Tommy, you have a long PM

Howard

Seems a bit pricey for what it is, if you do get it make sure it has all the change gears and other bits you are ever likely to need as they would be a pita to get hold of.

I have one of these. It is not a sophisticated machine but I like it a lot.

Vintage wise, I think mine is just pre-WW2. The one in the pic appears to be later because it has vee belts but the Faircut 'Senior' is still a pre-war design. As you have no doubt read elsehere, 'condition is everything'. Check for backlash in the cross slide and leadscrew feeds. Expect some though – this lathe will be no spring chicken. The leadscrew is 8TPI and the cross slide 12TPI, so compare to that.

Compared with other lathes the big omission is a half nut. That doesn't stop you doing anything but can slow things down and does cause more wear over time on the leadscrew and nut. On the plus side the bed is longer than, say, a standard Drummond 'M' type of similar vintage and that is a good thing to have – even if the job isn't long it's nice to have some 'elbow room' to move the tailstock out of the way.

At best it only has a dial on the cross feed handwheel… which may or may not be resettable. Prewar lathes have fewer dials.

It is worth checking the exact height between the toolpost 'shelf' and centre height – this determines the size of the cutting tool that can be used. The compound design changed over time and the toolpost looks non original so measuring is the only way to tell – mine has 12mm. I don't think you'd want less than 3/8 inch.

To fit a new chuck you will need a backplate to mount it to the spindle, which means reclaiming one from another chuck or making one. The important bit is the spindle nose thread which is 7/8 BSF on mine and likely the same on the one in the pic. You are unlikely to find a backplate to buy like this so it's reclaim one or make one.

The asking price seems high. I bought mine 18 months ago in a superficially rusted state but with a hatful of accessories for south of 300 quid. I've seen plenty go for less but usually without a lot of tooling which does make a difference.

If you search for 'Faircut' on here you will find two threads about Faircut 'Senior's, one of them mine. There is also Brian Morehen's thread but he has a Junior which has quite a few differennces.

That's all I can think of for now. Happy to answer any other questions.