New toy

[Nesikep]

Just picked up an old lathe.. it's a beast, 5500lbs of french iron.. paid $600 CAD for it or about $450 USD... It was one of the most fully featured lathes of its time... I just priced out a new one, $40K USD
https://youtu.be/2psMUXBUM44

 

[TCRanch]

Looks like you got a bargain. What is french iron?

 

[jltrent]

How long is the bed? From what I could fined looked liked 74" on the centers. You will able to repair round baler rollers with that. I helped a guy not far from me repair a couple as he built them up where the bearings had chewed up the spindle and turned them down to fit the bearing. Very nice find.

 

[wbvs58]

I'm envious Nesi. You better know where you want it in the shed as I don't think you will be moving it around much. Maybe just build a shed around where it is now.

Ken

 

[Atimm693]

The big question is, do you know how to work it?

They can be a lifesaver in the right hands.

 

[Silver]

Nice!

 

[wbvs58]

The big question is, do you know how to work it?

They can be a lifesaver in the right hands.

I am 100% certain Nesi will be able to deal with it.

Ken

 

[Nesikep]

How long is the bed? From what I could fined looked liked 74" on the centers. You will able to repair round baler rollers with that. I helped a guy not far from me repair a couple as he built them up where the bearings had chewed up the spindle and turned them down to fit the bearing. Very nice find.

80" centers and 2" through bore,
There's going to be some learning curve on this particular lathe, but I already do a ton of lathe work on my 14x40.. going to have to get some more, bigger tooling for it.. I think I'm going to completely rewire it, it has a HUGE control panel on the back chock full of relays and contactors and that's just going to be a persistent nightmare because it will be up against a wall.. I'm going to get a variable frequency drive for it since we don't have 3 phase power, it did come with a 15HP rotary phase convertor, but they're power hogs, and since I do a lot of light work, I think I'd really notice it on the power bill..
If I use the VFD, I have infinite speed control without changing gears, and much simpler wiring
In the stack of manuals that came with it, there's a manual for a copy attachment.. I told the guy I bought it from if he can find that attachment I'll send him some more money, that would be a cool addition to it

 

[Nesikep]

The big question is, do you know how to work it?

They can be a lifesaver in the right hands.

Here's my small lathe and turning some bronze bushing.. that was a $150 piece of stock.. don't screw it up!
https://youtu.be/2FUVp3We1FQ

 

[SeidelRanch]

Very nice. Would love to have one.