What's this LeBlond worth??

[JCByrd24]

LeBlond of that vintage I would have just two concerns, max rpm and fully lubed QCGB, as well as metric threading ability. I don’t know the details so I’m not saying it isn’t favorable in those areas, but the more recent LeBlonds were, and therefore were on my short list.

I bought a lathe without a steady rest just yesterday, it’s unfortunate but totally not a dealbreaker as has been mentioned.

[v860rich]

I had a LeBlond just like the one you're looking at. It had a couple of minor problems and I already had a 16" SB so I ended up parting it out .
The gears in the headstock brought me more than $1500. By the time I finished I had sold everything and had over $3000 in my pocket.

THANX RICH

[JRouche]

LeBlond, yeah been drooling over those for some years.

I didnt read all the other BS. Did you get it? JR

[dixdance]

I have a 17" Regal round head, and I love it. Is the one you're looking at a square head? They both have 4 levers, but the round head doesn't have steel ways.. I find it to be a very easy to use and accurate machine, only down side is a low top speed, around 600rpm. I'm tempted to speed it up, but it just hasn't been that much of a problem, I'm not in a hurry, and I hsve a 9" SB for small stuff. Sounds like a great deal to me!

[Ringo]

it's square head Regal with 4 levers, said to be a 15", overall length is 8' and change

[tom_d]

There is a LeBlond lathe for sale not too far away.........

I looked at it, the bedways are pristine. When I say pristine, they almost look like chrome. This is a low time machine...........

If this had its center rest, I would be all over it, but the ctr rest is not there.
What should I do?

It sounds to me like you've already answered your own question.
It's just a matter of securing the steady and follower rests. The steady can be fabricated, if you're up to the challenge. Or, just take your time scouring the market. There's one out there somewhere. Just takes a little patience to find it. I've found that a good lathe that meets your mission profile is more difficult to come by than some of the much needed accessories.

[RB211]

These type of machines clearly delineate the difference between a modern import and industrial. If the price is right, snatch it up!

[Ringo]

On inspection, I noticed that the compound had been run into the chuck, (how many used lathes have that?)
It may not be hurt, but it bothers me not to see it powered up.

[RB211]

On inspection, I noticed that the compound had been run into the chuck, (how many used lathes have that?)
It may not be hurt, but it bothers me not to see it powered up.

There's signs of that on my 10EE too.

[Doozer]

Almost every lathe on earth in a factory has been run into the chuck.
Had you never noticed this fact before?
-D

[Ringo]

Almost every lathe on earth in a factory has been run into the chuck.
Had you never noticed this fact before?
-D

yay, know that, but scared to buy one that is not powered up, cannot hear it run, and compound took a big hit for that

[J Tiers]

What's playing out here is the way you get a good deal.

A machine that has all the accessories will generally go for a top price if clean. A machine that is in good shape, but is greasy/oily, or a machine missing some accessories, often will go for much less, because buyers assume an oily machine is "worn out" (whatever that means), or they just do not want to take the trouble to clean it up. The difference can be more than the cost to get the accessories that are missing, or the time to clean the machine.

The key is to be able to assess the machine. You need to see whether the dirt and oil is really indicating problems. If the machine is clean, yet low priced, there may be a catch, you need to see if some important function is not working because some "unobtanium" part is broken of missing.

I see folks who have bought a machine that has no tailstock. A tailstock is really fitted to that machine, particularly with respect to height (considering wear), and may not be easily replaced by one from another machine. And since it is an important part for many functions, they are only available at all from parted-out machines. Making one is a large task. That is a problem.

A steady or follower rest is an "extra", are fairly easy to find used, and can be made without a huge effort. The lack of a steady or follower is not a big deal the way a tailstock is.

Not under power, a machine is harder to check out. There may be a good reason it is ot powered up, or it just may have been identified as "extra". You want to check as much as you can, including hand-turning the spindle to see if the bearings obviously grind or seem loose, check bed wear as McGyver suggested, etc.

Check here:

http://www.mermac.com/advicenew.html

http://www.mermac.com/klunker2.html

[Ringo]

My concern is the LeBlond unobtanium head gears.
This machine did suffer a crash into the chuck. the compound needs to be repared or replaced. the corner of the compound is knocked off and the head of the gib screw is hanging out.
Yeah, I can turn the chuck by hand and it is smooth, but I dont know how to go thru all the gears levers to turn each and every speed select by hand.
However, this machine is such a very low time machine, it is not nasty oily old looking, visually, it is desirable, especially the ways.
Right now I got no means to know if I actually need one of LeBlond's unobtanium gears.
.........this situation leads me more to Clausing machines. If Clausing does not support a part you need, they can release the drawing such that you can make your own part and keep your Clausing machine going.
........LeBlond will NOT release any drawing, and if they don't support that part, they will job out the part then step on the price and charge you the unobtanium price.

[Glug]

If a school has multiples of a particular machine, they will often sell the worst one first. Sometimes they sell those closest to the door. I spent quite a bit of time evaluating a couple of unpowered student colchesters back in 2017. The instructor said they were the two closest to the door. That may be, but I was unable to get any feed on one of them, despite much effort. I was the only bidder who knew that or even did any actual inspection. That machine sold second, and for more than the 'good' one. Evaluating them meant a lot of rotating the chuck by hand (nice to have a helper!). Students are notorious for abusing gears and machines, and in ways that tend to be different from industrial use. The headstock gears in the student colchesters tend to be fragile.

The inability to run the leblond is a negative. It should significantly lower the price. It also puts a greater burden on the careful buyer, because you need to check every headstock speed and feel and listen for damaged teeth. You also should probably select every QC gear and check it.

How cautious you are depends on the price, your risk aversion, and how much you can afford to risk. Sure, if it is a lemon you can probably get your money back by parting it out over the next few years. But we all know how much the wife will love that - huge mess and time and hassle.

As mentioned in my PM, it can be difficult to spot wear on those wide ways. They certainly do wear - more than I would expect. Check it with a TI or DTI.

The Regal is a common lathe and they come up for sale regularly. Given the state of the economy, I think there will be a lot of machines on the market soon. And that does not even include the substantial backlog of estate sales and auctions.

Edit: If the compound is *that* messed up... Then that is very serious. No pictures? I would be very concerned about the feed and threading gears, half nut, etc.

Also, you should obtain the manual for any lathe you are evaluating, study it, understand it, and take it with you. I spent three or four hours evaluating the first 10ee I saw, at a university auction. I just missed the sealed bid on that one but the time spent helped a lot in future evals. The 10ee is a huge challenge because there are a lot of non-obvious gotcha features.

[Ringo]

this auction bidding item has closed,
who wants to guess what it sold for???