Interesting lathe for sale

[deadin]

If this lathe is as old as the owner claims things haven't changed much in 150 years.
Ebay item # 250785911977

 

[Lakc]

He can believe its mid 1800's all he wants, but it looks like its probably around 1890 vintage according to here: http://www.lathes.co.uk/ames/index.html
Still, its a darn nice setup, dont think I would pay $4500 for it ...

 

[lazylathe]

Way too expensive!!

And it looks like someone has cleaned it up lot!
That takes an awful lot of money off the value...
Bye bye patina, hello polished iron...

I would have to agree to the early 1900's.
Most definitely not civil war era...

Maybe he will get lucky and find a sucker...

Andrew

 

[deadin]

It's not a B.C. Ames lathe but rather from Ames Mfg. Co. Chicopee Mass. (Two different companies)
Ames Mfg. was the foremost sword manufacturer during the Civil War and was still in business in 1906.(maybe even later) Although they were known for swords they also made among other things, machine tools.
Whether or not the one in question is Civil War era is another completely different question. It looks just a little too "modern" to me.

 

[Lakc]

Or perhaps I missed the very important link on that page, leading to here:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/ames/page5.html
Those pictures look pretty familiar.....

 

[steamer]

Way too expensive!!

And it looks like someone has cleaned it up lot!
That takes an awful lot of money off the value...
Bye bye patina, hello polished iron...

I would have to agree to the early 1900's.
Most definitely not civil war era...

Maybe he will get lucky and find a sucker...

Andrew

YUP looks like a "crocus cloth rebuild" to me.....must of run out of it at the accessories..... 8)

 

[lazylathe]

The pictures he uses are the exact ones from www.lathes.co.uk

That seems pretty fishy to me...

Andrew

You also have to wonder why the lathe is in such good condition (maybe because he "borrowed" the pictures) and the
accessories look as if they were left out in a barn....

 

[Lakc]

Yes, considering where it is, Springfield, MA. Home of the Springfield armory. Its quite possible he had donated the pics of a lathe from there at one time, he does have the extra pic of the period correct looking tooling. Much of Lathes.uk comes from current owners, including the historys.

 

[Twmaster]

Having owned a couple of very old Rivett lathes, I can tell you Tony Grifith (the owner of lathes.co.uk) does indeed rely on machine owners to provide photos of rare machines.

Now I am not saying the eBay auction is not a scam, I am saying it is very possible this is legit.

There are people who will pay insane money like that for a machine like that. I've been the recipient of similarly silly money.