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Lathe in LA

1142 Views 14 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Schmitty, 
Jamenstall
this seems like a good deal for someone in and around LA

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/tls/1533427019.html
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L
Not a bad deal. I find the bigger the lathe the cheaper the price, so if you've got the room it's best to get a big lathe. Seems everyone wants a SouthBend so the prices are high for what you get, while you can score a bigger ~8hp, 12" chuck lathe for cheap, which is really much more versatile.
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swift
Linnaeus said:
Not a bad deal. I find the bigger the lathe the cheaper the price, so if you've got the room it's best to get a big lathe. Seems everyone wants a SouthBend so the prices are high for what you get, while you can score a bigger ~8hp, 12" chuck lathe for cheap, which is really much more versatile.
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Agreed.
I paid much more than that for my 10x24 Logan. The smaller stuff is in higher demand by hobbyists with limited space and/or power, which drives prices up.

Machine tools also seem to go for a fair bit more on the West coast. Tools of this nature can be found nearly everywhere in the Midwest and East coast for a fraction of the cost if you're willing to put in the cost/effort to arrange shipping. Because of seemingly bargain sale prices, sometimes you can come out ahead, even with a large shipping tab. I just finished with this scenario when I recently scored an old Logan 8" metal shaper from Michigan and had it shipped to Oregon.

(Trivia: metal shapers are obsoleted by milling machines because they're slower but... They are capable of the same work using a single point, $1.50 lathe bit instead of an expensive endmill which suits hobbyist and small production outfits nicely.) :thumbsup:

Wish I had a larger shop with a reinforced concrete floor! ;)
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L
I sold a small SouthBend some years ago for $475 with a couple chucks and a bunch of tooling. My phone was ringing off the hook because I underpriced it for the market. I didn't realize how many hobbyist wanted such a small lathe. Since I already have a 12x30 and a smaller turret lathe, I had no need for the SouthBend.

I see cheap machine tools on CL all the time; it's amazing the deals you can get if you keep an eye out. Old CNC is probably the cheapest. No one wants them, and with so many shops closing down they almost have to give the stuff away. I see several $600 Bridgeports a year.
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swift
Linnaeus said:
I sold a small SouthBend some years ago for $475 with a couple chucks and a bunch of tooling. My phone was ringing off the hook because I underpriced it for the market. I didn't realize how many hobbyist wanted such a small lathe. Since I already have a 12x30 and a smaller turret lathe, I had no need for the SouthBend.
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Wish I'd have run across your $475 Southbend ad! :)

What part of the country are you in where you find $600 Bridgeports? That stuff seems to go for $2K and up in the areas I regularly check (West coast, Seattle to San Fransisco). I'd be druelling over a find like that! :eekster:
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themanmonkey
swift said:
Tools of this nature can be found nearly everywhere in the Midwest
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I always heard this until I moved here, but stuff is just as expensive here as the coasts.
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L
Can't find a really good deal on command, but none of these are too bad:

http://albany.craigslist.org/tls/1526009506.html -- comes with DRO and some good tooling.
http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/tls/1527860354.html -- Horizontal mill, perfect to set up as a dedicated tube notcher.
http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/tls/1527786804.html -- "make an offer"
http://hartford.craigslist.org/tls/1522247998.html -- $700, older round ram
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/tls/1514724387.html -- $500, needs a cleanup.
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/bfs/1511533321.html -- $500, but a knock-off

All that and I haven't looked in a couple months!
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Jamenstall
i live in ohio and i rarely see them this cheap. it would be mine already if it was even remotely close. it looks like someone's already pulled the trigger on it, the post has been delete.
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L
http://worcester.craigslist.org/tls/1515225669.html -- that's a heavy duty machine. It even has me tempted, and I already have a 1.5hp 48" Bridgeport w/ DRO.
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swift
Impressive!
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swift
Really?
You may want to check again as it seems as of late, the poor economy and the erosion of the manufacturing base in the U.S. has effectively created a pretty good market for used tooling.

I'm not trying to suggest that everything in the Midwest/East is a bargain. Only suggesting the bargains are easier to come by than on the West coast. YMMV. :)
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themanmonkey
Yea really. I lived on the west coast for decades and there were always good deals to be found because of the ship building, manufacturing, and aerospace history. The coasts always had more manufacturing and the midwest was agricultural and farming based. If you're around the great lakes or gulf states you have manufacturing too. Manufacturing and shipping and cheap power are very closely tied.

Look at the industrial machinery resellers and they're mostly coastal based. Here in Springfield, MO you would also think there would be a ton of machinery for sale as Grizzly is based here I believe. I can sometimes find good deals if I stretch my search to Chicago. Try doing an Ebay search for lathe around any large coast city vs. a midwest one and you'll always get more hits on the coasts.

Really everybody who I know who has gotten a great deal was in the right place at the right time or had a connection. Used Bridgeports are $2500 anywhere you go. It's just like used jigs that you can find great deals on if you know where to look or have connections.
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L
A friend of mine just got a CNC lathe from California via ebay. It was cheap enough that even after he shipped it across the US, coast to coast, it was still a great deal. My point being that you can get a good deal anywhere if you know where to look.

Luckily, for bicycle building, you really don't need a tight machine. A lot of older milling machines are a little loose because they were used for production when they were really not designed for it; they were made for tool and die work (Proto-Trak notwithstanding).
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L
Here's a free lathe:

http://worcester.craigslist.org/zip/1564993658.html
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S
themanmonkey said:
Really everybody who I know who has gotten a great deal was in the right place at the right time or had a connection. Used Bridgeports are $2500 anywhere you go. It's just like used jigs that you can find great deals on if you know where to look or have connections.
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You hear the crazy deals though. A guy on Home Shop Machinist picked one up from the freekin scarp yard that is in damn good condition. For 2500 I'd look for something better than a BPort (not that I'd turn one down with dro, etc), something with CAT 40 tooling, Lagun, Cinci Toolmaster, Van Norman, Gorton, etc. BPorts are cool, but there are better out there (and a lot worse). The problem with buying a 'good enough for bikes' mill is that you may be sol trying to make your own tooling, which is key imo. Buy a beat down horizontal for miters. Only two have come up around here, and they were both early BPort cnc Boss 'project' mills. Yuk.. just my luck. Do a google craigslist search... everything is on the coasts.

-Schmitty-
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