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Help spend my money on a lathe

WiscoF100

WiscoF100

Red Skull Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2023
Member Number
5998
Messages
76
Loc
Lake Superior shoreline
I’d like to draw on your unbiased knowledge while I impatiently wait for the seller to respond.

South Bend bench top. 9” x 55” (total) bed length. Can’t find an exact match in my searches. I’m guessing workshop (A,B,C)

Listed at $995. I’m comfortable at $800 just to get a piece of history and learn a new skill. Has gearsets for threading operations, 3 and 4 jaw, steady rest, live center, tool post, several collet bodies. Claims the ways are like new and has OG operator manual.

Turning spindles, opening bearing/seal bores, bushings, custom bolts and all the usual rock crawling, ultra4 cannibalism is what I’d be up to with it.

Here’s some FB potato pics fawkers
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Unless you wanna pay extra for the South Bend brand because "hurr durr muh history" I wouldn't pay $800-900 in the midwest or northeast for that.

You should be able something comparable for less or a newer, bigger, better featured import lathe for the same money.
 
Zero interest in an import. I can find better bang for my buck (sub 2k) when stepping up to some massive LeBlonde or monarch but it’s for garage use. Not war time production. And I’m not driving several days for those chowdah head deals.
 
You can't go wrong at that price. The little machines fetch far better money pound for pound vs. giant stuff. That machine will never be worth less than the $8-900 you'd be paying for it.


arse_sidewards said:
Unless you wanna pay extra for the South Bend brand because "hurr durr muh history" I wouldn't pay $800-900 in the midwest or northeast for that.

You should be able something comparable for less or a newer, bigger, better featured import lathe for the same money.
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Show us oh great one. Show me a newer, bigger, better featured lathe for the same money that's not something so ridiculously big that it won't fit in the OPs garage.
 
Aside from financial opinions, for the simpleton tasks I mentioned using it for, am I barking up the right tree? As a beginner?

A similar SB that was close to home posted for $300 and sold same day last week. I’m sure it vaporized within minutes. I know there can be deals.

I do agree about the price/size ratio and that there will never really be any depreciation. Just call it a vintage survivor and I can triple my money some day.
 
WiscoF100 said:
Aside from financial opinions, for the simpleton tasks I mentioned using it for, am I barking up the right tree? As a beginner?
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9" is going to be a touch on the small side for "lemme just slap a tone ring relief the OD of this ring gear/carrier" or "lemme just chuck up this hub and take a bit off the wheel index to fit muh rimz" on common wonton sized parts.
 
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A lot of the import lathes are shit, but not all of them. I've had a 9" south bend for years and got given an 11" sharp recently (it was crashed, blow'd up the feed box and ripped the compound off). If I had to get rid of one I'd fix the sharp and keep it. Takes up basically the same real estate but it's wayyyy more rigid and powerful. The south bend is painfully slow on anything bigger than a few inches by comparison.

That said if a SB came up around here for that price, I'd still buy it. Slow beats not at all every time, and the SB did everything I needed it to for years. The only thing I would really try and get that isn't on that lathe is a quick change gearbox.
 
I think it’s a bit small for your ambitions. That said, it’s a nice size to have around and doesn’t take up too much room. I would buy it. I think the price is reasonable.
 
Yeah, speed and inconvenience I’m sure would irritate me in quick order. I realize this class of machine is borderline undersized and it’s not a matter if but when I’d be pissed off I couldn’t swing more than 9.

Gotta get my feet wet somehow. It’s 5hrs away is my biggest meh. I’m just trying to expand my accuracy beyond a chop saw and flap disc made bushings etc or farming out custom yokes

Is it common to outfit these with higher HP? Does it even matter?
 
WiscoF100 said:
Yeah, speed and inconvenience I’m sure would irritate me in quick order. I realize this class of machine is borderline undersized and it’s not a matter if but when I’d be pissed off I couldn’t swing more than 9.

Gotta get my feet wet somehow. It’s 5hrs away is my biggest meh. I’m just trying to expand my accuracy beyond a chop saw and flap disc made bushings etc or farming out custom yokes

Is it common to outfit these with higher HP? Does it even matter?
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I just got my 22" Monarch online and it replaced a 12.5 Cincinnati. I still use my little 12" craftsman 10x more than the big ones. You'll find a shit ton of uses for that little SB and if you outgrow it down the road, there's very little chance that you'll lose money on it when you upgrade to something bigger.

95% of my projects could be made on a 9" lathe.



As far as motor goes....1/2-3/4 hp is usually fine for those. Only "upgrade" i'd do is swap to a 3 phase motor and VFD so you can have variable speed and easy reversing.
 
bgaidan said:
As far as motor goes....1/2-3/4 hp is usually fine for those. Only "upgrade" i'd do is swap to a 3 phase motor and VFD so you can have variable speed and easy reversing.
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HP noted.

3 phase and vfd I’ll have to learn more about. More about service requirements. But I do understand the speed and reversing reasoning.

Thanks
 
WiscoF100 said:
Gotta get my feet wet somehow. It’s 5hrs away is my biggest meh. I’m just trying to expand my accuracy beyond a chop saw and flap disc made bushings etc or farming out custom yokes
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$800 for a lathe that doesnt take up much room isnt bad. Grab it, blow up some tooling, learn a bunch on it, and then you will know what lathe you actually need. Sell it for $900 when you decide to upgrade
 
Get a 6-8" import mini lathe (and be prepared to replace the motor when you burn it up) and keep your eye out for big old iron.

You can get the import lathe shipped to your door for less than the south bend would cost you and there's a bottomless pit of resources for how to get more than you're expected to out of it.

I kind of did it in reverse and got the big old lathe and now I'm looking for a really little guy for all those jobs that are dumb in a lathe that needs to be double chucked to hold less than 2" stock and won't go faster than 200rpm.

If budget was unlimited I'd say get a 1930s-60s 15+ by ~48ish lathe.

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arse_sidewards 2-4k yields impressive results for some cool machines the size of a crew cab truck. Not that I’m incapable of moving large heavy shit, it’s a dumb proposition when I move cross country so often and currently only have a 24x28 work space. I’ll take a second glance at the examples you posted.

Steve300xcw kinda what I’m thinking
 
I prefer the 14/40 size machine. I have had a tiwanese 1440 clausing/cholchester copy for about 20 years now. Does what I want no flat belts threading change gears ect. I’m of the buy once cry once mantra.
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
I prefer the 14/40 size machine. I have had a tiwanese 1440 clausing/cholchester copy for about 20 years now. Does what I want no flat belts threading change gears ect. I’m of the buy once cry once mantra.
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IMO length doesn't matter much until you get into "hey I can do drive shafts on this thing" territory around 5ft centers. Most of the shit you'll stick on it will be under 2ft.

I think 14" is a fine size. I can't remember when the last time something bigger than that other than a wheel that was on my lathe.
 
arse_sidewards said:
IMO length doesn't matter much until you get into "hey I can do drive shafts on this thing" territory around 5ft centers. Most of the shit you'll stick on it will be under 2ft.

I think 14" is a fine size. I can't remember when the last time something bigger than that other than a wheel that was on my lathe.
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You just want it so something decent in size it can clear the crossslide.
 
14-1/2 SB $1,250
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12x5 Hendey $2,900 I’m guessing 1922-30 era
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The Hendey appears to be well cared for and can be put right into service. The SB needs some love. Each are priced accordingly.

The older machines seem more intuitive for me.
 
WiscoF100 said:
14-1/2 SB $1,250
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12x5 Hendey $2,900 I’m guessing 1922-30 era
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The Hendey appears to be well cared for and can be put right into service. The SB needs some love. Each are priced accordingly.

The older machines seem more intuitive for me.
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I don't like threaded spindles on machines that big. The smaller ones don't really have the HP to spin off the chuck but those big ones will let it fuck right off, making having reverse on the almost pointless.
 
Watching guys try to machine shit accurately on babbit bearing machines on YouTube seems to up the skill level.
 
Something to note - and I assume is still true - Grizzly Tool bought up all the NOS South Bend stuff. And SB went overseas.
 
New listing

$1,500 for this 1340 gap bed Birmingham. Has DRO and face plate. Kinda rough considering the corrosion. Gonna be a nightmare to extract from the workshop of an estate.
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You lookin on craigslist or marketplace?

Also ebay is worth a look as well
 
I like how CL has updated the search radius convenience but still so much wanted auction dealer used tires diarrhea. Marketplace seems to have more selection in the Minnesota/Wisconsin markets for what I’ve been looking for.
 
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i use em both. Always forget about ebay though. And theres alot of stuff on there....
 
WiscoF100 said:
New listing

$1,500 for this 1340 gap bed Birmingham. Has DRO and face plate. Kinda rough considering the corrosion. Gonna be a nightmare to extract from the workshop of an estate.
IMG_7923.jpeg
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That's a decent unit, as long as corrosion is cosmetic.
 
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