Sharp 12x37 Lathe $500 Langley

[YotaBota]

Ad says "low gear is stripped" but for $500 it could be a decent deal. It's one of the generic Taiwanese machines so gears shouldn't be to hard to acquire.

Mechanics Lathe - tools - by owner - craigslist

Sharp Industries metal lathe. Works. We mostly used it for polishing. Low gear is stripped. Feeder works fine. 208 plug. Sold as is.

abbotsford.craigslist.org

 

[r-sim]

wow, that's an amazing price! "Mostly used for polishing" makes me concerned for the ways though.

 

[Susquatch]

I still have my first lathe. It was made in the 1880s. The ways were pooched long before I got it. But I still managed to do very good work with it. It taught me things a newer machine could not have done.

When I got my new lathe I retired the old one to do polishing, sanding, etc. That kept the abrasives away from the ways of my new lathe and didn't really affect the performance of the old one.

On very rare occasions I will do a bit of polishing or sanding on my new lathe. When I do that, I cover the bed in protective recycled cloths that can be removed and pitched. I never reuse them lest they get installed upside down releasing the abrasive dust.

 

[JReimer]

how do you check the ways? I mean if it is really pooched it is easy to tell. but if they have just been 'sanded' out of shape I don't know how to figure out how much in trouble I would be. I sent a message but am not holding my breath as I can't rush out there.

 

[140mower]

how do you check the ways? I mean if it is really pooched it is easy to tell. but if they have just been 'sanded' out of shape I don't know how to figure out how much in trouble I would be. I sent a message but am not holding my breath as I can't rush out there.

About the easiest check you can do is bring the carriage up fairly close to the chuck and gently snug the carriage lock, just enough to add a slight drag, then slowly wheel towards the tailstock. If the ways are heavily worn, you won't get far......

 

[Susquatch]

About the easiest check you can do is bring the carriage up fairly close to the chuck and gently snug the carriage lock, just enough to add a slight drag, then slowly wheel towards the tailstock. If the ways are heavily worn, you won't get far......

This is very good. Never heard of the method before, but makes great sense.

Most of the wear will be near the headstock. By tightening it up at the headstock you remove play at the most worn place. Trying to move it away from the head will take up that play and jamb the saddle movement toward the tailstock.

I have a comprehensive mill check list but didn't make one for a lathe yet. This will be the first item on the list.

Thanks 140mower!

 

[Tomc938]

Ad says "low gear is stripped" but for $500 it could be a decent deal. It's one of the generic Taiwanese machines so gears shouldn't be to hard to acquire.

Mechanics Lathe - tools - by owner - craigslist

Sharp Industries metal lathe. Works. We mostly used it for polishing. Low gear is stripped. Feeder works fine. 208 plug. Sold as is.

abbotsford.craigslist.org

That's a crazy price! If only it was on the Island. And I didn't have one coming already Friday.

 

[Dabbler]

A giveaway.

 

[DavidR8]

Could be as simple as a shear pin that’s gone or a key that slipped out of place.

 

[140mower]

My first lathe, I paid $400.00 for it. If a working lathe was the goal, I failed miserably, as a foothold into a hobby that I have come to love as much as life it's self, it was one of my best buys to date....
My wife sure does wish I was a little more fiscally responsible, but that's not what she paid for when she got me......

 

[Dabbler]

but that's not what she paid for when she got me......

Your wife paid?

Mine's on the installment program. She pays every day!

 

[DPittman]

Your wife paid?

Mine's on the installment program. She pays every day!

Ha ha I was going to ask the same thing. With me it's the other way around, I pay and pay and pay.

 

[140mower]

What can I say, I was on the clearance isle........ Wasn't until she got home that she realized that I am something of a "kit" that seems to be just out of her skill set. Receipt said all sales final.

 

[Birkhoff]

This post reminds me of a question I've had from the past. We see a lot of `Sharp Industries' machines out west here. It seems there was a dealer in Vancouver? Then, there is the Sharp Lathes (Taiwan) you can read about on Tony's lathes.co.uk site and they seem like a completely different beast. As in, excellent copies of some of the great toolroom lathes. Are these the same company? Or is the Vancouver Sharp Industries an importer and re-badger of other asian machines. I once saw a fairly modern Sharp of the Tony-type at auction and it looked pretty impressive in person. Does anybody know the history here?

 

[DavidR8]

My mid-80's Long Chang mill was from Sharp Industries in Vancouver so they were definitely importers of machines.

 

[JReimer]

I haven't had any response from the seller. maybe someone else will have better luck with this lathe.