Barn or garage find

[Frank S]

A friend of mine of 35+ years called me a few days ago to tell me of a lathe he knew of belonging to a lady whose husband had passed many years ago. She had tried to sell it a few times but was unsuccessful due to its age. One guy went so far as to say she should just have it hauled for scrap.
Determined that this piece of yesteryear iron would not wind up in China she called my friend who called me.
Armed with only 2 pictures of the lathe we decided to make the 210 mile trip to Ft Worth. The wife also decided to take advantage of the trip to visit her DR to renew a prescription which would soon require the trip anyway.
Bob my wife and I showed up at the lady's house this morning around 9 Am This was when I found out in order to get the lathe out we first had to remove a Knee Mill, which I found out was also part of the deal.
The mill is called an American Vertical



I ead going to remove the entire upper part of the mill to lighten it up for lifting but to do this I would have needed to remove the hand wheel then the worm screw so the top half could come off here is a pic of inside the base tower

It turned out it wasn't necessary after all.
Now everyone knows why I put those little cranes on the rear of my trailer.

the lathe turned out to be another LaBlond this makes 3 I have now but this one is at least 20 or 30 years older than the other 2

[Frank S]

I also got a 2 cylinder air compressor mounted on an 80 gallon vertical tank but I traded it to Bob for a 3 cylinder compressor with an unused 80 gallon horizontal tank to mount it on.
Part of the deal for the machines was for me to take about 2500 lbs of steel and some old tooling to help her get her garage cleaned out

[C-Bag]

Yup, age is one thing, but I'll bet dollars to donuts it was about condition and size of the lathe not to mention the mill. Not all of us are set up like you o' king of heavy metal. Much less where to put beasts like that in a regular garage. I have purposely limited myself in shop size and ability to haul heavy metal. Because I know I suffer badly from TAS( tool aqusision syndrome).

It will be interesting to see how you keep these two fine examples of Old Iron from the scrapyard without indoor storage. Tarps are machinery's death around here. But we are close to the coast and you are more inland I think. I don't mean to cast despersion on your wonderful find and ability to take advantage such find. I look fwd to seeing them back in the lineup in your shop. Hopefully with some blow by blows of what it took to get them going again.

Recently we had the mother of all barn sales with huge similar examples of Old Iron put outside to be able to give access to the completely packed barn. One was a vertical mill, a huge horizontal and huge old drill press. I think the vert was an American, the horizontal was an Index and I couldn't see anything on the drill press. They wanted $450 ea and each one was in running condition. When the sale was over after a month(I had come when it had already been going on for 3 weekends and it was still stacked to the rafters!) and the machines were still sitting outside I don't know but I think like me nobody had the equipment to load and unload or big shop for them.

This guy I think had gone over the tipping point from a working shop to a hoarder. There was tons of all kinds of stuff and peaking out of a pile was this Atlas 7b shaper. I asked one of the family who was running the sale and expected it to be too much. When he said $125 I had the duel reaction of surprise and doom. I knew I couldn't walk away and it was going to fit in the garage. Bonus is its going to be very handy and its not the worthless obsolete tool it's been made out to be.

[Frank S]

C-bag if that 7b ever has a mind to go walk about, zs my Mates from down under talk be sure to let me know. I'd love o have shaper Anyone who feels they are worthless probably have never used anything that didn't at least have DRO'smounted on them
Yes Not having a climate controlled facility at this time does pose problems.
SO far I haven't been able to find out much about the mill and there have been so much repainting done on the lathe where the S# is supposed to be located it is going to take a while to scrape through to find it

[Frank S]

This give me 3 vintage La Blond lathes at this time. I have 1951 26 by 48

#2

And now #3

[Frank S]

C-bag I have found that it is best not to disturb layers of dirt or even surface corrosion until such a time that a rebuild is in order.If that be the goal.
As long as an old machine functions with predictable results sometimes any patina that is present is also best left un molested. Especially with out a proper climate controlled area.

[C-Bag]

C-bag I have found that it is best not to disturb layers of dirt or even surface corrosion until such a time that a rebuild is in order.If that be the goal.
As long as an old machine functions with predictable results sometimes any patina that is present is also best left un molested. Especially with out a proper climate controlled area.

You are probably right Frank. The 7b was covered in that weird coating that is old dust and oil/grease. It looks AWEFUL but some kerosene and elbow grease and it looks wonderful underneath. I don't need shine, I just need to see critical surfaces that are not destroyed by rust and corrosion.

I'd never even heard of a shaper until I saw a couple in the local Craigslist. I asked my brother, the real machinist and he enlightened me. But he also pointed out when I sent him the pix of them that like so many 7b's they had been canabalized for the different parts like covers, ratchet assembly's and of course the vise. So when I said oh, it's just an obsolete predecessor to the mill, he pointed out it was slow, but could do things a mill can't do, like cut internal splines. So was useful if you knew how to use it. And the added bonus tooling was cheap. But seeing that this 7b had its vise, tool holder(that is specific to it) and all the linkage along with the covers, I had to ask how much. I was prepared to walk for $4-500(which still would have been a deal) but not $125.

There has been quite a learning curve to it like the motor is wired backwards and I only knew this because of all the YouTube vids I watched. Besides it being marked on the motor pulley, it's in how it runs. A correct one the fwd stroke is slightly slower than the return. Mine goes fwd faster and returns slower. The wiring is a mess and I think there is a problem with the start capacitor. Everything I've gone through the oil/grease/jelly whatever, is almost like its crystallized or something. But once I get through the gunk it's ok.

I would LOVE to have a LeBlond and for whatever reason I keep seeing them around. Recently there was a weird add in Craigslist for a lathe' $700, one pic with the tarp partially pulled back and I could tell it was one of those short like 14x30 LeBlonds. It looked like it was covered in oil, been sloppily painted several times with just a # to call. No info, not even a complete photo. But the sad fact is that would just cause a cascade of problems I'm not prepared for just yet. But maybe after I've beaten this POS Asian 9x20 lathe into shape I'll be able to know how to recognize a useable Old Iron lathe worth dragging home.

You ever heard of Fluidfilm? I got the tip from a guy that spent most of his life as a machine tool reconditioner and he turned me on to it. It's been around since like '47 when the Navy hit this co. up to come up with something that could protect the cables on ships. They use it for undercoating back east. Turns out some of the auto parts places like AutoZone carry it. And it made from lanolin, so it's non petro and non toxic. I've been using it on stuff in the shop like the tables on the bandsaws and other iron tools that rust here and it never goes away. I tried Boeshield and it didn't last, this stuff does. Great lube, and great protection. Not cheap, almost $9 a can, but if I was going to have stuff in iffy shelter it's what I'd be squirting on it.

[Frank S]

I've always used LPS 3, Which as with most products it doesn't always cover every aspect of metals protection for 1 it is nasty messy stuff But recently a friend and partner has turned me on to a product he sells. Made by KBS Products, called cavity coater
It has a 4000 hour salt spray protection I have some so I plan on giving it a try Oh yes it is most assuredly not cheap.
I use his Paints almost exclusively.Plus for removing rust I've found nothing better than the Rust Blast

[C-Bag]

That is another major concern, parts. I got a little scare trying to source a new half nut for the 9x20. Even though there is a lot of them around there seems to be only one source for parts, Grizzly. Theirs is the G4000 9x19, but everything is basically the same. Don't know if it's made to a higher standard. But I'm loving their service. To be able DL the parts book, get the part #, then enter it into the "parts store" and it gives you availability and can pay directly with PayPal. And it's here in 3 days. Amazing.

I'd never heard of American or Index but they were on TM51's list of good Old Iron IIRC. You have to find old machines to cannibalize, right? Depending on the part that can be tricky I would think. It's why there are so many canabalized 7b's. Finding a ratchet case for a 7b seems to be almost impossible. They've not made the machine since like '62 and spare parts have long since gone the way of the dodo. My 7b had some kind of crash or operator error and the ratchet case was repaired. Looks like aluminum solder or braze. Kinda lumpy on the outside but seamless on the inside where it counts. But couldn't find a replacement case anywhere as a backup. And without that it's a strictly manual machine. There's a lot of trepidation about repairing Zamak that is what the ratchet case, guards and other parts are made of. But I did find reference to using good aluminum solder and or braze and it must have worked. And I happen to have some excellent AL solder, braze and flux. But I'd like to find something to practice on first

Do you think LeBlond is going to have parts if you need it? These kinds of issues are good to know as background knowledge as one starts to cast about for a "real" machine tool. So far it's helped me get an idea of what to look out for on the 7b.

[Frank S]

I almost never cannibalize unless it happens to be from a machine already at a scrap yard and missing so much that it would hardly be worth saving.
Most of the time if I need anything other than a casting I will make my own. as long as I can find suitable stock to start from.