I am desperately jealous of your lathe.
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Looking at picking this Clausing up in the next week or two and figured I’d see if the braintrust had any strong opinions. 12” swing x 36” bed, 2HP 3 phase motor (would run with a VFD and strip out the original hydraulics). Would want to source transposing gears for metric threading at some point.
Looks like a good deal depending on wear. Look for obvious damage to way surfaces first. Pictures look like it wasn’t abused or dredged out of a swamp, but verify that in person.
Ask before moving the saddle and cross/compound slides. If it’s dry and they say sure, ask about oiling things first in a disappointed tone.
If you can run the saddle and slides with an indicator indicating on the tailstock box way to see about vertical and horizontal wear, do it. A couple thousandths vertical wear is fine for general shop work, five can be okay for hobby use.
Replacing spindle bearings is a major, probably expensive project. Check radial and axial play with an indicator if you can.
How much backlash is in the leadscrews and rack and is it consistent throughout travel? Should be consistent with way wear, maybe useful as a risk estimator if you can’t check way travel with an indicator.
Turn the various gearbox and apron selections and listen, watch that they do what they’re supposed to do. Turn the spindle by hand if it’s not connected to power.
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