This seems to be the week for good buys for me. First the $200 6 X 14 trailer, and now this.
That is a South Bend 12" lathe with all the tooling, a taper attachment, two 3 jaw chucks, a 4 jaw chuck, a bucket of bit holders and bits, a tool sharpener, basically everything you need and then some. The princely sum? $300.
I also might be picking this up as well. He's thinking about my $100 offer now.
All in all, it was a good day. 
I will gladly pay you Tuesday if you send me that lathe today!
The shop's already slam full...
Yes you should've,then if you win you'd be able to by better looking stuff.
I'll bet that lathe requires three phase power - do you have it available?
What sort of crank shafts are those?
I am jealous....the dash on your next project now needs all billet switches.
To Curmudgeon: Yes it is, this one is going in Dad's shop until I can make room for it. I might end up turning the front garage into a machine shop. 
To Stuart: It does, I'll have to either get a phase converter or change the motor. My 9" South Bend I changed to a variable speed DC motor. I would like to do something like that, but the biggest DC motor I have at the moment is only 3hp. I would also need to build another speed control. We'll see after I get it set up and running.
To The Jed: The cranks are out of Model A engines. The shop I bought the lathe from specialized in them. A friend's father worked there. They are losing their lease and the owner is ready to retire.
Sounds like a business opportunity - you just bought the machine shop equipment, I bet you buy the customer list cheap too.
I have an NJ Quick Pick 6 lottery ticket with 3 winning numbers... value, $ 3.00.
Think you just did better than me.
stuart in mn wrote: I'll bet that lathe requires three phase power - do you have it available?
Where theres a "will" theres a way!
-Will-i-am 
pigeon wrote: Sounds like a business opportunity - you just bought the machine shop equipment, I bet you buy the customer list cheap too.
That's very tempting...
Not sure when I would have the time to do it, but still tempting.
I've been researching phase conversion a lot recently - the lathe and mill I just moved in are both 3hp/3 phase. I'd decided to go with variable frequency drives for each...
'Til I found the new Phase-A-Matic 5hp rotary phase converter hiding on the bottom shelf under the shear-brake-roller while I was packing the stuff to move.
VFDs are a couple hundred bucks and make 3 phase from single phase, while also offering programmable soft start, braking, and infinitely variable speed - very nice for an old flat belt machine. Many available on eBay - Hitachi seems well regarded, avoid the Chinese knock-offs.
The one downside of the 50+ year old machines is that they were designed around the cutting parameters of high speed steel tooling. Nothing wrong w/ HSS - my go-to lathe tools are HSS inserterd tooling from the Arthur R Warner Co. but when cutting stainless or Ti, or doing small parts it's nice to have spindle speeds that are much higher than a plain-bearing machine can go.
That said - I'll have my dad's Heavy 10 South Bend one day, and I'll make room for it and restore it to new condition. SBs are great machines.
Well done!
Toyman01 wrote:pigeon wrote: Sounds like a business opportunity - you just bought the machine shop equipment, I bet you buy the customer list cheap too.That's very tempting... Not sure when I would have the time to do it, but still tempting.
You're gonna make my head explode!
Are you serious? You bought the capacity, didn't buy the customer list, and don't know when you'd have time?
That's stinkin' business thinkin'.
With as many people who are looking for work, this is a TOTAL no-brainer.
Ever heard of 2nd shift?
Geez...
Yeah, the lift is most likely a Continental flathead engine. That's probably a Y112, IIRC from my forklift days that was the smallest thing Continental made and they made a zillion of 'em. They are easy to work on. Parts should be pretty cheap too, as long as you avoid the Clark dealer!
motomoron wrote: I've been researching phase conversion a lot recently - the lathe and mill I just moved in are both 3hp/3 phase. I'd decided to go with variable frequency drives for each... 'Til I found the new Phase-A-Matic 5hp rotary phase converter hiding on the bottom shelf under the shear-brake-roller while I was packing the stuff to move. VFDs are a couple hundred bucks and make 3 phase from single phase, while also offering programmable soft start, braking, and infinitely variable speed - very nice for an old flat belt machine. Many available on eBay - Hitachi seems well regarded, avoid the Chinese knock-offs. The one downside of the 50+ year old machines is that they were designed around the cutting parameters of high speed steel tooling. Nothing wrong w/ HSS - my go-to lathe tools are HSS inserterd tooling from the Arthur R Warner Co. but when cutting stainless or Ti, or doing small parts it's nice to have spindle speeds that are much higher than a plain-bearing machine can go. That said - I'll have my dad's Heavy 10 South Bend one day, and I'll make room for it and restore it to new condition. SBs are great machines. Well done!
was just thinking about a phase converter today and ready to hit up the sparkys at work for conversion info... n thanks for the link. I have a 9X42 J2 3-phase Bridgeport sitting in the shop in need.
In reply to SVreX:
I've already got one business that has me pretty much maxed out doing what I enjoy.
The shop didn't do only engines. They specialized in restoration of the entire car. I know from experience that I don't have the patience for that. Not day in and day out. 
The engine in the forklift is a Continental, a little tiny 4cyl. It apparently smokes pretty bad. Should be fun, and I can't count the number of times I've needed to move and engine or something else heavy. We can also take it to the tractor shows.
In reply to Toyman01:
You've got a PM
In reply to SVreX:
It didn't show, shoot me an e-mail. toy _ man at bellsouth dot net
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