Looking for advice on buying a Boxford lathe

[Miker888]

Hello - New member with questions having found this site!

I'm off to look at a lathe tomorrow night. Its a Boxford 4 1/2" model A (imperial thread cutting) with variable speed control for £600 pounds. Includes a three jaw chuck and some cutting tools.

Now i've not touched a lathe since i was 13 or 14 and that was 30 years ago. Apart from kicking tyres, asking how she goes and bouncing the suspension to check the shocks ..... any suggestions on what i should be looking for specifically in this case or in general?

Before someone asks what I want it for - dunno, but my dads got an old lathe and has found all sorts of things to do on it. Figured I'd be the same.

Cheers, Mike

 

[gaz1]

heres richard on a startup of getting a lathe

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/feeling-a-little-restricted.63991/

from my understanding its check the movement on certain parts like the head and base for being loose also remember what parts you get extra saves you cost later as they arnt cheap to buy

 

[Seadog]

I'd look to find another with more accessories as gaz1 says. For £600 I'd expect a three and four jaw chuck. Yes it has a VFD which is a very nice addition, but once you get into turning you'll find you perhaps want a fixed or travelling steady, you'll need a drill chuck, centres etc. etc. Better deals do come up on eBay from time to time even if they're maybe a couple of hundred more, but once you start buying accessories the cost will soon skyrocket.
Listen to it running in both normal and back gears, operation should be smooth with no clunks (possible teeth missing on back gear if so), backlash on the cross and compound screws needs to be assessed. Side play in both the slides should be non-existent, if they're slack then maybe the previous owner hasn't maintained it very well.
Belt condition, overall cleanliness etc. etc.

 

[Rannsachair]

Probably worth watching

 

[Miker888]

Didn't get time to view much of the video yesterday before going to view the lathe and at work now so can't. One thing that concerned me was how much play there was in the cross slide (i may start using the wrong terms now, it has been a long time). Pushing / pulling the slide towards me / to the back of the lathe it would move about a (guess) mm ish. Doing the same with the top slide towards the headstock / tailstock it also moved (guess) mm ish. How much movement is acceptable? You could hear it going clonk as it moved.

Unfortunately the person selling is doing it on behalf of his dad who has gone to a home & he knows nothing about lathes. It took him 10 minutes to find how to turn the power on. Heard it running and it sounded ok but a DC motor (i checked) seemed strange. Moving the crossslide on the lead screw tightened up a little towards the tailstock but not a lot.

 

[Seadog]

It sounds as though the screws on both slides are knackered, although there are ball thrust races fitted to each screw end which may be worn or missing. Costly to replace screws and nuts. A DC motor was never an option as far as I can recall, it sounds like it's a hone brewed solution to provide variable speed.It's worth £200 if you want to buy it to use. You'll easily spend a lot of money putting it right and buying accessories. However, if you buy it to break, then the gearbox, assuming it's in good condition could fetch £300-400 on its own.

 

[Arc Tourist]

Have a look on..... www.lathes.co.uk

On the right hand side of the Home page are technical guides for lathes, including buying advice.