calling all you lathe people!

[Sean]

Ok this has come up a couple of times, its not too far from me and it looks like it'd fit in the shed ( well ill build a shed to fit as im due a new one)
is it worth a punt given it hasnt sold for the £250 asking the last couple of times its been up?
Whats the deal getting a better chuck and how to fit it etc all advice welcome
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raglan-Li.../261500048755?ssPageName=ADME:B:WNARL:GB:1123.

cheers Sean

 

[Fazerruss]

If you get that for 250 you would have a bargain.
You may be able to get an off the shelf back plate to suit a new chuck. Have a look at rdg tools or chronos.

 

[julianf]

I dont know the actual unit - not all makes are the same (obviously). At £250, i would certainly pass! At £150, it depends....

The ways dont look badly worn or anything, apart from that smashed tooth (he calls it a spare, whilst id call it scrap!), and comes with a load of tooling, but no immediately usable chuck - so the lathe, as is, is useless.
Im not sure what the 3 jaw chuck is - it looks too thin, but then lathes are not really my thing (i do cnc milling) and you would need a back plate to match the lathe.


I have a smart and brown model M (screwcutting collet lathe) purchased off ebay for £181. Id rather a collet lathe, and smart and brown was an ok make. Theyre also popular enough that parts are semi avialible.
Mine was actually a bargain, as it came with a load of other chucks / heads etc. that were not even any good for the lathe. I put them back on ebay, and got £180 (ie £1 less than i spent out)

This is a good indication also - buying as a complete set is loads cheaper than buying a unit that you then need to buy parts for - obviously unless its dirt cheap, which the unit above is not.

If the one on the auction is a common make / unit, you should be able to find stuff about them, which will make it easier, but, if its fairly rare, i would think you may do better waiting and buying a unit that you can use from the start?

Again though, turning isnt really my game, so someone with more experience will, im sure, be able to add.

 

[bigbadbugga]

I'm sorry julianf I'd have to disagree, the lathe looks perfectly usable even without the chuck. You can turn between centres, a chuck after all is really just a useful addition to a lathe. It looks very similar to my boxford CSB and I would snap someone's arm off if they were to offer that lathe to me for £250.

 

[Pete.]

The chuck is junk and not worth messing about with. Most of the tooling is inappropriately large but you could sell it on for a few quid. The motor is appropriate if it works and the machine seems to be largely complete. You need a toolpost, a chuck and whatever is missing off the front of the headstock. That broken gear looks like it will press off so not impossible to replace - looks like typical 'put it in back gear to bash the chuck off' damage. I see a half-nut in the spares which could be significant but more significant is what looks like a spindle in the spare parts. This would concern me the most since it's a pretty fair guess that if the spindle's been changed it would have been done with the same level of disdain the rest of the lathe has suffered, not to mention the smashed-up tooling and worn out inserts he's trying to sell with it.

Worth £150 all day long if the spindle's not trashed, but that would be the big question for me.

 

[julianf]

...usable even without the chuck.

Again, im not overly experienced with turning, so i dont understand how that is possible without even a back plate?

 

[brightspark]

littlejohn isnt a rare make and there well known. if its not well worn it will be worth about 150 as said as a 3and 4 jaw chuck and back plates will; cost about 150 quid to buy . the only thing is i would want to see it myself before i was buying it as other peoples description of in decent condition isnt the same as mine and i dont part with cash unless it is good. i picked up a harrison L5 with 3 and 4 jaw chuck in mint condition for 400 quid

 

[jackjosh]

I have one with the Norton screwcutting gearbox. Myford bought them but could not produce them economically. I researched for 2 years and pound for pound they are the best you can get. I replaced my Myford with one and it is a far superior machine.

 

[Sean]

Great stuff thanks chaps May take a punt.

Keep the advice coming.

Jackjosh, how big is it as in length and weight - do the big bits come off easily for transport ( ive got a van but the shed is down a path)

 

[Bill Edwards]

As well as that 'spare' (scrap, unless you enjoy major repair and gearcutting work) gear there appears to be a tooth missing on the rack that allows you to move the carriage the length of the lathe. Using it in that region with the missing tooth would probably be almost impossible via the handwheel, and unless that rack is removable a repair would be very hard to achieve.


I'm not saying for a moment that it isn't worth £150, but it looks like it will require some TLC. Without any chucks to fit I'd also consider it practically useless - turning between centers is fine, after you've made a hole at each end of the piece by holding it in a chuck!

 

[Sean]

Yup even to my un trained eye reckoned the "Spare" was a paperweight at best and the collection of bits just detritus from someone who couldn't throw stuff away

 

[Wallace]

Can't see the variator control lever and knob in the parts, quite important as you twist it to lock the speed. I don't recognise that broken gear.

 

[Pete.]

I don't think there's a tooth missing off the rack, it just looks like dirt to me.

 

[jackjosh]

Sean, it is a deffo two man lift but transportable

 

[doubleboost]

A mate of mine bought one
He spent a year making it usable
It looks like a project not a usable machine