There's a Reed lathe for sale that's tempting me. It's labeled "Reed
18 inch" if I remember right (I only saw it briefly and don't remember precisely). On the phone with the seller later on I was told it's thought to be from around 1930, and at a guess around 2000 pounds. The dimensions were given as either 18 or 20 inches swing, 36 inches between centers. It looked reasonably clean and is supposedly in working condition.I'm going to go back to look at it more closely and see it run, move the handles, etc. It's a change gear machine. Some tooling, I don't have the details on how much; a substantial 4-jaw chuck. Asking price $500, which seems very reasonable. (If anything it seems low -- maybe machines that large are harder to sell because few hobbyists can find room for it?) It has a 1 hp single phase motor, that's probably marginal but it's an external motor so that's fixable.
The owner said he moved it on a trailer, lifting the head and tail stock with a chain hoist and moving the bed (four-legged) with planks and rollers. He even offered to help do that again for me. Nice old gentleman from what I could tell on the phone...
I just returned to this list after several years' absence, and did some reading. It sounds like a decent engine hoist may be a better way to move this beast. I can rent that and a trailer.
So... any comments about the machine? Things to watch out for (other than the obvious "does it really run")? Any other hints about moving it?
Thanks, paul