southbend lathe

poolshooter74

poolshooter74

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
how does this lathe look? is it worth $1650? looking for a cue building lathe, this will work right? 8 foot bed, 4' 6" between centers, 1 3/8 spindle thru hole,Taper Attachment, steady rest & follower rest.

Comes with 10" 4 jaw Skinner, 9" 3 jaw Cushman, tool post and tool holders (4 each), drill chuck, live and dead center, carriage stop.

230 volt 1 phase.

is this a good buy?

thanks for any input!
 
poolshooter74 said:
how does this lathe look? is it worth $1650? looking for a cue building lathe, this will work right? 8 foot bed, 4' 6" between centers, 1 3/8 spindle thru hole,Taper Attachment, steady rest & follower rest.

Comes with 10" 4 jaw Skinner, 9" 3 jaw Cushman, tool post and tool holders (4 each), drill chuck, live and dead center, carriage stop.

230 volt 1 phase.

is this a good buy?

thanks for any input!
Click to expand...

Looks like a winner to me - the steady rest is a nice touch and
would cost upwards of $150 even on fleabay.

The follow rest is quite rare - don't recall ever seeing one for sale
separately?

The taper attachment won't be of much help except to taper
fronts, handles, butt sleves before they are assembled as the
length these attachments will handle is usually much shorter
than the length of the bed.
So you will still need a taper set-up for butts and shafts
if you do them on this lathe.

IMHO - $1650 is a bit pricey - but this a size well above the length
needed for cue work. You should be able to build cues on it for
2 or 3 lifetimes.

Dale
 
A couple things you need to find out or check before the purchase.
Top speed?
How sloppy are the headstock bearings?
What do the ways look like?
Is the tailstock worn out?
Check the belts out...is it a flat belt?

It's plenty large enough....but may be too large for some spaces. With an 8' bed you still want to have at least 3-4 ft on each end for clearance to work and not be cramped.
Around $1200 would be a much better deal! Do forget about the expense of moving this beast in your final cost. You'll have another $2000 in tooling expense before your all done also.
Other than that........pictures look ok.
 
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Looks like a pretty great buy to me unless there happen to be some hidden faults such as broken gears or the bed-ways worn badly near the chuck. Do you know the max RPM's. For wood, the faster the better. South Bend, of coarse, are fine lathes.

Dick
 
Time Bandit

Hi,

I would think that buying this lathe will turn into a major project in many ways due to things that have been mentioned here already.

If you want to work on and put your time into revitalizing an old lathe, go for it. If you want to put your time into building cues, buy a brand new grizzley, enco, or jet 13 x 40 and just worry about tooling. Sales all the time, free delivery offers, and parts & tech support!!

My friend Darrin Hill has at least 6 lathes, southbend, altlas, and other types he has purchased for much cheaper that 1600.00. He put a huge amount of time and money bringing them up to tip top standards. He loves doing that stuff like some people love restoring old cars.

I guess my point is, playing with an old lathe to make it right is a time bandit that robs you of time that you would be building cues with. I bought an Atlas and put over 900.00 into it and I spent way too much of my time.

Good Luck,

Rick G
 
pdcue said:
Thanks Dave - I remembered this article but couldn't find a link.
Now it's captured forever.

Dale
Click to expand...

Dave Ficken was a very special contributer to rec.crafts.metalworking back in the day. He was one of the very few machinery dealers who would spend time with home shop machinists. He did us all a great service by posting his guide to buying used lathes.

Dave <-- a much lesser Dave
 
Southbends are great lathes but many are worn badly near the chuck. Of course that is because most lathe work is done close to the chuck. ANd, SouthBend lathe bed ways were not hardened like most modern lathes are, so they wore more. You may like to restore old machinery, but it can be a huge project.
The lathe has great potential if it was gently used, and not suffering from major wear or broken gears as Dick and others mentioned.
One question though? Do you already have a cue specific lathe like a Unique or Cueman Deluxe, and want to expand your capabilities, or is this your first lathe in your cue making endeaver? If you are starting out, then this is a huge project, and if any wear exists, you could spend many months getting to where a cue specific gets you an hour after opening the box.
I think that lathe has some great accessories, some not usually found on a nice old lathe. For instance that micrometer stop located just below the chuck is rare. And can come in handy. The Taper attachment will need you to machine a long taper bar and figure out how to atttach it, but it is all doable for a capable machinist. Do you have access to a milling machine and materials? Best of luck.
 
thanks for the info guys. i only have a midsize for cue repairs no cue building lathe as of yet, that is why i was asking about this one. didnt realize the size of this giant...must way a ton or close to it. just thought a capable machine and about half the price. i dont have access to this machine, its about 4 hrs. away one way.
 
Actually, that's not a bad machine for the money.
It does have a couple/few drawbacks though, one being it's size.
Flat-belt drive being another. Those belts aren't cheap and they tend to need service more than what I like.
As mentioned, the ways on these older SBs are not hardened. They are very easy to check though.
You can pitch (or sell) the taper attachment. You won't need it.
You'll need a taper attachment, just not that one. It's too short.
Also, the half-nuts for the carriage/lead-screw are expensive and wear-out quickly.
But again, the money for this machine is not out of line.

In summary, I'm not going to tell you to buy it and I'm not going to tell you not to buy it. You are the one that's going to be running it so the decision is yours. I will tell you though that we are in very unstable economic times and there are deals to be had right now if you've got the cash.
I just picked-up another lathe for the shop. A 13x36 Logan, VS drive w/chuck and collet system. This machine has both a tail-stock and a Logan turret that can be mounted in place of the tail-stock.
I've got 7 lathes in my shop now and 3 milling machines. To say that I'm out of room is an understatement. My shop is 24'x24'. Any more machinery buys and I'll have to start hanging them from the ceiling.
I'm not telling you what I paid for the machine but I will tell you this.
You can almost never have enough machines. Just get them bought right and make sure you've got the space.

Good Luck
 
Lathe i use

I have use a Southbend 10" for years it does all i need
one thing i did was put chuck on the back and add a index plate for points
i pick this one up for $2500 I would have to say the lathe your lookin at is a deal


Buchanan Custom Cues
buchanancustomcues.yolasite.com
 

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WoW, that is totally cool. I have the exact same machine, chip-pan, stand & all. I've dedicated it to be my tapering lathe. It came with the same taper bar set-up as on yours which I removed the day it came into the shop.
I fabricated a 30+" switchable taper bar set-up in back that bolts to both the chip-pan and the lathe's ways for support. Disabled the cross-feed leadscrew and spring-loaded the compound which now follows the taper-bar via a bearing (roller skate wheel actually). I taper both handles and shafts on this lathe. I also do my turn-downs on this lathe though I do all my T/Ds by hand sanding.
I did have to extend the ways about 6" which has worked out well.
Now I need to extend the leadscrew an equal amount. Just need time.
This machine is a true workhorse and has served me well for years. And with a little luck, maybe a few more years. We'll wait and see.

Yeah, that's very cool. Brent (BHQ) and I share an appreciation of Sheldon lathes and now I find that you & I have the same model of SB. I guess some lathes just rise to the occasion better than others. Either that or the secondary market is just lousy with them.

Again, good usable machinery can be had. You just have to know where to look and what to look for.
 
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