Amazing what you find when you look!!!

[cuemaker]

Since I started looking for a lathe, I have found all kinds of lathes and interesting things for sale by normal everyday people!!

For example. Young man selling his grandfathers machinery. War surplus SB 9" with a 4.5 bed and a war surplus Burke horizontil mill. Sounds like I can have it all with tooling for $700.

He says it was all working and in use when in April the grandfather fell and bumped his head. Unfortunatly messed him up and is now in assisted living.

Either I am getting new toy jitters or this sounds like a good deal.

[Evan]

The SB9 only has a 3/4" spindle bore.

[JCHannum]

Many of the members of this forum bemoan their location in respect to availability of used machine tools. Marysville OH is in the center of an area where they abound. You are near Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinatti, Sidney, farther north, Toledo and into the Detroit area. You should have no problem finding decent machinery if you poke around a bit.

The 9" SB and Burke mill could be a good buy, especially with tooling. With the long bed, possibly a fixture could be constructed to get around the limited spindle bore. Any lathe is better than none, and a good South Bend is better that most. Lots can be accomplished on one with a little imagination.

The Burke horizontal mills were frequently hand mills and the table was moved with a lever rather than a handwheel. These are somewhat less useful than a conventional style. You might bear that in mind when looking at it.

[cuemaker]

I know. Everything cant be perfect. but i believe its 32" between centers, and that would be a big plus. Cheaper than finding a small lathe with the bigger spindle bore. Might be a nice compromise.

[cuemaker]

The Burke is a hand mill. He willing to sell it for about 150-200.

By the way, how big is it?? About how much does it weight?