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A couple of weeks ago bought a Grizzly Mill Drill and a Central Machinery 9x20 lathe from a fellow who was offering a deal on both of them.
Then last week went to an auction that had some machinery, but I was more interested in buying tooling (rotary table, 4 jaw chuck, etc.). The tooling went high I thought for auction- this stuff belonged to an estate of a fellow who fixed up old engines and machinery.
He had a Sheldon L-44 that I could not resist bidding on, it was dirty from use but no wear at all on the carriage. I wound up winning it! Then there was another South Bend 9 x 36 that I bid on, because no one else was- and wound up winning that one too! It had a broken compound on it, which I am sure is what scared everyone away, but like the first, the carriage had no wear at all. There was another Sheldon that went cheap, a mill that went cheap, but didn't buy them (didn't have room for them in my truck, and figured it would be hard enough to explain 2 MORE lathes to my wife), kind of wish I had now.
I didn't look through the cabinet mounted under the South Bend, because I really wasn't going to bid on it, but there wound up being several hundred dollars worth of tooling in the drawers, most of it new. There were also some items that I had gone to the auction looking for in the first place, but missed because I thought it went too high!
Initially I had thought about selling one or two of the lathes, but I REALLY like the South Bend, and am impressed with all the stuff still available (including the compound and metric change gears). I can thread metric with the Central as is, and the Sheldon is a little bigger and has a quick change gear box. At the present time I have room, so I think I will keep all of them for now!
Then last week went to an auction that had some machinery, but I was more interested in buying tooling (rotary table, 4 jaw chuck, etc.). The tooling went high I thought for auction- this stuff belonged to an estate of a fellow who fixed up old engines and machinery.
He had a Sheldon L-44 that I could not resist bidding on, it was dirty from use but no wear at all on the carriage. I wound up winning it! Then there was another South Bend 9 x 36 that I bid on, because no one else was- and wound up winning that one too! It had a broken compound on it, which I am sure is what scared everyone away, but like the first, the carriage had no wear at all. There was another Sheldon that went cheap, a mill that went cheap, but didn't buy them (didn't have room for them in my truck, and figured it would be hard enough to explain 2 MORE lathes to my wife), kind of wish I had now.
I didn't look through the cabinet mounted under the South Bend, because I really wasn't going to bid on it, but there wound up being several hundred dollars worth of tooling in the drawers, most of it new. There were also some items that I had gone to the auction looking for in the first place, but missed because I thought it went too high!
Initially I had thought about selling one or two of the lathes, but I REALLY like the South Bend, and am impressed with all the stuff still available (including the compound and metric change gears). I can thread metric with the Central as is, and the Sheldon is a little bigger and has a quick change gear box. At the present time I have room, so I think I will keep all of them for now!
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