What's so good about a Southbend lathe?

[matador]

Geez,Ben,you got a death wish?
Kicking the holy "southbend"cowThe CIA will send over their squad of nastie,bad tempered killers to teach you some manners!
But seriously,I think it's popularity is a result of sheer weight of numbers.This makes them and their spares readily available,and cheap.I don't remember ever seeing one in nz,only the oz "Hercus"copy.So unless your mystery lathe is a very early sb,it's more likely to be the hercus.Then again,there were many copies along similar lines to the myford,some of which have found their way down under.But in our neck of the woods,spares for old machines are never going to be plentyful,or cheap.
Unless you have the knowledge to determine what ,if anything,would need repair or replacement,I would stick with something more recent.Then again,ANY lathe is better than no lathe!



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Hans

[Your Old Dog]

Guess I was just lucky!

My employer wanted a copy of a a high end Ethan Allen entertainment center for the conference room. Said my price was too high. Told him I'd knock off $600 for the old Southbend lathe in the basement that hadn't been run in over 30 years. He said yes!

I work for a TV station. The only guy who knew how to run the lathe retired 30 years ago. The bed has all the scrapings on it, no dings, sits on a cabinet mount and the drawers were not only clean but still had the receipt, brochure and SB accessory catalog in it. The 3 jaw looks like its never been used. It was mint when I brought it home 3 years ago. I have not abused it (knowingly) I've only just recently discoved its a 6 speed and not a 3spped with flat belt! Looks like it's gonna be a good Monday for me!

[quasi]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by G.A. Ewen:
Like this one?





</font>

Yes, I believe that is one, I see they list it as an 11" swing.