Tuesday, May 08, 2012

My New (Old) Purchase ~ Rockwell 46-525

Purchased this Rockwell 46-525 lathe off Craig's List. Drove to Wilmington, Delaware to pick it up. Ad said the motor didn't run. The price was right. It had the tail stock, tool rests/banjo and other accessories so I thought I would take a chance. My thought... have the motor checked out and in the worst case I would need to purchase a new motor. Pictures from CL Ad. 




Lathes like this are tanks. They were used in high school shop classes but as the industrial arts programs were dropped from the curriculum they were sold/auctioned off. As it turns out this one was owned by a high school shop teacher. He gave/sold it to the person I purchased it from. The lathe sat in his garage for a number of years.

There are several good web sites out there for those wanting to research old machinery.

vintagemachinery.org
owwm.org/
old-woodworking-tools.net/

You can still get parts.
partsdirect.com
acetoolrepair.com

Here are some images of old Rockwell lathes.