Major FleaBay Bargain! And a HUGE thanks to condeesteso

[jimi43]

I have been looking for a lathe to replace my little ML1 for ages...something where I spend more time working on metal than the lathe itself (much though I love my old 30s Myford!)

So I went along to our favourite store..Axminster....and had a look at the Sieg SC6B....which was about the size I wanted!

But for nearly £1300 quid for something made in China...I thought it was a bit much...but nicely finished none the less!

So I resisted...went home and trawled FleaBay for something similar. Imagine my amazement when I found this!

An unbranded one but with a Buy-It-Now for only £180!!

Ok...it looked rusty...but I just hit the button! Then the fun started!

First...I never even thought it would weigh bleedin' 145 Kg which is 235 LBS in old money!!!!!

Secondly it was in West London!

Now those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting my buddy and fellow crazy Douglas (aka condeesteso) will know he is one of the most generous of chaps...a true gentleman and engineer...and also enjoys a challenge!

When I mentioned my predicament...he immediately offered the use of his trailer...great bit of kit...and his time for the day so off we trekked up the M25.

It turned out that it was housed in a lean-to greenhouse...around the back of a house and it was in much better nick than it first appeared! The "rust" was in fact the wax...impregnated with fine metal dust from one of the two attempts at use by the previous owner...

Man-handling 235 lbs of metal onto the back of a trailer is a laugh but not half as much fun as trying to get it on a bench with Douglas...my wife and an invalid with a rope! But they managed it! As Douglas says...good job H&S were not around and the beam to my workshop roof can hold that much weight...a fact that I'm rather glad of!

Once I cleaned the wax off...and took some mild surface rust dusting off the cross-slide...it looked fantastic....

Just got a bit more wax to remove...it's everywhere (thankfully!)....

I have to say these things are really well made in the Sieg factory...one of the "higher finish" ones methinks...

The infinitely variable speed control is really smooth...

Only thing is...all the labels have bleached invisible by the light in the greenhouse so I will have to make some more!

But for £180...this has to be my bargain of the year...can't wait to play with it!

So a HUGE thanks to Douglas...if you didn't already have an ML7 I would turn up some work for you! I will have to think of something else to pay you back for this long but happy day!

Cheers mate!

Jim

 

[Tom K]

One good turn eh!

 

[jimi43]

One good turn eh!

Nice one Tom!!

Boy...I can make some fantastic plane adjuster knobs now! Heaven knows what will come out of the KT Tools workshop soon!

Trouble is...I have to work and family visit now until bleedin' Tuesday...how can this be...I retired!!! :mrgreen:

I'm really brassed off about that!

(your go Tom!!)

Jim

 

[Tom K]

Your far to good to retire....I'm not though think I'll have a knurly night.

 

[cambournepete]

Looks good!

First...I never even thought it would weigh bleedin' 145 Kg which is 235 LBS in old money!!!!!

145x2.204=320 actually, so no wonder it felt heavy.

 

[MickCheese]

Jim

A real bargain.

Did it come with tooling?

Mick

 

[jimi43]

Looks good!

First...I never even thought it would weigh bleedin' 145 Kg which is 235 LBS in old money!!!!!

145x2.204=320 actually, so no wonder it felt heavy.

Pete!!! Sssssssh!!! :lol:

Um....sorry Douglas...calculator problem! :mrgreen: :wink:

I have no idea where they get off calling it a "bench lathe!"

Jim

 

[MickCheese]

A least it wont be moving across the bench under it's own steam with all that weight behind it!

May go through the floor though. :shock:

Mick

 

[jimi43]

Jim

A real bargain.

Did it come with tooling?

Mick

Um....errrrr.....yup!

And the last piece of work was still between the centres....well...between the chuck and a drill bit actually but whose counting:

I kid you not.....

So..."Bench Lathe" and socket chisel...for the price of um...a few socket chisels!

:mrgreen:

Jim

 

[condeesteso]

Cracking lathe Jim... one of your 'typical' finds, ridiculous price. No doubt the milling attachment will be along quite soon.
Couple of things - we discussed a rebuild of your workshop. You would have to build around that lathe now, cos it is not moving.
And happened to catch a repeat of Dynamo last night, in a gym somewhere in London, lifting 155Kg weights.
I feel such a wuss.

(I thought the actual wood-turning piece was worth a pic... a fine thing indeed.)

 

[James C]

That looks really good, I'm looking forward to see the things you make with it.

 

[woodbloke]

All very nice Jim, but have you got the approval of Alfie...we need pics :lol: - Rob

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Well done to both of you for moving it - the problem with lumps like that is finding how to get hold of it!

I'm sure you're well aware already Jimi, but just in case, www.arceurotrade.co.uk are a good source of Sieg bits and bobs. A 4-jaw independent chuck would be a very valuable addition, as would a selection of centres and a faceplate if you haven't already got 'em. Oh, and a pair of goggles for Alfie...

 

[jimi43]

Ah...yes Douglas...I was going to post a picture of the piece of work in the chuck but...oh...go on then....

8)

Anyway...having spent the day in Newmarket...avoiding all the race crowd...avoiding all the traffic on the M11 and M25 but hitting what amounted to a hurricane in the same places we did when we went to MAC Timbers....I am a bit whacked to do anything on the lathe for the moment...but I have managed to print some new label plates and laminate them...so I can replaced the bleached ones and know what cogs to use for screw cutting.

You actually bench-pressed over twice what the weightlifter managed so don't worry...I have entered you for Rio!!! :mrgreen:

A test will be a miniature cap screw for the up and coming "Carter" mitre from a saw back project...so that should be starting at the deep end...especially the thread which will be square form! Watch this space!

Alfie was consigned to the kitchen during the moving operation Rob..it was felt that his consultancy was not as a high enough level yet to be truly confident of any trip ups occurring!!! :mrgreen:

CC...as Douglas will confirm...it's not the getting hold of it that's the problem..it's the "not dropping it" that proved the challenge. Boy is that thing darn heavy! During my extensive (after the fact) research...I did alight on the Arceurotrade website...but thanks for the pointer. I also found some rather interesting tuning and modification (enhancement) information....the first of which was "take it all apart and clean and fettle it".

I intend to keep out a good eye for bits...4 jaw chuck (tick)....revolving centre (tick)....faceplate (tick tick)....and probably a steady if and when I turn something that long....but mostly the milling attachment mentioned by Douglas. OR...an X2 based milling machine separately...if I can pick it up for a fiver! :mrgreen: :wink:

And I need to get some Swarfega....these metally things bite!!!!

Cheers guys!

Jim

 

[No skills]

Very nice, and a step closer to having a mill.

 

[condeesteso]

Jim reckons he's in Newmarket seeing his 'niece'. I know where he really is:

http://www.airguitarworldchampionships.com/

 

[Tom K]

With a name like his he's only a spelling mistake away from victory. Sadly we all know he's trawling ebay for a mill.

 

[jimi43]

With a name like his he's only a spelling mistake away from victory. Sadly we all know he's trawling ebay for a mill.

I'm getting worried...very worried!

Am I THAT transparent!! :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[Tom K]

Who said that?

 

[DTR]

Good find, I am very jealous. Glad to see it's gone to a good home