TMGT
Elite Member
I've rebuilt a few lathes and mills for personal use, these days I need to work with the equipment more then work on it. My personal shop makes a little side money but mostly it's for personal use.I have in the past, completely restored a South Bend bench lathe with quick change back gears and it took me 3 years. Too old to fiddle with that stuff anymore, don't have the time. It's completely tooled right down to the 3C Collet closer. Did a South Bend cabinet mount shaper too. Takes way too much time that I don't have. I prefer buying new machines or used ones that were taken care of. Got a very nice LeBlond Servo Shift toolroom lathe that way and a 10 foot long bed Taiwanese built engine lathe too
Don't do the out in the elements rusted stuff. To me, the only value is scrap value. and most likely the machines were beat in the first place.
Got the lathe out of a local high school that cancelled their shop classes. Stll had the cosmoline on the ways. Got it for 500 bucks. Of course I had to pay a machinery mover to move it and set it in my shop. Moved the LeBlond myself and both my Bridgeports. One is a versa Trak. Last year I bought a new Kent toolroom surface grinder that gets a lot of use. I fabbed up a jig for sharpening wood chipper blades and I have a steady flow of them. All the local arborists drop their knives here for me to dress. Just upped my price to 75 cents per inch. Inflation you know. Set the Kent myself as well. Brought it in on pipe rollers and put the anti vibe pads on it and levered it off the pipes. Took some time to level it in 2 axis', same with the lathes. I use a set of LS Starrett machinery levels good within 0.003 per lineal foot.
My shop is 40 x 40, heated and air conditioned and one side has an overhead hoist too. Keep my motorcycles in it, the vehicles have their own garage as does the farm tractors.
Company's shop is a different story!
Hopefully I'll be building a new 45x63 shop soon, just moved and left my 40x50, really miss having a wide open shop, current one is divided up.
I use a couple Starret 98-12 for equipment setup, one day I'll get 199Z!
What model level do you have? Not familiar with one that reads .003 per ft.
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