I am looking at a Leblond lathe. Anyone know anything about them? are they good? It's a
13 X 40
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I am looking at a Leblond lathe. Anyone know anything about them? are they good? It's a
13 X 40
Those Leblond's are nice, but you may want to stay away from this one.
He's a fresh repaint at an obscene asking price from Sterling Machinery:
Now look at this photo. Am I seeing things or does there look like some serious wear and a dip in the ways right forward of the chuck, dead center in the pic.
Kinda like putting lipstick on a pig? ...
I think you are right, but I was able to do good work with my P&W Model "B" even with worn ways. The price was right, it was a graduation present from my machinist teacher! Also ALL the machines in the shop where I got my first job were worn out but we still turned out work to .0005''. It's not the machine it is the machinist, a good machine just makes it quicker and easier!
Not going to to pursue this leblond, it;s 440 VAC 3 phase,, and Im stuck with 220 VAC. But I talked with Yodermachinery.com sales man, and he says that he,ll let me know about one that fits my parameters.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
440 VAC can be converted to 220 VAC and used with a phase converter or a Variable frequency drive for a couple hundred dollars.
Check out "The Home Shop Machinist" and "Practical Machinist" sites for info.
I'm gona check into that Deltae.., and may reconsider if the $$ are right.
Thanks BD
It doesn't get much better than a good condition South Bend for what you want to do.
I have had a lathe since 1959 and currently own a Taiwanese Jet 13x60 belt drive I bought new three years ago and a 1960s US-made Millrite copy of the Bridgeport I got in 1972. They get used at least once a week.
I removed the AC motors on both and replaced them with 3/4 HP Boston Gear shunt-wound 90-volt DC motors and variable speed controls with reverse switching. Not having reversing variable speed control on lathes and mills is like not having a gas pedal and reverse on your car. Really nice variable speed controls are also available for AC motors, so check them out. They aren't cheap, but they make using your machines SO much easier, especially for threading and tapping.
I cut metric threads all the time and with the 120x127-tooth metric conversion gears on a lathe the only way you can do metric threads is by backing the lathe up between cuts, otherwise you lose the timing between the carriage feed and the threaded part when you disengage the carriage feed half nut on the lead screw. Backing up the carriage by hand takes forever, so that is another reason to get reverse.
I prefer belt drive for tapping because I set the belt loose to slip so I don't snap off taps. I also use carbide boring bars for some jobs and the little 3/16" bar is easy to snap off and expensive to replace, so I also use the boring bar with the belt set loose in case I screw up. Replacing belts is easy with the linkable belts available now, although the belt on the lathe I got in 1959 I replaced in 1966 and it was still okay in 2006 when I quit using the old lathe.
Have fun!
rl 823
~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+
There is no such thing as too many tools, especially when it comes to casting and reloading.
Howard Hughes said: "He who has the tools rules".
Safe casting and shooting!
Linstrum, member F.O.B.C. (Fraternal Order of Boolit Casters), Shooters.com alumnus, and original alloutdoors.com survivor.
It's not a disease until you're looking at shapers...
GsT
Originally Posted by GeneT
There's a joke in there somewhere - - - - - -
Let's see, the tool bit holder in a shaper is commonly referred to as a "clapper box", so I guess you could say that a strong desire to own a shaper is having a bad case of the, uh, - - - - well, you can figure it out.
rl824
~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+
There is no such thing as too many tools, especially when it comes to casting and reloading.
Howard Hughes said: "He who has the tools rules".
Safe casting and shooting!
Linstrum, member F.O.B.C. (Fraternal Order of Boolit Casters), Shooters.com alumnus, and original alloutdoors.com survivor.
I did a DC retrofit with a KB control off ebay (very good company and quality controls by the way) and a 3hp treadmill motor on my WEBB knee mill. Works very well and vari speed is awesome.
I have a Supermax YCM-40 CNC mill to get online here, and it's a 3 phase machine. The computer, CNC servos and everything but the spindle drive motor is single phase 110v. I run a single phase solar system so I was hoping to get a VFD for the spindle motor. Problem is it's 3 hp, and I don't think they make a VFD that large for single phase 110v. May have to go DC again.
For the price that they are asking for the Leblond and a phase converter, I can buy a NEW Jet 13X40 with a 3, 4 jaw chuck and a face plate etc. that's 220V 1 phase. Sort of plug and play, I'd just have to leavel it and plug it in, and add bits. Maybe that's the way to go.
??
That's the dilemma with buying iron today. The Jet and other Chinese imports are a 50/50 **** shoot in quality. The old American iron was without question quality, but there is a wear factor.
I've read great reports on old Jet equipment, and some scary reports on their new stuff. I think the higher end iron from Taiwan is becoming the best in today's world.
Next [used] lathe I'm going to buy is a Southwest Industries Trak- manual/CNC. Taiwan castings, and the rest is California built. Pricey, but very tough lathes and great CNC controls.
I just closed a deal on a trade. Three rifles for one South Bend 7" shaper and some other stuff. I can't wait.
Dutch
Travers Tool Co./MSC are good folks too.
Ignorence killed the cat---Curiosity was framed.
Friday Jones
I can't speak for what Jet is selling right now, but the Jet belt drive 13x60 with induction hardened ways I bought new three years ago is not Chinese, it is made in Taiwan, which is known for building excellent machines. Once I re-aligned the headstock and centered the tailstock after setting up, I made a trial cut using a carbide tool bit on a 1.375-inch bar of type 303S stainless steel the full usable 40 inches of bed length between the headstock and tailstock center. The cut was uniform within half a thousandths of an inch in diameter for the entire 40 inch cut. At first I didn't believe it and I kept checking every few inches up and down the bar and it was 0.0005", which I measured with my Starret 1/10,000" mics. That is good enough for me. My 13x60 is identical to the 13x40 except the bed is 20 inches longer. Those models of lathe have a removable gap in front of the headstock that increases swing radius from 6.5" to about 9.5" and I can chuck a car rim in it.
rl829
~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+~+:/&\:+
There is no such thing as too many tools, especially when it comes to casting and reloading.
Howard Hughes said: "He who has the tools rules".
Safe casting and shooting!
Linstrum, member F.O.B.C. (Fraternal Order of Boolit Casters), Shooters.com alumnus, and original alloutdoors.com survivor.
Couldn't imagine life without machine tools what would you do?American Idol?My God!THAT"S why there are so many brain dead idjits in this country.
Hi,
Dragonrider,you crack me up! I knew I was keeping that engine crane for something! Yes you need a Bridgeport! It's never ending but look at it as an investment. Here is a pic using my newly acquired boring head,making a charge bar for a 1960 shotshell loader. I get a lot of satisfaction being able to make parts for different things and giving them new life so to speak!
Last edited by seagiant; 03-18-2012 at 08:01 PM.
amen, me too.
Yes it feels good to be able to do it yourself. If you are a woodworker you will find your Bridgeport to be an awesome overhead router.
Paul G.
Once I was young, now I am old and in between went by way to fast.
The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun.
-- R. Buckminster Fuller
So, since I have a South Bend 7" bench top AND a Logan 7" floor model I have a double case of the,uh,uh,uh applause?
Lewis AKA Wright Brothers Gunsmiths
"Illegitimus non carborundum"
Political Correctness: A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t*rd by the clean end!
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