anyone know what model this is? (south bend)

[schiarelli]

Hi, my dad and I are looking at this South Bend lathe and we dont really know how much its worth. We are trying to find something useful online, but we cant really make out the model number on the tag either. Here are a few pics:





any comments at all would be great, thanks

[Richard Swanson]

Being an old machinist, I would say it looks like a flat belt drive. They are good lathes for light work but won't really hog off metal like a "V" belt. Some of the early ones had bronze spindle bearings and screw on chucks. This one looks to be a quick change chuck, and the oil cups tell me it is a bronze bearing spindle. I would say it is probably worth around $1000. They are not geared to cut metric threads. With a flat belt, you have to release the tension with the lower lever and open the top guard and move the belt to change speeds. They also use a back gear for lower speeds. Not too handy for fast speed changes, but it works. It is not what you would call a gear head lathe. It would depend on how much tooling you got with it. A four jaw chuck, face plate, live centers and jacobs chuck, and any taper shank drills are all a plus.They are a very good lathe and would probably do fine for what you need. It looks like this lathe is set up to run collets. that would be a plus also.

[schiarelli]

great, thanks for the quick reply and all the information. thats actually exactly how much we will be getting it for. we're getting a live center, 3 jaw chuck, a few collets, possibly a newer quck change tool post, and maybe a few other things with it. the work i will be doing is more precision hobby oriented and not so much big heavy duty cutting.
so your saying basically the only down side is it isnt set up for quick speed changes?
do you have any idea what the model number would be so i can do alittle more research? heres a picture, but the tag is really worn off and its hard to tell. it kind of looks like a DL 145, if there is such a thing.

[schiarelli]

and you said it wont cut metric threads... at all? that might be a problem. is there any way around that?

[Michael Studier]

I have not done this in a few years, but South Bend used to have a customer service phone line that you could call with your serial number and they would tell you the year and model number, and even the day that it originally shipped from the factory!

Serial number is stamped on the flat portion of the ways at the tail stock end.

[doghead]

It appears to be a model 10L, also referred to as a Heavy Ten. It also looks to have a taper attachment on it. I also see a draw-bar change lever. All very desirable and useful. This lathe in my opinion is a very useful piece. The price you mentioned is average. Used parts and tooling for this lathe are easily available for it . Good luck with it.

[doghead]

Also, you can obtain a gear that will allow you to cut metric threads.

[StevenG]

Due to there being 25.4 mm to the inch you will always need a wheel with a prime number of teeth.The 127 is the only gear that will offer an exact translation ratio. The only other way of cutting metric on imperial is to start working out whats known as a 'Compound gear train', which if you didn't have the correct charts & various gears needed wouldn't be possible on that machine.

[R W]

If this is a SB10L, in reasonable condition give it serious consideration, they
are a great machine. The flat belt is a plus for beginers.