How much is this lathe worth?

[Joe Bloggs 1Participant @joebloggs1]

Recently obtained a lathe and would prefer to replace it with a bigger and better one. In order to finance this I was going to sell the current one and I was wondering if anyone could give me an estimate to the worth of this current one.

Got "Super Adept" cast onto the front. Lathe still has its tailstock and chuck (I checked ebay and they seem to be missing sometimes). The lathe is in good condition, no nicks to the bed and the headstock isn't cracked anywhere.

In addition to the lathe I could throw in the sewing machine motor, a cobalt toolsteel turning tool and a 3/8 BSF tap I don't think I will need again.

The lathe is in as good condition as I guess it has ever been but the design isn't really cutting it for me. The tailstock has some sort of custom taper and the spindle is the first I have ever known to have no bore in it. Probably going to aim for screwcutting too in the next lathe.

I did check the sold listings on ebay but I can't see the logic to the price. One went for £170 with only the lathe and a 4 jaw chuck while missing both centres. Another went for £65 while having a 4 jaw chuck, multiple tools, two faceplates and a centre. Appears to be a lot of the luck of the draw to it.

Not sure what I am going to replace it with but other than a Unimat 1 I think it would be hard to downgrade.

[Joe Bloggs 1Participant @joebloggs1]

[Steven GreenhoughParticipant @stevengreenhough56335]

I have one of these in not bad nick…

The lack of features you describe are all size-related. They are what they are.They aren't worth much, in fact to some people they are worth only throwing over the side of a boat. Whether you, or anyone else, thinks they are useful or not, they are not really worth much money.

I wouldn't sell mine, it's worth more as a curiosity than what anyone in their right mind would pay for one BUT then again, sometimes curiosity and nostalgia inflate the auction site price, right mindedness doesn't factor and they go for loads.

As for what you should replace it with, I'm sure someone with more experience than I will be able to guide you a bit there, but chiefly you need to consider what you need your lathe to do…

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Not a lot. Have a look at this earlier thread **LINK**

Phil

[Steven GreenhoughParticipant @stevengreenhough56335]

That thread is one of the results of my putting adept-centric questions to this forum.

The other result is that I conceded it would not be a great starting point and bought a ‘better’ machine instead. But… plenty of old hands see them as having uses. About the same number see them as fit only for doorstops. Both, I think, are probably correct.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

eBay is your friend. It's worth what someone will pay.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

I bought my Super Adept in 1963 for 5 NZ Pounds, it's set up in my workshop, and might get used once or twice a year. One thing using it makes you quite good at keeping the tool sharp. I think you would be pushing your luck to get enough from selling it to buy a bit of HSS tool steel, but then again you never know wjhat you might get on eBay, good luck.

Ian S C

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Jesus H Christ with a Bridgeport.

Neil gets one, them someone else drags one out screaming from under a bench and next thing the buggers are breeding all over the place.

I think we need to collect all these things, neuter them and put them in a museum somewhere with all the rest of the crap we made years ago like the Winfiels, Pooles, Randa etc.

Then when someone starts on Chinese machine tool bashing we can get him and transport him in something like an Austin All – Agro or better still a Reliant,to said museum and lock him in for 3 days.

When they can repeat by rote the whole of the "Fit for purpose" and "Distant selling regulations" they they can be released on parole.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Price would depend a lot on whether you are going to weigh it in with or without the pile of swarf

[Steven GreenhoughParticipant @stevengreenhough56335]

Jesus H Christ…. hahahaha

John speaks wisely.

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

When these old lathes have a plain steel spindle running in a simple cast iron "bearing" tightened via a nut on one side in my view they generally don't retain sufficient accuracy to be called a lathe any more. There is usually too much play in the headstock bearing and often at some point when the bolt is used to tighten them up the castings crack. Ok for some one who just wants to produce vaguely round things. I did come across one where the owner always used something like a travelling steady and capstan lathe type tools. The headstock and other bits and pieces hardly matter than. People pay what are really silly prices for some lathes like this on ebay.

If the lathe has bearings, usually phos bronze much depends on how well they have been looked after and if there are problems if the new owner is prepared to make new ones. If that is needed they might well find that the bed needs lapping as well to get it back to a reasonable fit. Same with the slides.

However bad the lathe is heavy cuts will often give decent even good finishes on either type due to the wonderful cast iron they are usually made of. As a for instance one lathe I had briefly was fine with cuts of the order of 1 to 1 1/2 mm providing the feed was even. Run the tool back along the work though and more metal would be taken off – pretty badly.

My answer is not much. Personally if I tried it and the results were not reasonable it would be off to the scrap merchant or if not too bad I would point out that the new owner will probably have to use a file to finish work off.

John

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[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

If it can make a pile of swarf that big, it can't be completely crap!

Neil

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

That's not swarf it's wire wool where someone has been attempting to re-metal the bearings.

It's the Sooper Adapt version of sawdust in the gearbox.

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

I had something similar long ago, someone kindly described it as a ' rotary file'.

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

Are you kidding Neil…I can easily make a bigger swarf pile than that and it will all be complete crap!!

[steve de24Participant @stevede2433577]

Joe,

If you are interested in building ic models then how about keeping this little lathe and using it for the dirty job of lapping cylinders and pistons etc. This would keep damaging lapping compound well away from you better quality new lathe.

Steve

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