Flea Market Find

Vaughn McMillan

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I went to the flea market Sunday at the NM State Fairgrounds. I wasn't looking for anything in particular...just killing some time on a Sunday afternoon, and the fairgrounds are only a couple miles from my place. Long story short, this followed me home:

Steel City Lathe 800.jpg

It's a Steel City 60170 mini lathe. Five manual speeds with a whopping 10" swing and 1/2 of one horse chomping at the bit to spin wood. :p

It looks like it has never been used...there was still cosmoline on the tailstock quill. The motor runs smoothly and speed changes are pretty easy, with dual access doors to get to the belt. It's missing the live center, the spur center, and the knockout bar, but those are easy enough to replace. Also included in the deal was the Workmate that it's sitting on. The Workmate is an older model, made back when they used heavier steel in the legs and real plywood for the table (and it looks like it's about 7/8" thick). It's much better than the one I have in my shop in LA.

Now before anyone gets too excited, I have no plans to start turning at my temp apartment. I simply don't have the room for it, nor do I have the desire to bring all the tools and other gear I'd need from LA to ABQ. I bought this lathe with the intention of selling it. The seller had a $250 price tag on it, but I paid $175 for the lathe and Workmate. I figure I should be able to sell the lathe alone for somewhere between $225 and $250, and I'll get to keep the Workmate as a bonus. :thumb: I haven't decided if I'll try to sell it here or take it back to LA and sell it there. (LA obviously has a bigger market.) I considered keeping the lathe and putting it to work in LA, but I'm pretty much out of space there, too. If I was going to cram a small lathe into my LA shop, I'd want it to be a bit bigger (midi, not mini) and have a variable speed. ;)
 
Nice little find, should turn a nice dime on it. Dragging that weight around in the SUV could eat up any profits with the extra gas mileage though. ;)

Any word of when/if you'll get some parole and be able to telecommute?
 
...or put it in a box, and send it to somewhere in michigan....:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Come to think of it, I know someone in Michigan who's got some extra time on his hands right now. :whistling: :D

...Any word of when/if you'll get some parole and be able to telecommute?

At this point they still want to keep me primarily in the ABQ office, although they did seem open to the idea of me going home for a couple of weeks at a time to handle things there as they come up. I'm looking at trying to get back sometime this month to take care of a few things. I need to do the annual brush clearing from our hillside (before the Fire Department fines us) and we also have some sewer line repairs than need to be done. LOML would prefer having me there when the plumbers are digging up the front yard.
 
You got a cutie there. Good find and I hope you find it a loving home.

You know, maybe Larry could come over to the spinney side. He could make his own dowels, spindles, etc. And he could be artistic and make custom knobs for his furniture. I really hate for that guy to not have the joy that comes with having a lathe.

Enjoy,

JimB
 
Ha!!! you did buy it! I'll send you my delta 6" grinder with an 80G wheel and a Sorby 1/2" bowl gouge. If I get the insert for the SN2..you can use my 'Cuda. Open your windows and get a floor fan!
 
Ha!!! you did buy it! I'll send you my delta 6" grinder with an 80G wheel and a Sorby 1/2" bowl gouge. If I get the insert for the SN2..you can use my 'Cuda. Open your windows and get a floor fan!

All I need is a few gouges and a couple of scrapers. And a live center. And a chuck and spur center. And my Trend. And the Tormek with sharpening jigs. And a saw to cut the blanks. (Even pen blanks need to be cut to length.) And a few hollowing tools, since turning pens and bottle stoppers gets old to me after about the second day. Probably need some sanding and finishing supplies, too. And since the only possible place I could turn would be on the front patio, I'd need some additional lighting unless I only want to turn on weekends during the day.

In other words, if I really, really wanted to turn some small stuff, I could, but it'd take quite a bit more stuff that I would need to bring from LA. (Which then makes it unavailable when I'm back in my real shop.) And even if I did bring some stuff out with me, I don't have the space to store it all. (Heck, the lathe is on the patio under a tarp right now, since there's no other place to fit it.) Trust me, I did consider it, but frankly it's a lot of work and schlepping around of stuff, just to turn things I'm not all that interested in turning. (Although it would be tempting to make a batch of Christmas ornaments for sale.) I've honestly put a lot of thought into getting set up to turn here, but it's just not realistic with the space I (don't) have. I do appreciate your offer, though. :thumb:
 
Vaughn, the above is the most negative post I've ever seen you write. ;)
I fully understand your objections to setting up a turning studio in ABQ.
It is a very nice lathe though. I bought a similar B&D workmate 2 years ago at an estate sale for $25. I used it as a jobsite workbench when I made the chicken coop. It was great to have. I don't use it much since, but when it is needed, it sure comes in handy.

Your little lathe looks great. I've bought and sold lots of tools, simply with the intention of turning a tool over for a little cash. Nothin wrong with that. Good luck on the purchase, and the sale.
 
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