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Odd lathe for sale.

It looks kind of like a Nicols lathe, maybe an early one, with a banjo from another lathe on it. Looks like another matching banjo laying on the trailer bed. Nicols usually put a name plate on them. If not a Nicols, another well made homemade lathe. As Bill said, would work well for bowls, although the very large headstock would interfere to a degree for working on the backside. Check the spindle threads to be sure it something you can find chucks and face plates for. Nice heavy duty steady rest too.
 
I suppose my first thought is are you asking the right question? I wonder what the answers would be had you asked, "Is this a good lathe to learn how to turn bowls?" Looks like a heavy duty lathe with presumably a lot of power so it will turn a bowl. For me there's enough to this hobby that taking on some odd custom lathe adds a layer of complexity that would be off putting. I'm still figuring out how/when to sharpen, randomly getting catches, and tool marks etc. So I wouldn't want to add another variable to the equation. In the long run I'll probably spend more money by not just getting what could be the perfect lathe first, but don't think I know what that perfect lathe is. Then again if that lathe is for sale for $100 bucks, that certainly changes the answer.
 
My first thought when looking at it was that maybe it was a Nichols lathe. I don't think he did a metal box/frame around the motor set up though. Those lathes were beasts. Not pretty, but real work horses... Looks like a Powermatic tailstock on the bed. Oh, his lathes were made before every one started using the phase converters and I think he used DC motors. Not positive though.

robo hippy
 
What do you mean by "tell me what it is"? It's a lathe with the same components as any other lathe. What it doesn't have is variable speed, and many of the parts are low end. Very little tail stock travel, and it's hard to see in the shadow, but main shaft looks pretty small in the scale of the machine with just simple pillow block bearings. The tool rest is grossly undersized for the length of the tool resting surface and the simple bolt into the tool rest shaft will cause issues based on the size of blanks the machine can handle.
 
It'll do bowls alright, its heavy and look solid what ever the make is. If it was on sale down here I would say its a DIY, you should check the speeds especially the low end and the size of the motor
 
That spindle is too small for big bowl turning. Not sure if you could easily replace it or not. 3 speed ranges is a plus for me. 1 hp is too small as well. I would want 2 hp minimum for bowl turning.

robo hippy
 
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