no complaints.

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