Picked it up a couple months ago and couldn't be more happy with it. South bend 10k built in the mid-60's and shows very little wear on the bed ways, cross slide. I'm no pro machinist by any means but for bushings, stepped bolt's and whatever it does the job.
(https://i.imgur.com/WUOmetc.jpg)
New toys...best toys! LOL!!! Have fun! Winter just got more tolerable in your nest. :003:
Beauty, I was told they were the smartest machine in the world as they are only machine that could make themselves.
Missed a deal on some years ago, a local school district had an auction getting rid of stuff. I stopped in thinking there would be a bunch of pencils and lunch kits and I was shocked at what they were selling. I bought a 20 foot extension ladder that I still use. 2 metal tub Shop Vacs (sold one, using the other one later today), a new Honda mower that they had mixed 2-cycle fuel in (sold it and made $600.00). The lathes sold for $30.00 each before I got there. I am still pissed and that was 30 years ago.
Terry
:canada:
I've had my old South Bend for over 25 years, best piece of equipment in the shop; once you have one, you wonder how you ever got along without one.
You're going to find yourself using it more and more....
(https://i.imgur.com/EvEwt37.jpg)
One cool feature of this lathe is the gearbox thread pitch plate. It's a Canadian company who I doubt had anything to do with the manufacturing of any of the parts. I've asked a few South Bend people and they thought the lathes were shipped to Canada in pieces to avoid paying import duties on a complete lathe. Makes sense I guess.
Funny enough on the covers, tailstock, bed and all the chucks and other tooling I got with it have VSB2 engraved on them. VSB2... Vancouver School Board, lathe #2.
(https://i.imgur.com/lzo8PwA.jpg)
Just saw this. Nice score, and it looks to be unbelievable shape.......clean and shiney, the ways look to be in great shape.! Did you get any attachments with it? 4 jaw chuck, live center, etc etc.
I never ran one. The shops I worked in ran mostly Hardinge for their tool room lathes. Didn't run them much either...I was a Bridgeport guy.
Rich, I did get extra tooling with it. 5" Elliott 3 jaw chuck, British made, 6" CVA 4 jaw chuck also British made, 5" Kobayashi 3 jaw chuck that's never been mounted, Japanese, 8" face plate. 3 Jacobs drill chucks, one that threads directly to the spindle. A live center and a few M2 drill bits and a few HSS cutters.
It didnt come with a motor so I picked up a brand new 3-phase motor from my neighbor and a VFD drive to convert single to 3-phase. Works like charm.
Yes, it's in very nice shape. You can still faintly see the factory scraping marks on the ways. This one is a keeper.
I've watched those old time craftsman way scrapers work.....amazing stuff. That's a nice complement of tooling you got. Those 4 jaw chucks come in handy for the oddball stuff that isn't round and/or concentric.
Now I'm curious about the 3 phase..............is this at your house or in an industrial area? I was totally surprised when I discovered my house had 3 phase 220 in the garage as it almost never happens in a residential area. It probably helped that I'm across the street from a commercial zone.
Another story time..........In my first month of apprenticeship back in the 60's, I had a job set up for me on a new Hardinge tool room lathe. It was just hand polishing some ss shafts, about 10" long, that had been turned down with a fine finish. The guy that set it up had it on a very high speed and a live center in the tailstock for support.
So, I'm working along and the foreman walked by a little bit later and said, oh ****! Take that live center out of there, you're gonna burn it up! So I did. The guy in front of me almost pooped his pants when that piece came flying out, took a little chunk out of the bed ways, hit the ceiling,.and bounced around some more........I was about 4 shades of white. Luckely no one was hurt.
That machine shop was in the lower level under Bowmar. Remember them?? The "Bowmar Brain" was a hand held computer. They were in competition with Texas Instruments. Guess who won.
We have just 220 volt single phase coming into out house. I bought a 230 volt variable frequency drive that converts single phase to 3 phase power. It's great little setup with the vfd as you can infinitely adjust your motor rpm, start / stop times among other things that I'll probably never use.
Heres a article on the different types and applications of phase converters and VFD's........https://www.wolfautomation.com/blog/phase-converters-vs-vfds/#:~:text=A%20digital%20phase%20converter%20uses,the%20frequency%20and%20motor%20speed.
That's not a toy...it is a real lathe. PIC is a toy. Three in one combo lathe, mill, drill press that is made in China. Smithy is OK for drilling a little hole or making a bushing but not for real serious parts. It was cheap and it fits into the shop.
Same thing here Gary, bad link bawl
Gary, doesn't matter if it's PhotoFu*kit, Imgur, Google (probably the worst at sharing) or using this forum to host a pic, once it's on the InterWeb, everyone has it.
I too, got screwed by PhotoFu*kit when i was running my on websites, but to be honest with you, even if we spent the money for a server, it really wouldn't change anything in the end as people can still copy your info, and if you stop paying for the server, well...
I made a folder called "Posted Already", and every time I drag a picture into Imgur, I drag it into that folder also, that way, no matter what, i will always have a copy saved in case someone decides to hold our pics for ransom like Photobucket did.
Just my $0.02
This is the lathe I sold to purchase the South Bend. Myford ML7, British built, quality little machine with a huge following so it wasn't very hard to sell. The only problem was everything is British whitworth and most all the tooling has to come from overseas.
(https://i.imgur.com/udbEMel.jpg)