Subject: Sheldon & South Bend Lathes

From: [email-masked] (Chris Helt)
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 1994 17:00:23 GMT

Hello to the net.  I am looking at buying a used metal lathe and would
like to tap the collective wisdom of the net.  There is an auction
tomarrow that has a Sheldon 12"x32" Engine lathe (model ES-56-P serial
number ES32414) and a South Bend 13"x42" Engine lathe (s/n 122179).  My
questions are:

1)  What do people know about Sheldon lathes?  I have heard the name,
    and I believe they are Amierican made but that is it.  I have used a
    number of South Bend lathes.  Any comparison between Sheldon and
    South Bend would be appriciated.

2)  Any information on these specific lathes (good or bad, things to
    look for, etc).

3)  The typical question of "what are they worth"?  I have not inspected
    them so I do not know what condition they are in.  Both have a
    reasonable amount of tooling (3 and 4 jaw chucks, follow and steady
    rests, face plate.  The Sheldon also has a collect chuck (I do not
    know if any colletc come with it).  The South Bend has a taper
    attachment (I doubt if I will have much use for it).

Thank you for any/all information.

Chris Helt
Hewlett Packard
Ft. Collins, CO

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From: [email-masked] (Joe Landau)
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 1994 04:55:57 GMT

>number ES32414) and a South Bend 13"x42" Engine lathe (s/n 122179).  My

I have a 10" Sheldon lathe.  It seems to me to be a contemporary of the South
Bend and probably a competitor.  I think they are of good quality an I've
been well satisfied with mine.

If you have a collet chuck of standard size (e.g., 5C) you can certainly get
collets.  On the other hand, taper attachments are not easy to find.

--Joe