Some Old Iron Lathes

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
I've always wanted a good metalworking lathe, to add to my bag of tricks, >> Reg's latest rebuild << has got me thinking about it again :rolleyes:

With the economic slowdown, I've seen a lot more machines on sale here used, here are a couple of examples just to show you what I'm looking at.....

kl_3.jpg kl_2.jpg kl_1.jpg
A Translation of the auction text...
KL series of small precision machine tools in our production Our experience and technology is the most compact high-performance precision bench lathe was designed and built for high speed machining of precision parts. Extremely wide range of applications. Watches, cameras, sewing machines, instruments, communications equipment and is ideal for machining of precision parts and optical equipment. Swing over bed of 200mm diameter collet φ16mm X-axis travel 60mm Z-axis travel 65mm Spindle motor 0.4kW floor size of 750 × 375mm Machine weight 130kg required size of the product width 76 × depth 38 × height 104 is 3-phase 200V power supply.
It is at 35,000 yen and the buy now price is 120,000 yen.


lb-6_1.jpg lb-6_2.jpg lb-6_3.jpg
High-speed precision bench lathe model LB6 3-phase. Made in 1952. The motor that runs the oil pump does not work, but the oil pump does Do not have a version of Chuck. Body size is 86cm × 63cm × H100cmSeller is agent. Pickup is OK.
No bids yet, at 49,000 yen start.


kl16_1.jpg KL16_2.jpg KL16_3.jpg

<KL-16> KITAMURA
Swing on the bed: 200mm
Collet diameter: φ14mm
X-axis travel: 60mm
Z-axis travel: 65mm
Spindle motor: 0.4kW
The size of the required floor: 750 × 375mm
Machine weight: 125kg
Power: 200v (3 phase)
This one is only 20,000 yen right now.

I would sure like to add an nice solid metalworking lathe to my Dungeon, does anyone have any comments on these examples? :wave:
 
No Tod, the ones that do are quite a bit larger and more expensive.

sr-360_1.jpg sr-360_2.jpg sr-360_3.jpg
This one is not bad, but near to $1000 right now.

takisawa1.jpg takisawa2.jpg takisawa3.jpg
This one in only about $500 right now, but there are so far 48 guys bidding on it.


So a power feeder is worth the extra bucks?

Cheers!
 
Hey Stu
I don't know much about those but they look sturdy. The small one looks to have some type of production cross feed attachment with a what looks like a four tool rotateing tool holder. which means it rotates to four different tools. Tod asked a good question too. If you want to do any type of threading operations at all you will need a power feed. With the right confuigaration you can cut acme threads only likited by the length of the bed. Long threading would rewuire a steady rest that follows the cutting tool and presses againt the back of the rod you are threading to keep is stright so it doesn't flex giveing you a precise cut along the entire length.
So it really all boils down to what your going to do with it as to what you should buy.
Reg
 
Reg,

That's going to be a sweet little lathe when you finish it. The turret feature on yours will be nice. I ran one of those some back years ago. Solid machine.

I only have a little Atlas/Craftsman 6" with no quick change gears, but it works and was cheap enough. I am rebuilding it now so it's all parts.

Here is a picture of it Stu, so you can see what the size would be. It's about 3 feet long. If you could find one of these, it should work pretty good for you. You would have to change the gears for threading setups, but it isn't that much trouble. It is in great shape.

6 inch Atlas craftsman 01 (576 x 432).jpg.jpg

I had the pleasure of helping a friend restore a Clausing 15" gearhead lathe. That is a nice machine, but big. The picture is in his shop, and the parts donor lathe is behind the finished one.

100_1004 (600 x 450).jpg


Aloha, Tony
 
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