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Can someone identify this lathe? It looks like a Duro 3053.
Appears to have 2 sleeve bearings, and 1 ball bearing. The spindle in the headstock can move forward and backyards a little (you can see the ball bearing slide out of the ball bearing housing in one of the pics) - is this a defect? What is the purpose of that ball bearing? Is there anything else missing? This is my first lathe, so I know very little about them.
I got this lathe plus an old Emerson Electric 1/3 HP motor for $35. This doesn't appear to be a heavy duty lathe (it weighs about 40lbs without the motor) though it's all cast iron. Do you think it's worth the effort to restore this?
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If it were mine, I'd restore it.
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Why not, it looks sound enough, and it will spin wood; price was good. A little elbow grease, some grey paint, build a stand and you're in business. You will find, however, that the tooling often is the biggest investment, so buy what your project requires, and if you "graduate" to a more fancy lathe, you've got the tooling....
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(01-23-2018, 03:20 AM)norm_ahram Wrote: Can someone identify this lathe? It looks like a Duro 3053.
Appears to have 2 sleeve bearings, and 1 ball bearing. The spindle in the headstock can move forward and backyards a little (you can see the ball bearing slide out of the ball bearing housing in one of the pics) - is this a defect? What is the purpose of that ball bearing? Is there anything else missing? This is my first lathe, so I know very little about them.
I got this lathe plus an old Emerson Electric 1/3 HP motor for $35. This doesn't appear to be a heavy duty lathe (it weighs about 40lbs without the motor) though it's all cast iron. Do you think it's worth the effort to restore this? ...................
I think it is..particularly for a first lathe..Clean it up, repaint it, if the ball bearing is OK, put it back in with Loc-Tite to hold it in place..you'll have a pretty good little lathe to learn on...Then you can decide whether or not you like turning..
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I think the ball bearing acts as a thrust bearing, taking the sideways push as the work is held between the head and tail stocks. If you look at the headstock, you see two oilers, those are for sleeve bearings for the shaft.
I'll go against the crowd and say no, its not worth it, unless you have lots of time to kill and don't plan on doing much with this machine except turning spindles or pens. And I've done plenty of restores on old machinery, but this one is just too old and too lightweight to do much with, even with a pretty coat of paint. And you would still have to build a stand for it and mount the motor and.... You get the drift.
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(01-23-2018, 03:20 AM)norm_ahram Wrote: Can someone identify this lathe? It looks like a Duro 3053.
Appears to have 2 sleeve bearings, and 1 ball bearing. The spindle in the headstock can move forward and backyards a little (you can see the ball bearing slide out of the ball bearing housing in one of the pics) - is this a defect? What is the purpose of that ball bearing? Is there anything else missing? This is my first lathe, so I know very little about them.
I got this lathe plus an old Emerson Electric 1/3 HP motor for $35. This doesn't appear to be a heavy duty lathe (it weighs about 40lbs without the motor) though it's all cast iron. Do you think it's worth the effort to restore this?
Looks like its in good shape I would restore it.
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It's a far better lathe than the homemade one I started out with, and made some pretty good stuff on. It's as much a piece of history as any tool and should be restored, even used.
If it will turn wood, the wood can be turned.
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I started turning with a Mattel Power Shop, when I was about 8. A toy, but I made a gavel out of oak, after I used up the balsa it came with. I was hooked. We brought home the 12" Delta (that I still use) from my Grandfather's shortly after that, since I outgrew it pretty quickly.
So I would clean it up a bit, slap a motor on it (1/3 hp is fine), find some basic turning tools, and give it a shot. See where it takes you.
Tom
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I think it is worth some time to restore. You will learn plenty as you do so.
And after it is restored, you can learn how lathes work.
When the time comes that you outgrow it, if you do, you can always pass it
on to the next person who wants to do some turning.
We as a species seem to love to latch on to the new shiny toy , when we really
should be paying attention to the one we already possess.....
Good luck in your endeavors.
; )
Mark Singleton
Bene vivendo est optimum vindictae
The Laws of Physics do not care about your Politics - Me
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(01-23-2018, 11:14 PM)MarkSingleton Wrote: We as a species seem to love to latch on to the new shiny toy , when we really
should be paying attention to the one we already possess.....
Sorta like wives and girlfriends.....
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Non impediti ratione cogitationis
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