[OT]New "toy" in the garage :), Oldie but goodie, "american iron" lathe Options

[Mueller]

As some of you know, I have a small bench top CNC lathe/mill which works okay for cutting aluminum or very light cuts in steel.

Well, I finally decided to purchase a "real" lathe which I can push a lot harder and get better accuracy with. After talking to different shops and machine tool sales people, I was talked out of looking into a brand new import machine from lets say China or Taiwan (supposedly the best of the lower cost units are made in Taiwan) and instead try and wait for an old American made unit.

Guess what? I found a nice older American made lathe not too far from me, I went and looked at it on Tuesday night, push buttons, played with with the different knobs and such and it seemed okay. On Wednesday evening I wanted to test the machine and make some "chips" with it. Oh, man, there is nothing like a well oiled machine that can cut hardened steel like it was butter...love at first cut (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

I'm still trying to find the exact date of manufacture, but it seems to be way older than me by at least 10 to 20 years (1940 to 1950 we guess)

The picture does not do this machine justice, soon I will clean it up better and give her a fresh coat of paint. My wife just got some competion, LOL