Sheldon Lathe?

[danski26]

I might have a chance to get a Sheldon lathe at a very good price. I don't know too much about it and have not seen it yet. It sounds like it will be an 11" x 36" belt drive. At least 1 5/8 through spindle.

Does anyone know generaly how these lathes are? I had my hart set on a Clausing but the price may make this one irresistable. Anything specific I should look for on these lathes?

[Buckshot]

I might have a chance to get a Sheldon lathe at a very good price. I don't know too much about it and have not seen it yet. It sounds like it will be an 11" x 36" belt drive. At least 1 5/8 through spindle.

Does anyone know generaly how these lathes are? I had my hart set on a Clausing but the price may make this one irresistable. Anything specific I should look for on these lathes?

...............Sheldon's were (are) nice lathes and you can read a bit about them here: http://www.lathes.co.uk/sheldon/index.html

The only real problem is the lack of support on Sheldon specific items. I doubt that the 11" model you're looking at has a 1-5/8" hole through the spindle. Maybe 1-3/8"? The best way to check out a lathe is to see it run, and actually do a few turning ops on it.

Too bad you don't live closer as I know a guy with a 14" Clausing for sale @ $1000.

..............Buckshot

[Bret4207]

Sheldons were nice rigs. Buying it depends on the specific condition of that lathe. If it's in good shape, you'd have a nice unit.

[Char-Gar]

The Sheldon was marketed to the gunsmith trade because it had a larger than normal hole through the headstock. The 1950s and 60s issues of the American Rifleman magazine always had adds for the Sheldon. The gunsmith shop I hung out in as a kid has a Sheldon. It wore out in the early 60s and was replaced with a Logan.

[Typecaster]

My dad had a Sheldon in his shop after WWII until the mid'50s, and was very happy with it. He threaded and turned a lot of barrels…and was disappointed when I got a Logan instead.

Richard

[MtGun44]

I have a deal worked on a Sheldon that was used for years by a long
deceased gunsmith. A friend bought it about 12 yrs ago and has used it
little but kept "my lathe" ( our inside joke as I have been in line to buy it since
day one) in good shape and I have done some really nice work with it
over the years. My new place has room and he has moved up to a Hardinge,
BOY is that a Cadillac piece of equipment!!!

The Sheldon is something like a 56SHX or similar, I really forget the model,
but a long bed gunsmith lathe in great shape. I cut some really fine optical
adapter threads to fit a camera body to a telescope years ago with this
and it did a great job, something like 48 TPI on a 2" OD .049 wall aluminum
tube, which was a bit challenging for an amateur, but it worked great.

Glad to hear that they are decent lathes, it seemed good to me but I have
only run a few South Bends, the Hardinge (WOW!) and this Sheldon so I
don' have much experience. I can for sure tell that the Hardinge is a top
notch piece of equipment tho.

Bill

[Pavogrande]

We had a 12x36 sheldon in our R&D shop for over 35 years -- Great machine -- when the shop closed about 15 years ago it was bought by one of the employees -- As far as I know it is still going strong -- It has a pretty large spindle bore, accecpted the 5c? bridgeport collets --