Tips for a new buyer

Gday guys, later today I am going to have a look at a Sheraton 9 inch model A lathe. It's fitted with a Norton gearbox and has a couple spare chucks etc that come with it. My main concern is checking for wear, I don't need Hardinge accuracy, however, I am buying a metal lathe so I can turn at a reasonable degree of accuracy. Do you have any tips for me in regards to checking if this machine is a lemon or worth a shot? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I am a diesel mechanic by trade, and I own a full set of micrometers, dial indicators etc, so any measurements you can recommend would be awesome! Thanks in advance, Matt

Check for excessive backlash in the compound and cross slide screws, any over about .020" may require a bit of work in the future.

Check with finger nail in a vertical move the front and rear vee ways , a distinct lip could indicate wear, a small lip for a machine of that age would generally be normal.

Check that all the headstock gears have there teeth ( back gear small and large,cone pully and bull gear ).

Check that the headstock bearings don't get too hot to hold your hand against at full speed.

Check that the feed clutch and half nuts work correctly.

Check that you can get feeds from the gearbox.

Check that it has the correct change gears fitted in the gear train.

Check the spindle thread and look and feel the spindle taper.

Check and feel the tail stock taper.

Most if not all of these things can be fixed or replaced but they may effect the selling price.

Hi

I Have a Sheraton 9,model A , the model with the tapered roller bearings spindle. It's been a great lathe but I have twiddled it a fair bit to get it to a higher standard. I would not fancy the plain bearing version myself.

Be aware that Sheraton back gears DO NOT change over with Hercus gears , its a different PA .

I do not know whether Sheraton lathes have serial numbers marked on them.
If they do, and if the tailstock has a serial number, check that the tailstock number matches the bed number and/or any serial number on the gearbox plate.

On my Sheraton, I had to place shims between the tailstock and its base, in order to to get it all lined up to the spindle centre height .