Yes, I just got done saying in the last blog that I was keeping the ShopSmith wood lathe. Then this shows up in my basement.....
It's a Central Machinery (Harbor Freight) 12x33-3/8 wood lathe, model T34706 (same basic lathe as a Jet JWL 1236). It has a "3/4hp" motor that probably isn't anywhere close to that rating, but I'm sure it's adequate for my needs. The lathe has a variable speed Reeves-type pulley system that gives a 600 to 2400 rpm range.
The lathe's legs are somewhat short, as the previous owner's "friend" cut the legs short in preparation to make a base or cabinet under the lathe but never got around to making the base.
The previous owner was asking $200 and I offered $150, which he accepted. When I made the offer I didn't know of the leg issue, but when I went to pick it up, it still seemed like a good deal with the short legs, as there were many accessories that added value. Here's what came with the lathe:
Two Jacobs-type chucks with #2 Morse Taper (MT)
Live Center with #2MT
Three-jaw "revolving-center" chuck with #2MT
Three-jaw chuck with #2MT
Forstner bit with extension
Very cheap set of lathe tools ($30 from HF)
Drive spur and six-inch face plate (came standard with the lathe)
The tag says the lathe was made in 2013. The head of the lathe can swivel around so you can turn larger items.
The bed ways were rusty from the lathe sitting in the previous owner's garage, so I cleaned them up with oil and a brass bristle brush.
Next are some photos of the accessories and other things. This first one is the three-jaw chuck mounted on a rotating base with an MT2 taper shank.
Update 1: And so it begins, the modifications to make this el-cheapo lathe better. The tool holder base has a quick-lock feature where there is an offset rod that pulls up a stub rod to lock the tool holder in place on the ways. The stub rod is supposed to slide freely along the offset rod when sliding the whole tool holder assembly out or in, but the machining on the offset rod is so rough that the two parts don't slide unless I hold the stub rod so it doesn't cock to one side and bind.
This next photo is a close-up of the rough surface, a very fine threaded look. I can imagine that the facilities in China that turn out these types of parts do the turning on a lathe as quickly as possible, not caring about the surface finish.
I used the four-jaw chuck on my Smithy metal lathe so I could mount the rod end off-center so that the center part of the rod was concentric with the lathe spindle centerline. The right end of the rod had an offset center hole from when the part was made, so I could use a live center to hold it. I got the chuck end of the offset rod within .001" runout. I then moved the dial indicator to the right end and found it to have about .020" runout. Hmm. I had intended to smooth the surface using a lathe tool, but with the excessive runout, I couldn't do that without taking extra material off the rod, so I just used a file and emery paper to get the rod smooth.
Below is a close-up of the smooth surface. The wood lathe tool holder now slides "smooth as buttah". I guess that's one thing you pay for on a higher end lathe, smoothly working parts.
It took several hours to get all the rusted bolts out of the saw stand and get the legs mounted onto the lathe. The end result is nice though. The lathe doesn't wobble at all with the new legs and I was able to raise the lathe up to a comfortable height for me, as I'm 6'2". I had thought about just replacing the short lathe legs with the saw legs but I'm glad I raised the lathe up higher than stock. I don't know what the centerline of a factory stock lathe is but mine is 45 inches off the floor now (up from 30 inches with the cut-off legs!). I suspect a lathe with normal legs is maybe around 40 inches.
Update 2: I picked up a trashed $20 radial arm saw off Facebook Marketplace, so I could use the legs on the lathe. The saw had been sitting outside so it was pretty rusted up, although the ad said the saw was in good condition (don't think so). On the way home from picking the saw up, we stopped at Builder's Bargains to drop off the saw at their metal recycling bin, which saved me from disassembling the saw and slowly disposing of it in the garbage can. Who knows, maybe they'll clean it up and sell it for $20.
I purchased a can of Rustoleum Hammered Dark Green paint for the legs.
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