Show me your steel lathes !!!!!

[Husker44A]

These are very fun to run. I'm not that advanced in life as some of you guy are (34 years young) Everything I've learned is all self taught. From reading books and the web on these machines. I'm also looking to get a knee mill at some point. Anyways, tell me what brand, age and how long have you owned it. We have a Grizzly 13x40. Not the best but it does what we want it to do fairly accurate. Please no CNC machines. Looking for older machines. Photo to come ....Thanks
 

[JMS/.MN]

1910 13 inch South Bend gear change with 6 foot bed (total length). About 3 feet between centers. Bought it about 1968 while in college, working at a machine shop. Bought a 50s(?) 18 inch swing quick change with 8 foot bed a few years ago. Both are floor models. Both lathes cost me either side of $900 at the time.
 

[Husker44A]

WOW!!!!! 1910 South Bend....very cool. And still going at 102 years old..
 

[George Marsh]

1949 10 inch south bent lathe with a 36 inch bed. Still have the operator's manual with it. I've owned for 35 years, second owner. Still accurate. I don't use it a lot, but I'll never sell it. Nice to make things you can't buy. Latest project was making a brass bushing for an old cement mixer out of two brass bushings. There wasn't a large enough bushing available so I got a bushing with a 5/8 ID that would fit inside another bushing with a large enough OD for the mixer. Had to turn down the large bushing and ream out the ID of the large bushing so I could press the two together. $20 for two bushings, priceless having a lathe.
 

[Pops1532]

I wish I had a metal lathe to show off. Hopefully by this time next year I'll have one. As far as mills go Bridgeport is the most common. I recently bought a Tree brand mill. Looks very similar to a Bridgeport but uses a different type of collet. I haven't used it yet.
Watch the auction ads. There are some deals to be had on used machine equipment.
 

[george md]

Here is a LeBlond 30" swing that leblond says
is about a 1903. Serial #s started in 1905 and
this lathe has a lot # . It is one of six lathes
that I have. Smallest being a little hardinge
and the next being a Lodge & Shipley 14".

30" Leblonde in place

george
 

[David G]

I have a logan 9" 200 that was my dads, and just got a new Grizzly vertical mill.
 

[AlinArk]

george i don't remember seeing that much floor.. [g] al
 

[Jim in MN]

Your Tree mill probably requires Z or ZZ style collets. They aren't very popular but are available from a few manufacturers. You won't run across used ones frequently, but there is a ebay seller that lists plenty of odd size collets.
 

[Jeff NWOH]

17" LeBlond. Probably about 5' between centers. I'm guessing its from 40's or 50's.

I bought it at auction 7 or 8 years ago. It hasn't been that clean or uncluttered for a long time....

 

[Butch(OH)]

16x60 Summit. Why rated 16" swing I have not a clue? will swing 20" over the ways, 3" spindle hole. Rapids both directions, power feed on the tail stock, threads US, Metric, Modual and dimeteric pitches. Shown here boring some 5 1/4" tractor sleeves. Not a golden oldie though. I purchased it brand new in 2001 and paid for it with one threading contract. I would quit working on old stuff if I had to get rid of my lathe.

 

[Stick welding]

A Summit is a very good lathe. Is your Summit an oil country model? I was at a distributor's show back in the 80's and I think the oil country lathes had a bigger hole through the spindle for threading drill pipe. They also had a Summit horizontal boring mill taking pretty big chips off of a big valve a customer donated for the demo.
 

[Butch(OH)]

Thank you I didn't want to go on and on about it but I do like my Summit. Mine is what they used to call the their classic engine lathe. I think the lathes you are talking about are also known as pipe lathes? There used to be an outfit here in town that all they did was thread casings and they had Summits with 24" spindle holes. There wasn't a bed per say but a set of tail rollers that copuld be moved in out out much like a huge steady rest.
 

[NCWayne]

Most lathes are rated at the diameter they will swing over the carriage, not the ways. The old Southbend I've got is designed in such a way that the swing over the carriage is the same as over the ways. On the other hand I looked at a Lodge and Shipley awhile back that would swing 19 over the ways but only 15 over the carriage.

In the end it all just depends on the design of the machine and the way the mfg rated it as to what it will actually swing as opposed to what it's advertised as capable of swinging.
 

[huntingreen2day]

Leblond 15 x 54. Acurite DRO