@heimlaga: While what you're saying is basically true, with respect you are being rather harsh. Please don't forget that as the OP makes clear, he is simply enquiring on behalf of a neighbour's wife whose husband has recently died. He clearly doesn't know much about lathes or machinery/tools/ engineering in general (hard to believe I know, but there are some people who are not even at all interested!!) and he's faced with a huge lump of dirty rusty metal that's secreted in a small garden shed.
But,
@Freddyjersey 2016, you've already had at least 2 positive posts above (including a member who is some way away from Oxford and who can't come to you for a while yet) and although there have been some negative answers to your OP, without counting them up I would say that in general the responses to your OP have been saying "should be saleable at the least". AND you've also had at least one suggestion as to where else to advertise the lathe. I have even myself said that IF I could work out a financially viable (and Covid-reliable) way to come from Switzerland to pick it up I would certainly do so, just like heimlaga!
So I would respectfully suggest that IF you want to help this poor lady:
A) You try advertising it elsewhere ("Model Engineer" - magazine and website, as well as the previous suggestion);
B) You suggest that she does so herself if you yourself can't/wont;
AND, whatever else you do, I also suggest you tell the good lady that the machine is clearly NOT a pile of worthless junk, that it HAS some value (but you're not sure how much it will fetch).
Depending on her financial and psychological situation she may well then decide to just get shot of it, but as you did start off by trying to help her I respectfully suggest that you should perhaps follow through a little more and at least leave her in the situation where she has enough info to make up her own mind based on the likely facts.
