What did I just buy...

[Brian Roe]

I responded to a guy on Craigslist selling a band saw. It looked interesting, so I went to take a look. He was asking 150, and it ran nice and smooth. So I asked what else he was selling, and he said he wanted 75 for a craftsman combo belt/disc sander and stand... or get both for 150. So I told him OK, and drove down to get cash from the ATM. Once I got back, I asked if there was anything else, and he said I could have anything/everything in the garage for another 100.
This lathe was in the garage. Figured it was worth the $100.

Good pickup? Or...? This one looks old, it spins nice, and has a foot lever to release tension on the belt to change speeds... It is very heavy.

 

[Lou Jacobs]

Boy, I hope you’ve got a big shop!

 

[Don Spires]

What did you buy? A treasure trove. And cheap. Love taking old tools and working with them.

 

[Kevin Jenness]

A seldom seen IncaDinka bandsaw! What a bargain. You may want to detension the blade when not in use to extend blade life.

That lathe looks like a fool killer, but if you have the room and need an extra lathe it could be useful. Have you computed the spindle speeds?

 

[Mike Johnson]

You could adapt a 3-phase motor and VFD to power the lathe and replace all of the pulleys and shafts that are powering it now.

 

[Kevin Jenness]

That's a good suggestion. It does look like a solid lathe. What's the swing?

 

[Brian Roe]

Thanks for the idea on the VFD. Would make it a lot more compact.
I haven't gotten it off the trailer yet. It's very, very heavy.
I am working on leveling ground to put up a large shop, but so far, just have a couple sheds and garage...
I just went out and measured, there is 10" of clearance. Something up to 20" could be turned.

 

[Tim Starliper]

I'm going to have to report you for that one. You didn't buy that, you stole it!

I would adapt the lathe to run a bit more modern, but would (if I had the space) keep the old pulley system (just not use it) for the aesthetics of that old shop feel. It look to me like this was a lathe that ran in an old single power source shop - where there is a single motor connected to a shaft in the ceiling of the shop, and the tools all have the wide, flat, belts going to that shaft - generally with a tensioning mechanism to release the tension on the belt to a particular tool in order to 'turn off' that tool. I love seeing those types of setups. The Antique Automotive Museum in Hershey, PA, has a display like that in one area, showing a shop 'back in the day'.