Logan 10" lathe

[N. Masteller]

Hello everyone. Glad to be a part of this forum. Have a question. I'm looking at a Logan 10" lathe. Its 110 voltage. comes with 3 ( 4 jaw chucks) and 1 (3 jaw chuck) a drive plate, and all the quick change gears. Seller says it's in good condition and works fine. No nicks in the rail by the headstock. He's asking $925. Any advice on this would be very helpful. Here's the link. There are only two pics though. http://columbus.craigslist.org/tls/3681803090.html

Thanks,

N. Masteller

[oklahoma red]

Appears to be a model 200 and in decent condition. Be aware that it does NOT have quick change gears. Model 800 and its variants have the QC gear box. If you are going to do any threading, make sure all the change gears are there. The cover on the left end swings open and there are gears all over the place. These have to be manually changed per a chart that will give you the threads per inch. For pipe making this is not an issue. Pretty much what ever threading needs to be done can be accomplished with taps and dies.
These lathes will vary in price depending on where in the US they are located and their condition and how much tooling comes with it. I bought mine for about the same price but got a lot more tooling including the collet attachment and a full load of collets and a big box of cobalt cutter bits.
I cannot tell from either picture if the motor pedestal is there. The motor and the drive box which houses the counter-shaft all hang out the rear and the whole assembly is heavy. Logan touted three point suspension for vibration reduction, utilizing two fat rubber grommets where the drive box attaches to the head stock and a rubber "foot" on the bottom of the pedestal. If it is missing it is not a deal breaker but definitely a haggling point for a lower price. Without this pedestal all the weight is on the spindle drive belt. A leg can be fabricated from metal tubing.
By all means try and go look at it. If he says it runs, ask for a demo. I would definitely try haggling with the guy. Wave $750 cold cash or what ever number you choose) under his nose and see if he bites.
The good thing is both new parts (Logan Actuator Co) and used parts are pretty easy to come by. Logan's parts are pricey but beware of some of the used stuff as it may be no better than what you are trying to replace. A lot of these old Logans are bought up strictly to part out. Scott Logan also has an excellent Logan lathe forum on Yahoo. And, you can call Logan with the serial number and they can tell you the year it was made. Mine was made in the middle of the war, 1943.
Good luck,
Chas.

[N. Masteller]

Thanks Chas. He sent me a few more pics. It is a model 200. He does have the pedestal for it. Looks like another set of 10 gears. Says he bought 17 years ago from a guy who used it to make bicycle parts. Definitely going to take a look at it. Thanks again for the great advice.

N. Masteller

[oklahoma red]

From the surroundings shown in the pics it looks like it may have already had a diet of wood. If this is the case and you wind up getting it I would recommend a tear-down and thorough cleaning and check-out. For areas that are exposed and are wood dust catchers considering lubing those areas with a dry lube such as molybdenum-disulphide. Definitely on the ways and lead screw. If it still has a leather drive belt and if you wind up pulling the spindle out then I recommend ditching that belt for a modern serpentine rubber belt. These will run fine on the crowned cone pulleys. If you don't pull the spindle and the belt does need changing, Logan sells one that has a knuckle-joint clip to hook it together.
The only ball bearings on this lathe are in the spindle, sealed double-row up front and single row in the back. Everything else runs in bronze oil-lite bushings with exception of the lead screw which runs in cast iron bushes since the rpm is so slow. There are numerous oil cups and lube points all over the place. Consequently, Logans are leakers since there are no seals on the oil-lites so be prepared. I'm in the process of making new journals with sealed needle bearings in them for the counter-shaft to run in. This will stop 4 leaks and be more efficient.
Another thing to look at is the condition of the bull gear. Chipped or missing teeth are not uncommon. There is a locking pin on the bull gear (couple different variations of it depending on the age of the machine) that disengages it from the spindle. There is a knob on the head-stock next to the brass Logan label. This knob is pulled out to engage the back gearing which slows the spindle speed way down with a lot of power. Check to make sure all of this is working properly. If the knob has to be pushed "in" to engage the back gear then the system is out of timing so to speak. Not hard to fix but it for sure indicates that at some point in its life someone has been into the guts of the head stock for one reason or another and did not get it back together correctly.
That's all I can think of for the moment.
Chas.

[N. Masteller]

Ok. Cool. That gives me more to think about and look at when I go look at it. Appreciate all the help

N. Masteller

[N. Masteller]

Well it already sold. That's okay though. I don't really want something that I'll have to put a lot of time into before I can actually use it. Unless it was for the right price that is. Anyway, I'll keep looking. Thanks again for the advice Chas.

N. Masteller

[oklahoma red]

Bummer. Keep looking, you'll find something.
Chas.

[N. Masteller]

Yeah, It's all good. I'd like to find an American made metal lathe. Seems like they're hard to come by. The Search will continue!

N. Masteller

[oklahoma red]

A couple of other brands to keep a lookout for are the South Bend (obvious choice) and Sheldon (harder to find). Both are classic small American lathes from the glory days of this country's machine tools.
Chas.

[N. Masteller]

Hey Chas. Here's another one I'm interested in. http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/tls/3703043422.html
Only one pic. Comes with some extras. Talked to the guy on the phone. Seems to have been taken very good care of. Let me know what you think, or if you have any advice/?'s.

Thanks,

N. Masteller

Okay, here's another one. I'd really love to get this one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Southbend-10k-m ... 3f2380a132

Thanks,

N. Masteller

[oklahoma red]

My knowledge of the SB lathes is not as good as the Logan. However, both look to be great lathes. Too bad the 10K is on an auction with a couple of days left. I doubt it will go for the current bid. If it did you could use the price to haggle on the other one. Buck chuck on the Ebay one is a plus. Good variety of tooling on both. Taper attachments are not necessary for pipes (use the compound slide) so that could be resold. Tough choice on these. Gotta factor in the cost of getting them to you. Are either close to you? Appears the one on Craigslist is already a wood eater. Are they real firm on the price for this one? Are they both 110V? Not an issue of course if you have 220 available. I don't think the one on Craigslist will be there long.
As always it would be nice to see them in person if possible.
Flip a coin man.
Chas.

[N. Masteller]

Hey Chas. The one on Craigslist is 112v the guy said. He could be mistaken. His father used it, but has now passed and the son is trying to sell some things. He said he researched about the lathe and seems pretty firm on the price. However no one has gone to look at it yet and I'm only about two hours away. The SB 10k on ebay is probably twelve hours away. I'm watching to see what happens with the 10k. I really like turret stocks!
Thanks,
N. Masteller

[oklahoma red]

Two hours would be worth the drive.
IMHO, turret tail stocks are not practical for pipe making unless you intend to make a LOT of the same pipe, over and over.
Turret lathes are a poor man's screw machine, usually set up with a bar stock feeder and a collet mechanism in the head stock. Very useful for making bushings and other widgets by the basketful.
Look at it this way (and this is strictly my opinion), about the only comparable size new lathe worth the powder to blow it up is the JET 9 X 20. I would not buy one of them used without a very close inspection. They average around $2000 plus, new. By the time you pay for shipping and tooling it up you will be beyond the price of the SB. Precision Matthews seem to be the cream of the crop for the ChiCom machines but they are a lot more money and you'll most likely wait months for one.
The only thing major you'll have to get for the SB is a chuck for the stummels. A quick change tool post would be a nice addition also. Plus (important in my book but maybe not so much in someone else's) it is American made. I'm getting really pissy about this in my old age. Go look at it if you can. Lay some crisp, new $100.00 bills in front of him and see what happens.
Chas.

[Vermont Freehand]

I just picked up a SB10K with turret. The reason I went with the turret is to mass produce 150 pipe kits per month, but you can set the depth of cut for each of the 6 drills mounted to turret and auto run 6 cuts without touching the machine. Sounds good, but using the turret manually is the way to go since you would want to clear the bit a few times throughout the cut. The SB turrets don't pop up much and I would say a good price in your favor would be in the 2,000 range.

You can't go wrong with either Logan or SB

[N. Masteller]

Thanks for the great information guys! Hope all finds you well this Easter.

N. Masteller