# Cowells 90ME Lathe



## YorkieT (22 Sep 2015)

Hi guys,

I recently inherited a Cowells 90ME lathe and a whole host of accessories from a relative most of which are genuine Cowell accessories but there's also a vast amount of taps and dies inc, the lathe is in excellent condition having barely been used and some of the accessories are brand new. I know these machines aren't cheap and I estimate there must be several thousand £ worth of equipment and I was just wondering where the best place to advertise this might be? 
If the lathe had been a bit bigger I would have kept it but it's just a bit small for my requirements


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## Lons (22 Sep 2015)

YorkieT":1dczvy2k said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I recently inherited a Cowells 90ME lathe and a whole host of accessories from a relative most of which are genuine Cowell accessories but there's also a vast amount of taps and dies inc, the lathe is in excellent condition having barely been used and some of the accessories are brand new. I know these machines aren't cheap and I estimate there must be several thousand £ worth of equipment and I was just wondering where the best place to advertise this might be?
> If the lathe had been a bit bigger I would have kept it but it's just a bit small for my requirements



Lucky lad YorkieT  

I was gifted one with loads of accessories years ago and I would be hard pressed to part with it. Mine with all the bits would be best part of £4000 to buy now but I've seen them go occasionally on Ebay for £600 to well over a grand. Just depends what's with it and the condition as well as who's looking I guess.

Do you have the paperwork etc with it? If not then I might be able to help. All current info is still available on the Cowells website. http://www.cowells.com/90me.htm

Bob

Edit
Might be worth scouring the model engineering, metalworking, watchmakers, model steam/locos forums


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## Harbo (22 Sep 2015)

Depends on age and exact type but Bob is correct about prices for the lathe
Other parts don't fetch as much.
You could try on here? 

Rod


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## DTR (22 Sep 2015)

Beautiful little machines *sigh* I do keep telling SWMBO we need a house lathe... :-k


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## YorkieT (22 Sep 2015)

Hi Guys,

The lathe looks almost as new, it looks like the current model but not sure when it was bought new.
It has got virtually every extra apart from the dividing head.
I didn't get any paperwork with the lathe.
I would love to keep it but would get more use out of a bigger model but doubt I would be lucky enough to get something of the same quality!


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## Lons (23 Sep 2015)

Here's a basic download which might be worth printing off to go with the lathe when you sell it Yorkie. http://watchmaking.weebly.com/uploads/1 ... anuals.pdf
There is a company selling a full manual, whatever that is, on the net for £40 but most users just buy one of the books available such as the Amateurs lathe.

Cowells are a very helpful company and probably worth you contacting them and if you don't want the hassle and uncertainty of selling on ebay, there are companies around if you search who resell good quality lathes like these and would probably give you a valuation.

Bob


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## YorkieT (23 Sep 2015)

Lons":3jjm4med said:


> Here's a basic download which might be worth printing off to go with the lathe when you sell it Yorkie. http://watchmaking.weebly.com/uploads/1 ... anuals.pdf
> There is a company selling a full manual, whatever that is, on the net for £40 but most users just buy one of the books available such as the Amateurs lathe.
> 
> Cowells are a very helpful company and probably worth you contacting them and if you don't want the hassle and uncertainty of selling on ebay, there are companies around if you search who resell good quality lathes like these and would probably give you a valuation.
> ...



Hi Bob,

Thank you for the info, I will download the above link and will keep in mind what you said re the various companies.


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## dickm (23 Sep 2015)

Worth looking on the homeworkshop site - lots of stuff sold on there and it's mostly metalwork orientated.


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## Lons (23 Sep 2015)

Here's one on Ebay. No additional accessories with it, just chuck and faceplate. 29 bids (8 bidders), almost 4 days left, £600 so far
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUPERB-COWELL ... 3ab236a5a4

Bob


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## AES (24 Sep 2015)

@Yorkie:

+1 for all the positive comments re Cowels above.

I've never owned one myself (mine is just a cheapo Chinese mini lathe) but they do have a very good rep. AND they tend to hold their price well.

A while ago someone else on this Forum was enquiring about the Cowels lathe and at the time I was taking "Model Engineer's Workshop" mag (MEW) every month. There was a series of articles there about refurbishing a Cowels and I copied them and sent them to the bloke making the enquiry (I forget who it was). As I recall there was quite a lot of useful general info about the machine as well as the refurbish itself.

If you'd be interested in having copies yourself (.pdf format) send me a PM and I'll dig the files out for you and send them by E-mail.

Cheers
AES


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## YorkieT (24 Sep 2015)

Cheers guys, all good info :wink: 

AES, I have sent you a PM. Thank you for the kind offer  

The more I play with the lathe the more I am inclined to keep it, it just oooezes quality, I might just save up for a larger lathe.


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## chaoticbob (24 Sep 2015)

Yorkie, I think you may well regret it if you sell, they are indeed lovely little machines. I'd keep it! If you do want to sell though, you could try lathes.co.uk - I've not sold through them myself, but the guy who runs the site (Tony Griffiths) is very knowledgable and I believe he is willing to offer unbiased advice as to value if you advertise with him. The MEW mag AES refers to above also has a website (http://www.model-engineer.co.uk) with a 'for sale' section - might be worth trying there. 
Regards, Robin


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## AES (24 Sep 2015)

@Yorkie (& MusicMan):

PM's received, thanks.

"Me and my big mouth"! When I posted "I'll find the files ..... " I'd forgotten that that had happened before I'd retired my XP laptop - over a year ago now. Of course when changing to my new Win 7 machine I used Win Transfer to move stuff across, AND save it on an external hard drive. But of course not everything went over OK (what piece of MS software works 100% 1st time?), and I can't find those files, not on my present machine nor on the hard drive.

No problem, I'll find then (eventually) still sitting on the hard drive of the old XP machine (I hope), or if the worst comes to the worst, I'll find the mags (I've definitely got those) and scan the relevant articles again.

That will take time though, especially as we have visitors coming from UK for the next few days. So sorry guys, it will take some time (a week or more). But I WON'T forget you both, promise.

AES


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## YorkieT (24 Sep 2015)

Hi AES,

There is no rush mate, it would be great to read the articles though when you do get the chance to scan them :wink: 

Hi Robin,

I will take a look at the website that you kindly posted a link to but it's looking quite likely that I will keep the little machine, it's really starting to grow on me 8)


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## AES (27 Sep 2015)

@YorkieT & MusicMan:

Your Cowells scans now sent direct to you both by E-mail.

Krgds
AES


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## YorkieT (27 Sep 2015)

AES":22ffk32o said:


> @YorkieT & MusicMan:
> 
> Your Cowells scans now sent direct to you both by E-mail.
> 
> ...



Thank you, some great info in those articles  

Cheers,

YorkieT


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