Thread: Reality check in aisle 3!

IF??? you love if you will fix it

Maybe someone needed parts, the threading plate would probably be worth that if you could find one on it's own.

Dave

Probably someone seeing it as a good for a conversion to a wood lathe.

Grahame

Or for use as the base for some other project... Trying to think of the things I've seen built on an old lathe bed before, nothing is coming to mind! May have been a tool and cutter grinder, or some sort of gear hobber... (I hate to think what my memory will be like in another 30 years )

I think scrap steel is going for $1000 per tonne

what would the McPherson maker's plate be worth stuck on an inferior lathe?

Hey Wolften,

Scrap Steel over here is $180.00 per tonne, can I send you some and we do a deal on the freight ????

HazzaB

Originally Posted by ian

what would the McPherson maker's plate be worth stuck on an inferior lathe?

Hi Ian,
I was talking about the third picture of the speed and threading plate and if you had one of those lathes missing the plate, it would probably be worth the selling price to someone just for the plate.

Dave

Originally Posted by Dave J

Hi Ian,
I was talking about the third picture of the speed and threading plate and if you had one of those lathes missing the plate, it would probably be worth the selling price to someone just for the plate.

Dave

I thought Ian might have been suggesting that someone might stick the McPherson name plate onto a lathe from a less reputable manufacturer, and then try and sell said lathe as a McPherson?

Given that the cheapest free standing lathe is around $2500 plus, that thing is probably a bargain if someone has the time to do it up.
Let's face it, 50+ year old Aussie and Pommie gear is still way better than new Chinese made stuff.

Well, first of all it is a USA made lathe of unknown origin. (You can see the "made in USA" cast in the bottom of the door.

Second, its missing the spindle entirely. And the back gear and the levers to operate same. There are no chucks, or anything really. It is set up for a lineshaft power. Flat belt pulleys.

Try to imagine how hard it would be to grind that thing flat again, then line bore the spindle bearings, then make a spindle, and a spindle nose, then supply the various things that fit on a spindle. Then rehabilitate every other part and make the many that are missing.

I am restoring a 1965 lathe with every part intact, not a speck of rust. It is a giant chore.

McPhersons by the way never made anything. They were a dealer. Same for Demco and almost every other name plate you see mentioned.

Originally Posted by Greg Q

McPhersons by the way never made anything.

So where did they have these beasties made?

Kensington, Melbourne...

Originally Posted by Greg Q

Well, first of all it is a USA made lathe of unknown origin. (You can see the "made in USA" cast in the bottom of the door.

It's a Selson, so maybe an english lathe, produced under license in the us?