Wood lather ELU ?

[darley]

Hi everyone I just read the local newspaper and it as an "Elu" wood lathe, anyone familar with this one ? any information would be welcome like where is made, what type of MT is ? #1 or #2 , build in castor iron or not any info would be great . Ho ! it's out of town 1 1/2 hour drive and the lady want $ 450.00 for it, this is a good price or not .

Thank you

Darley

[smidsy]

Hi Darley,
The ELU brand is a german lathe, find out what model it is - if it's the DB180 it does not have morse tapers.
Someone here was asking recently about selling an ELU DB180 so it might even be the same one - my advice to that person was that given the age of the lathe (they said the lathe was about 1980ish) and the lack of morse tapers it would be worth about $250.
I personally don't think the lathe is worth $450 and when I did a google search to help the other guy I found very little on ELU lathes so I would be inclined to go for a brand that's more common for ease of parts and accessories.

If you have $450 to spend I would be looking at a lathe called an MC900.
The MC900 is a chinese lathe and is about the best entry level lathe there is - 3/4hp motor, #2 morse taper head/tail stock, cast iron bed, variable speed, and it will handle pieces up to 300mm diameter and 900mm long but it also has swivel head so you can turn the lathe head to hang large peices off the side.

This lathe is sold in different colours by several shops (Carbatec among others) and goes for about $380 new.
Do a search on this forum for MC900 and you'll see what everyone thinks of it.
Cheers
Paul

PS I'm not an MC900 salesman, just a happy owner.

[lyctus]

Unfortunately the ELU wil leave you high and dry with a non-standard lathe. It is absolutely essential that you buy a lathe with standard features like 30x3.5mm spindle thread (maybe 1"x10 at a pinch, if you must) and #2MT in the headstock and tailstock spindles (#1MT is OK for midi/mini lathes) otherwise you are in for a life of agony trying to purchase accessories and fittings.
The ELU is worth maybe $250 to a cabinet maker who is happy to turn legs, spindles and items between centres and the odd bit of face plate work.