South Bend 9x32 lathe

Jon Danniken · 2009-12-17T00:19:15+00:00

I'm looking at a lathe, a South Bend 9x32. I haven't gone to see it in person yet; the seller estimates it is from "the 40s", no model information on it, but here is a picture: I asked the seller if it came with the change gears, he replied that it "... comes with complete gearing - it's not quick change."However, that looks a lot like the first lathe on this page, which appears to require change gears: does this one require change gears, or is there a transmission in there somewhere to change the speed for turning and/or threading?Also, myself knowing little about lathes, what desirable features would a simple lathe like this not have (besides power cross feed, which seller stated it didn't have)?Thanks,Jon

Dec 17, 2009 25 Replies

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axolotl 16 years ago

It is a "real" bearing that works quite well at the low speeds at which these lathes operate. The competition of the time (Atlas) used ball bearings to avoid precision finishing and make the lathe cheaper to manufacture. The 9" Workshop was sold for around 40 years, and may very well be the most popular lathe on the planet.

Here is Mr. Wells repository of SB data:

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Kevin Gallimore

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