Got the hots for another one...

[hoffman]

I've been making some parts on my little Rockwell 10 and some of the stuff I'm doing and will be doing in the future requires turning welds. This little lathe just aint gonna cut it. I found a SB 14 x 40 (I think) which is pretty nasty but all there. It's gonna need some TLC but they are pretty servicable machines and the parts are around. I'm thinking about this one...

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Hoffman in Warner Robins Ga

[vinito]

Jon,
OK, man. This is getting serious. I'm a little worried about you. I'm afraid your wife is going to introduce you to the other side of the health industry if you keep this up. Your only hope might be to get her interested in your hobby. Sorry, I know that sounds cruel.

Of course, if you are keeping your shop a secret, then you have nothing to worry about. I'd recommend you practice dividing by 10 so you can do it even when highly stressed in case she finds out.

[hoffman]

Hey Vince, What's the deal on the Hardinge lathe you picked up? I heard you mention it but I'd love to see some pics.
I'm just thinking about this SB. I really enjoy fixing up old machines and it seems like it'd be a good project. Believe it or not I found it waaay back in the corner of the shop the other day. I actually had to climb over the top of some other stuff to get to it. The shop is 100 ft x 450 ft and just crammed full of old machines and stuff... I may go in this afternoon and work on an old Hyster 10,000 lb forklift I've been getting running.

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Hoffman in Warner Robins Ga

[vinito]

I brought it home Monday. What are you trying to say - that I have no room to criticize?

That part-time job of yours is quite a discovery. I think you've picked up a great collection of machines in record time, even if they require some TLC. I checked out your web site and I figure you are no stranger to restoration though. I've worked with tons of different machines over the past couple decades, but oddly enough I never used a SB. The only ones I've touched were unplugged. That's kinda wierd. They sure recieve many kudos, so the standard statement likely applies - unless it's worn to a nub, it's probably be worth owning.

I've been swamped with errands and such this past week so I haven't fiddled with the Hardinge much. I plan to take lots of pictures during the restoration. I'm pretty bad about spacing that out, but I'll try to do better. Here's a note on the matter. I'm going to try to move it into the house later today. That ought to warrant a picture.

[hoffman]

Man Vince, that is a real sweet machine that will go great with your Hardinge mill! Having used a Hardinge of similar vintage I can say that they are real nice super precision lathes. Having seen your lathe It's hard to post pics of this turd:




I've also used SB's and love them also although not even close to the class of a Hardinge. This one should be fun to fix up. I haven't even looked closely at the ways/gears etc. but if they're OK I may just jump on this one. It's a 13" with a really long bed.
The mill in the background is an old Gorton 0-16.

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Hoffman in Warner Robins Ga

[This message has been edited by hoffman (edited 01-23-2005).]

[Al Flipo]

I don’t think it is as bad as it looks; it’s a simple design and it would be nice to bring it back to its former glory, go for it.

[vinito]

You have no fear

It ain't ready to plug in and go, but it's not a basket case either - at least not until you take it all apart. I see it's a flat belt step pulley. I'd be really tempted to fit a cog belt pulley to it and hook it up to a VFD. That would be really sweet! I don't know for sure, but it might be nice to have two pulleys and have two speed ranges. Hell, the flat belts might work OK too.

p.s. Yess! It has the taper attachment. Big plus IMO.

[This message has been edited by vinito (edited 01-23-2005).]

[snowman]

lol...divide by ten. that's great.

really though...how do you guys do it? Women are smart...they figure things out. They find reciepts when doing laundry and stuff. I have started selling my belongings on Ebay...this money is *mine* (once in a while I buy her something nice out of it to keep it *mine*)

Are you all just really good horse traders or what?

-Jacob

[vinito]

Don't let women fool you. If they were that smart they wouldn't be hanging out with us.

[hoffman]

Check this one out:

I get my 40 hrs in 3 days at my regular job and I work at a used machinery dealer the rest of the week. I don't get paid in $$ I pick a machine and work it off. I could make a lot more money if I worked as a nurse on all my off days but then the $$, or a portion of it, goes into the "main funds". This is really a sweet deal for me and I consider myself really lucky. Plus I enjoy it. They were a little apprehensive when they hired me because I'm a nurse but I told them I'm pretty good with machines. Lately I've been working on the forklifts around there which had NO BRAKES when I started. Now they all have brakes and parking brakes. I'm gonna check on that SB in the morning...
I also really like the little Sheldon horizontal but it doesn't have power feed which makes the small ones neat to me.