I am insane... bought another lathe... a Rivett

[J Tiers]

I saw this a few days ago on CL, and said " I do not need this, that cabinet is too big, that would be crazy".

So today, I "got a message" to call the number.....called, and the guy (who builds dragster chassis) still had it, and didn't sound like he had had many calls. So off I go and buy it, like any crazy man.

So I have lots of work to do, which I do NOT have time for, and don't want time for, since we need to be busy at work....but.....

Now, I got it for a price that would be a good deal for an Atlas lathe, so I probably am OK there despite the good, bad, and ugly. And there is some of each.

Here is the grainy CL photo, which I won't keep up too long, I didn't take it. But I have no other pic of the thing together right now.


detail photos Note that the bed is off the cabinet, and the headstock was also pulled from the bed. So some photos are odd-looking simply because the bed is laying on its side on some 4 x 4 lumber cutoffs.

Apron


Carriage top


Tailstock

[J Tiers]

more pics of it

headstock (detached)


quickchange (detached before I bought it.... found inside cabinet, apparently prior owner had no clue)


one drawer of stuff


other drawer of stuff

[J Tiers]

yet more pics of stuff

Under-drive unit as-is


The "humongoose" cabinet that weighs entirely too much and is questionable as to fitting down the stairs


Now for the UGLY

Ugly No 1.... you probably saw this already


Ugly No 2..... no better than No 1........

[J Tiers]

So. That is most of the good, and ugly

Does anyone see missing things that are really bad (aside from teeth)?

Ugly No 1 and 2 are not good.... I suspect No2 can be welded up and then teeth cut again without horrible distortion, possibly not. Ugly No 1 is a question.... a sleeve maybe, I don't think welding is going to be good, and there are a lot of teeth missing for a braze-up.

There are a couple 4 jaw chucks with it, which as of now, I have no clue if they go with it or not.... there is a little compound that clearly does not, it looks like it came off a 109 and got tossed in the box.

I did get a collet drawbar, and 2 or 3 collets. I don't know which nose this has, so I don't yet know what collet they are. they look kinda like a 5C, but seem a bit longer (I have no 5C to compare to and have not checked the dims).

For the "decent deal for Atlas lathe" price, I suspect I didn't pay too much. It was very obvious that neither the current owner nor the prior owner had any idea what it is.

[wierdscience]

Well most addictions aren't very pretty

Congrats on the new lathe "kit"

[RussZHC]

Funny how this "hobby" gets completely into the "blood"...and, perhaps not surprising given the lacking quality of current cabinets, I think that is a "wave" that is happening...sort of like some using older cast iron legs plus a heavy wood top for tables...I came across a beat up Hardinge the other day and its still tempting to go back just for the heavy weight and well thought out cabinet... can beat trying to build something from scratch that will never equal the design/quality

[Tony Ennis]

Looks like the bull gear has a crack in the hub.

Is a Rivett a well-regarded lathe?

[J Tiers]

It isn't a crack, it is an intentional cut, purpose unknown to me right now.

Yes, Rivett is indeed well regarded, and this seems to be a Rivett 608 on the "steel kneehole cabinet" (in which there is in fact no actual "kneehole").

Now THIS one does not seem to have been well-regarded by it's prior owners, who let it get very grimy and managed to strip off teeth per "Ugly No 1" and "Ugly No 2".

[Errol Groff]

If it will help here is a good amount of Rivett informatin:

http://neme-s.org/Shaper%20Books/Rivett_Lathes/

[lazlo]

That's the 8" precision lathe? It'd be a beauty to restore!

http://www.lathes.co.uk/rivettearly608/index.html