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Husband passed away and looking for value of South Bend Lathe

That machine as-is, where is, maybe 1000 to 1500, dropping quickly from there if anything wrong with it; I have the sense of a fairly lightweight 14" lathe, not 3k lbs of iron there.

ebay list prices are not sold prices, I think the idea is to get the machine out of there, so priced to move will get things going better than trying to get every cent out of it. "lathe pile" is all the stuff related to the machine stacked on it where nothing gets damaged, so nothing is forgotten.
Very good point on having it all compartmentalized. Have the lathe stuff all together and grinder stuff in another group instead of having someone get a bunch of things that they can't use.
 
That anvil might be worth a pretty penny too. If you post more pictures of it, I'll look it up in my reference book and try to get you more information on what exactly it is. If you could get someone like Big B to check things out and generally tell you what things go together, you'll definitely be able to get more money for everything. There's an old joke about being scared your wife will sell your tools for what you said you paid for them, there's a lot of truth to it.
 
Guess one could put add on the Facebook marketplace.
Lathe and grinder stuff.
Will pay a machine tech/clean up type person to hone surface rust and appraise machine values. $20 per hour/ must bring own tools for the work.

* if I saw this ad on Facebook and it was not too far away, I would go to have a look and take the necessary tools and expect to put 4 hours into the job.
( fine flat file, flat hones, oil, solvent, wire brush, some picks to clean chips, couple of buckets, sack of rags, some laytex gloves. a couple of garbage bags, a wrench set, screwdrivers, an Allen wrench set, flashlight.. X you don't allow power wire brushing hand wheel dials, mostly power wire brushing is a no, no.
"You might ask such a person What tools or equipment would you bring for the work?
-> skip someone who does not know what tools.

One way to clean surface rust is to oil hone the surface (very fast and easy).
Someone that could be helpful should at least know that.
If you have a young person that doesn't mind a little elbow grease, I could give instruction. You don't want a teenager or younger around machines that don't have the power source turned off.
Buy a few fine-side hones and a quart of non-detergent oil (lowest price Auto store oil is fine for this).. and some quality latex gloves. Wet a flat surface with a little oil and with carefully figure 8 motion hone all you can. wipe off all the oil and abrasive grit and then travel a machine movement to the next area to be honed. Flat things like angle plates often come out very good. You want to use new condition hones, not ones that have been abused like for knife sharpening.
A little rust is often the excuse to lowball a price, and machine flippers want to buy everything for scrap price or less.
The lathe will sell much better if it is under power-> but a lathe is dangerous so f you know little about a lathe you should not even try to start it.
2000 to $3500 for the lathe seems in the right ballpark for the lathe
cleaned up perhaps $4500..
But bigger lathes are not easy to sell because often they only sell to a machine shop. Likely your Husband's tools have some flat hones, so you might try the figure 8 oil honing on some of the angle plates. If they are not rust pitted it may take 10 minutes each....and yes there are rust removal chemicals with vinegar being one..But the oil honing is the quick, accurate, proper fix for minor surface rust.
 
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Suggest nothing more than a general ordering and removal of unrelated debris.

You definitely dont want to get into anything that could affect its accuracy or be interpreted as doing so. That lathe, prettied up, will likely not appreciate much (its not a collectable old style south bend).

otoh if you're going for selling it as per ebay sell prices vs sold prices, I think it may take a while to sell.
 
That machine as-is, where is, maybe 1000 to 1500, dropping quickly from there if anything wrong with it; I have the sense of a fairly lightweight 14" lathe, not 3k lbs of iron there.

ebay list prices are not sold prices, I think the idea is to get the machine out of there, so priced to move will get things going better than trying to get every cent out of it. "lathe pile" is all the stuff related to the machine stacked on it where nothing gets damaged, so nothing is forgotten.
 
A guy that owns a boiler mfg in Michigan gave me a written offer for 1500 for the lathe and 1000 for the bridgeport mill. He said that he would bring a crew and have it loaded. (He is also one who offered 400 for my Burr king on a stand and I sold it for 1500 the following day after I called the company and they told me 1700 was a good resale price.) So, I know I have a good basic offer at this point.

So much great info from everyone... thank you!!! I have a lot to think about.
 
$1500 for a decent Bur King is a decent price.

For example, this 17-40 lathe started out over 5k and is now down to $3500
A very nice machine for that price, *It Just was sold.

Summit Large Bore Lathe For Sale $5,500 obo​

 
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Guess one could put add on the Facebook marketplace.
Lathe and grinder stuff.
Will pay a machine tech/clean up type person to hone surface rust and appraise machine values. $20 per hour/ must bring own tools for the work.

* if I saw this ad on Facebook I would go to have a look and take the necessary tools and expect to put 4 hours into the job.
( fine flat file, flat hones, oil, solvent, wire brush, some picks to clean chips, couple of buckets, sack of rags, some laytex gloves. a couple of garbage bags, a wrench set, screwdrivers, an Allen wrench set, flashlight.. X you don't allow power wire brushing hand wheel dials, mostly power wire brushing is a no, no.
"You might ask such a person What tools or equipment would you bring for the work?
-> skip someone who does not know what tools.

One way to clean surface rust is to oil hone the surface (very fast and easy).
Someone that could be helpful should at least know that.
If you have a young person that doesn't mind a little elbow grease, I could give instruction. You don't want a teenager or younger around machines that don't have the power source turned off.
Buy a few fine-side hones and a quart of non-detergent oil (lowest price Auto store oil is fine for this).. and some quality latex gloves. Wet a flat surface with a little oil and with carefully figure 8 motion hone all you can. wipe off all the oil and abrasive grit and then travel a machine movement to the next area to be honed. Flat things like angle plates often come out very good. You want to use new condition hones, not ones that have ben abused like for knife sharpening.
A little rust is often the excuse to lowball a price, and machine flippers want to buy everything for scrap price or less.
The lathe will sell much better if it is under power-> but a lathe is dangerous so f you know little about a lathe you should not even try to start it.
2000 to $3500 for the lathe seems in the right ballpark for the lathe
cleaned up perhaps $4500..
But bigger lathes are not easy to sell because often they only sell to a machine shop. Likely your Husband's tools have some flat hones, so you might try the figure 8 oil honing on some of the angle plates. If they are not rust pitted it may take 10 minutes each....and yes there are rust removal chemicals with vinegar being one..But the oil honing is the quick fix for minor surface rust.

Great idea!!! I do not have to be in a hurry at this point. I will see what the wholesaler will offerOne person who already has one wanted to buy several of the attachments... he saw it and said it was like the sky parted. (hummm) He offered me 1,000 as is... where is. I also have a 1500 written offer from a guy that owns a shop in G. Rapids. So maybe a cleanup would be a good idea.
 
That anvil might be worth a pretty penny too. If you post more pictures of it, I'll look it up in my reference book and try to get you more information on what exactly it is. If you could get someone like Big B to check things out and generally tell you what things go together, you'll definitely be able to get more money for everything. There's an old joke about being scared your wife will sell your tools for what you said you paid for them, there's a lot of truth to it.
OMG: That joke is so true! I found that out with his gun collection... how can one man collect so much? The anvil is a tenton from 350-500 pounds. I can't get to the foot yet to find exactly because it is mounted to a base. It has been in the family for 60 years. An anvil guy will look at it next week...
 
If the wholesaler doesn't make you happy let me know and maybe I can make a trip over and see what you have there as I'm only a little over an hour away. I already have most everything that I can use but may be able to give you an assessment of what you have and what it may be worth in our area.
That sounds great! I will pay for your time and gas. I will wait and see what the wholesaler says this weekend and check back with you. Thanks:)
 
A guy that owns a boiler mfg in Michigan gave me a written offer for 1500 for the lathe and 1000 for the bridgeport mill. He said that he would bring a crew and have it loaded. (He is also one who offered 400 for my Burr king on a stand and I sold it for 1500 the following day after I called the company and they told me 1700 was a good resale price.) So, I know I have a good basic offer at this point.

So much great info from everyone... thank you!!! I have a lot to think about.


Reasonable prices, and good load-out terms👍 Nice work moving that stuff!
 
A Trenton 350 is likely worth more than the lathe. Lathes come up for sale everyday- Trenton’s do not.
I prefer the Peter Wright’s, but enough people really want Trenton and nothing else counts.
 
If the wholesaler doesn't make you happy let me know and maybe I can make a trip over and see what you have there as I'm only a little over an hour away. I already have most everything that I can use but may be able to give you an assessment of what you have and what it may be worth in our area.
My clean up project today. I know it's not perfect but I am exhausted!!! Only real rust is on the front of the frame at the very bottom. All the rest seems to clean up well... surface rust and gunk.

Note: Someone said that all of the tools in front do not belong to the lathe. I have removed the drive shaft etc... oops:)
 

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That anvil might be worth a pretty penny too. If you post more pictures of it, I'll look it up in my reference book and try to get you more information on what exactly it is. If you could get someone like Big B to check things out and generally tell you what things go together, you'll definitely be able to get more money for everything. There's an old joke about being scared your wife will sell your tools for what you said you paid for them, there's a lot of truth to it.
Here are some pic of the anvil... have not cleaned it yet. Clear logo, no slope on the hitting surface. Has a good rebound. I cannot turn the anvil up to see if markings are on the front legs because it is too big. This article explains the raised 50 can mean 500lbs. Also, There were only a few years that trenton marked the anvils as trexton (an n sideways) That is all the research I could find. I would appreciate it if you could look it up:)
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The 2 ring shaped parts definitely do go with the lathe, the driveshaft and boltcutters don't. Seeing it is very helpful, could see easily double my initial thought of 1 to 1.5k. lol, clearly I dont have much of a career in machinery sales.

otoh note damaged neutral/fwd/rev on the lathe base. a buyer should certainly check inside.
 
I certainly do not have a machinery sales ability... sooo tired of all the research and bothering people for info. But, that's what I'll be doing for another year. Thanks for the note on the neutral... will have it checked out.
 
According to Anvils in America, they started using that design in the late 1930's and went out of business in 1953. On the front on the foot below the horn that's currently covered by the base it's on you should find a serial number. If you can get that, I can tell you the year it was made. If it is 500 pounds, in that condition it would likely go for more than $2000 out here in California. Prices vary a lot region to region though, they don't ship cheaply.
 








 
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