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OutlawRider

OutlawRider

Gum Gardener
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
658
Messages
281
Loc
Arkansas
This happened to pop up in my area. Not sure if this brand is any good. Not a name I am familiar with (but I also know nothing about them). It is 3 phase but I have 3 phase so no issue there. Size being my biggest concern. And price ($3600 asking), it seems a little steep. Only comes with a 3 and 4 jaw chuck. What is something like this worth? What questions should I ask about it? What should I look for if I go to pick it up?
 

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they're decent, good step above the generic taiwanese lathes I recommend to people all the time
camlock spindle is a huge plus

buy it if you can justify it
 
I meant to put the price, 3600 is asking. I was guessing closer to 1500 since it is 3 phase and large
 
Well Arkansas doesn't have shit for heavy industry so $3600 doesn't seem bad. That would be an expensive price in the midwest or notheast
 
Doesn't seem too steep to me? Maybe offer $3000...3 phase is no biggy, everyone just runs VFD's anyway.
 
3500 is not a bad deal but understand we are all cheap F’s. How much tooling does it come with?
 
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Victors are up near the top as far as quality for that era of lathe. That price would be reasonable in most places other than the few areas that have tons of industry with surplus machines. I'd expect to pay that or more around here.....hell, I'd probably go look at it if it were sale nearby for that.


As long as it's not clapped out or obviously worn, throw $2k at them and see if you can meet somewhere in the middle.
 
Yeah I'm looking for a victor style 1640 or so and budget is 3k so price is good. If it was close to me I'd buy it for 3k all day long
 
Victors are quality. Whats the spindle thru hole dia and hp?
 
That's the thing what a lathe I would like to find. I am hoping for a 1.5 to 2" through hole so I can feed tubing through it to drill/tap the ends for rod ends.
 
Yeah that's the plan. I have an old small Southbend Model A 9x36 and it works good but the 7/8" through hole, flat belt and limited swing definitely hold me back
 
TTMotorsports said:
That's the thing what a lathe I would like to find. I am hoping for a 1.5 to 2" through hole so I can feed tubing through it to drill/tap the ends for rod ends.
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Keep your eyes out for the Colchester Clausing Triumph lathes; the old round head versions, not the 2000 series. They are British made but they have a 2-1/16" through bore so 2" stock goes through, but they also cut metric and standard threads with the flip of a lever, as well as have a nice matrix clutch for fine feeding. I have a 5 hp with a removable gap bed and wouldn't consider any other machine for what I do having had this one for some time. Its got a 48" bed which very rarely has that been an issue.

www.ebay.com

15"x48" Clausing Colchester Lathe, 1960s | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 15"x48" Clausing Colchester Lathe, 1960s at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
 
In today's world that's a good price. I've been looking to upgrade my 12" Monarch for the last year, and auction prices have been insane. At an auction, that would probably go for around 4k (plus 18% premium on top). One recent auction had a very well tooled Victor 16x60 with a couple chucks, collet closer, and collets that went for 7k plus premium. And most of these are bought by machinery dealers who resell them for a profit.

Two years ago, they all seemed to be selling for half as much, but of course I wasn't looking to upgrade then.
 
Decent machines. Victors where the best taiwanese lathe from that era imo.

You can do better if you look harder. I just got a very clean 16" Dean, Smith and Grace for $2k purely because the people responsible for selling it didn't want to deal with moving it.
 
WESTOF7 said:
Decent machines. Victors where the best taiwanese lathe from that era imo.

You can do better if you look harder. I just got a very clean 16" Dean, Smith and Grace for $2k purely because the people responsible for selling it didn't want to deal with moving it.
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I also have a 16” dsg, absolute beast of a machine. It’s scary how much steel that thing can peel off in one pass without missing a beat.

Pictures:flipoff2:
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
I also have a 16” dsg, absolute beast of a machine. It’s scary how much steel that thing can peel off in one pass without missing a beat.

Pictures:flipoff2:
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Haven't even ran this one yet. It's Canadian gov surplus that sat in some old guys shop until he passed away. Pretty good shape

Might take some pics on Mon when I'm back at the shop :flipoff2:
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
I also have a 16” dsg, absolute beast of a machine. It’s scary how much steel that thing can peel off in one pass without missing a beat.
Pictures:flipoff2:
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its funny how an actual 16" lathe will turn a shitty toy 12" lathe between centers
because the real lathes are sized for what you can turn between centers where the toys are swing over the bed and bed length

actually one further, the jet 12" ones only swing 11.75" over the ways whereas the big ones will fit a couple inches more than their catalog size
 
[486] said:
its funny how an actual 16" lathe will turn a shitty toy 12" lathe between centers
because the real lathes are sized for what you can turn between centers where the toys are swing over the bed and bed length

actually one further, the jet 12" ones only swing 11.75" over the ways whereas the big ones will fit a couple inches more than their catalog size
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I have a 12x54 craftsman and a 12-1/2x60 Cincinnati. The cinci is at least 3x as big and weighs 4x as much as the craftsman.
 
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Loading is the biggest issue. Pics I took. 2” through
 

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I'd buy that in a heartbeat if there's nothing obviously wrong with it.

Google says it weighs 3600lbs. Depending what your pain/work tolerance vs. cost threshold is, you may be able to just find a local rollback wrecker willing to winch it out and then slide it right in to your place for a few hundred bucks. Or looking in to renting a 6k forklift for a day to just set it on a trailer. It's much easier to unload one than it is to load....though it can still be sketchy as fuck.

Moving them by hand is a bitch. Super top heavy and they like to fall over. Lots and lots of pics on the web of lathes on their faces.

If you need to move it acrross the floor to your loading point, pieces of pipe or round bar and a big wrecking bar will help. I've also found my pallet jack to be super handy. Use a wrecking bar and progressively thicker pieces of wood to get it up on blocks to where you can slide the pallet jack under one end. Makes it easy to rotate it on the opposite end. You can use pipes under one and and the jack under the other to move it right along.
 
bgaidan said:
Super top heavy and they like to fall over. Lots and lots of pics on the web of lathes on their faces.
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I've done it, fell on its back though, so only had to blobberate together a motor mount instead of all new handles and screws
 
So was speaking with him. Overall seems like a great machine. Absolutely no tooling. 3 and 4 jaw chuck. Does have a digital read out. Metric and standard threading from what I can tell. Doesn’t seem to leak a lot of oil (Atleast sitting there).

Downside, it has been sitting there since he bought it. Never ran it as he couldn’t get the phase converter hooked up. (I have 3 phase and don’t need a converter). He said when he hooked it up, he had the wild leg in the wrong position and popped a fuse. Is this something I should worry about? It has magnetic actuators and some old school fuses.

He was a pretty cool old guy. He is just getting old. But loved his shop. He also had a Bridgeport mill I want but it’s not for sale.
 
I doubt it. Any of the control stuff should be cheap if you need to replace a contactor or something. Worst case he burned up the motor....but 5hp 3p motors can be found fairly cheap. I'd really doubt anything's wrong though.


Tooling isn't horribly expensive. I run mostly import insert tooling and it's fine for home shop use. Looks like it has a decent QC toolpost which is at least a few hundred bucks you won't have to spend. You can get import tool holders to work with that too.
 
talk him into including at least that live center lol

craigslist works like that, you try and include everything in the pictures just to be an asshole
 
Also look around for anything painted like the lathe. Things like steady rests and taper attachments can be had to find later on. For tooling, I've learned over the years to standardize on an affordable inserts, then buy multiple holders that use that insert. I used to buy tools at auctions/cheap ones on ebay, then ended up having tons of different inserts, some more expensive/harder to find than others. Something like WNMG or TNMG's are pretty good. Relatively inexpensive, and can turn, face, and bore with them. Then you can just stock up on one insert, and not have to by tons of different kinds.
 
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