I ran across an ad for a Clausing Colchester 13x36 lathe SN F3/704xx I've only seen a picture and exchanged some email with the seller, so I know very little at this point. The seller is about 2 hours away, so I can't easily just pop over and look, although I anticipate making the trip once I have more information. The seller says it has a noisy gear in the higher range and he says that lathe is known for that problem. Is that a correct statement? Is it significant or something I'll have to deal with? If it's actually a gear with a missing tooth, how would I detect that? Anything in particular to look out for on this type of lathe?
What year was the lathe made? I didn't spot an F3 series in the serial number chart in the files section at the Yahoo Colchester group. Cosmetically it looks good in the picture. The owner said they've had it for 10-12 year and made many good parts on it, so it has some wear on the ways. It comes with only a 3 jaw chuck, some centers, and tool holder although I don't see a toolpost in the picture. I don't see a steady or follower listed. No face place. What's a ballpark price for a lathe like this with a noisy gear, some wear, and very little in the way of tooling. RWL