record lathes

[Farm boy]

i was at the local tender centre on the weekend they had an old record lathe and a jbs lathe as well how much would these be worth and are they any good ?
they were both blue in colour

[smidsy]

What you need to do is find out the following information:
Bed Length - this is the length of the base and determines what length work you can do.
Swing - this is the distance between the centre of the main shaft and the bed and will determine what diameter work you can do.
Is the bed cast iron or tube?
Does the head rotate to allow turning of larger peices
Does the head and tail stock have morse tapers
What size is the motor.

When you have these answers you can compare those lathes to what's available new, that will tell you what a new machine of similiar spec is worth and you then decide what you are willing to pay.
Cheers
Paul

[arose62]

There's another thread on here, where someone is trying to sell a Record lathe for $900 (I think). The only responses suggested that the asking price be halved, as it's competing with the MC900 and MC1100 lathes.

My local Bunnings had a tubular bed Record with a price of about a grand, and it sat there, rusting slowly, for years. Then it moved to the Gosford store, where it rotted some more.

So, I'd guess about $300-ish or less, if it's not new, and doesn't out-spec the MC-900.

Cheers,
Andrew

[HiString]

Gasweld or Toolies would be good places to look for new lathe prices. Also, I don't know that many (if any) "tube" type lathes had a rotating headstock.

[Farm boy]

i rang the tender centre this morning the record lathe went for$1000 i couldnt believe it as some of the newer lathes that you see in shops and books are so much cheaper and more modern.

the jbs lathe went for $400,it had a swing around head.
these tender centres are good but some people go crazy paying top dollar for 2nd hand stuff

[smidsy]

Some people tend to forget themselves at auctions and tenders and pay way more than the odds.
I can remember going to a customs auction years ago and seeing people pay $50 & $60 for bottles of booze you could get from a bottleshop for $40.

The trick to auctions and tenders is to decide how much an item is worth to you and stick to your limit - don't get in to bidding wars and don't take it personal (you'd be suprised how many people do) when someone out bids you.

Cheers
Paul

[rsser]

Sage advice as always. And don't touch the $40 bottle before going to the auction ;-}

[JackoH]

A Record lathe selling for $1000. That's a record! Seriously, the top of the range Record should not cost more thaan $500 - $600.
I sold my 36inch swivel head Record, complete with outboard attachment all in perfect condition for $500 and that was three years ago. Then I bought a Vicmarc. Best move I ever made.

[powderpost]

Frankly I wouldn't touch a record lathe, they have bronze adjustable bearings which means they wear. Stone age people used bronze. It is just a little surprising there isn't an optional extra of a treadle :D . Record no longer exists, their factorys have been bought out by an American firm and closed down. I think it a bit unreasonable to make a comparison with an MC900. Would you compare an MC900 with a woodfast, tecknatool or a vicmark machine? I think not. I know there are a lot of MC900's around under their various names, I have also seen a lot of them upgraded to better machines. The bottom line is to think about what you want to achieve on a lathe, set your top budget figure and then look around. Talk to as many people that will listen. I have 6 lathes, none of them have swivel heads, I don't see the need. My experiance (15 years selling this stuff) has been that good second hand buys are scarce.
Jim

[gatiep]

Powder

I hate to burst your bubble but not all record lathes have bronze bearings. I had 3 records in a training center among other lathes, have done bearing replacements on them and there were no bronze bearings. Maybe rephrase by saying " some record lathes have bronze bearings". Lots of them have #1 morse tapers and some have an archaic belt speed change that needs to be done with a wrench.Some even have one grub screw on top of another, i.e. two in the same hole pommie engineering, holding the pulley on the spindle. I won't go down the tubular versus cast bed debate as I am sure that it has been covered elsewhere on here. Most have 3/4" x 16 TPI spindle noses................archaic to say the least.
Anyway, in my book even $200-00 is too much to pay for most records that I have seen around. I have no idea what the new ones, as in pommie magazines, are like and quite frankly I'm not really interested. I havn't been selling lathes for very long although I have been turning on them for over half a centuary..........oh and that is normal years not the American version, and I actually find a good swivelhead like the Vicmarc 175 very handy and comfortable to use. I'm sure that the swivel, non swivel debate has been covered on here as well.
All I can say, no record for me, BUT to each his own.....I'm happy with my Vicmarc VL175. I don't need a bigger or smaller lathe and I don't need more than one for myself to use at home. As a matter of fact I am selling an MC900 on here which has been gathering dust in my workshop for far too long now.

Have a great day.

:)

[Red neck]

Horses for courses.

The Vicmarc is a heavy lathe with a couple of HP to drive it and selling for three or four thousand. Compared to a Record with about a quarter of the power output and a fraction of the weight, there is no contest, but I wouldn’t knock the Record simply because of its old-world Pommie design.

Some years ago I bought a CL2 36x18. They were retailing about $1700 but most sold well below that price at the time in order to compete with the Teknatool 1200. Carbatec were selling the Records for around $1,400. I paid even less for mine and although new was minus a few parts and the instruction manual.

On the plus side the lathe was solid (85 kg), powered by a quality Compton motor, fitted with a swivel head and had its origins in the Sheffield steel mills. On the negative side were the double grub screws referred to by Joe (that had me stuffed when I replaced my first belt), and the lack of refinement in setting up the locking levers. The ¾ inch spindle was a touch light and the three-speed configuration was limiting but if you hadn’t used anything else was perfectly acceptable.

The bronze bearing mentioned by Jim required a few drops of oil each session and provided it wasn’t over-tightened would last for years. I found the lathe was extremely smooth and as for quality I would rate it far above the Chinese models on to-days market. Apart from the odd belt, mine never gave a problem.

Could I go back to one, probably but only if I couldn’t get my DVR to work!

[bobz]

I totally agree with you Red Neck. I have and still use a Record CL2 that has been upgraded to a 1 horse motor with variable speed. As for the phospher bronze bearing, this does`nt require oiling every time you use the machine but every once in a while as long as you use the proper (heavier) recomended oil. The bearing is guaranteed for 25 years, double that if the machine is used for hobby. The machine was originally designed by the now obsolete Coronet Machine Tool Company that was bought out by Record some years ago. This company made a range of small quality home user woodworking machines that were well built and accurate. I also own the Coronet Consort which is a universal woodworking machine based around an 8 inch sawbench. I also own a Coronet Sovereign which is a 4 1/2" planer with an overhead thicknessing attachment. Still running sweetly and accurately after 25 years of use. Here`s a photo of my Record CL2 with a copy attachment I purchased from Rockler Woodworking in the States.