Originally Posted by JROM  Put a piece of stock in the chuck and put an indicator on it. Then push and pull on the stock and see if the indicator moves. If you can deflect the spindle bearings it's junk don't buy it unless you are willing to rebuild the spindle. Also alot of those older lathes had more then one gear set for different threads. If they don't come with the lathe they may be very hard to find. 350 bucks for a lathe that size is a scrap metal price! BEWARE |
Thanks. I'm hoping this is just one of those great finds. I went sniffing out a lathe and a guy who responded had one he's been sitting on for 20 years...it sounds like it may have been in full production prior to him owning it though.
I contacted Clausing and they're faxing me over the parts list for a Metric conversion. They don't have most of the parts anymore, but at least then I can do some more searching. They will also send me the Blue prints of all the parts for $5 each so I could make them (or get them made).
I have to say that I'm impressed with Clausing (the company) if nothing else.