duckkisser Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 http://vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/images/5547-B.JPG looks much like this one so someone I know is willing to sell me an American yates lathe that has a pattern guide. its a little rough some rust on the bed its set up to run on 110 It has a hand wheel, has some of the chucks and a faceplate for outside turning. he said he would go through it and make sure its oiled and the belt and motor are in good shape. he pluged it in and it ran good he said he has made hundreds of spindles on it said he would sell It to me for 200 dollars. anyone know anything about these machines? how well they work? how hard is it to get new parts for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Wow, 200$ is a great price for a working J-170. I own and restored a Yates American J-170. If the one you are looking at has a rounded base like the one in the picture then it is the older model. If its a square base then its the newer model like mine. Keep in mind that the newer model was last produced over 40 years ago. These are great lathes, probably the best and most sought after lathes among old woodworking tool enthusiasts because of how incredibly solid they are. The castings are ridiculously oversized for a lathe, essentially metal work heaviness even though its definitely a wood lathe. They also have a reeves drive which means they have speed control that keeps full torque even at slow speeds. They have an odd spindle size which means you won't be able to use just any chuck you find. But it is not hard to find accessories for it. My chuck is from oneway for example. Parts like extra castings if something is broken are impossible to find. Parts like new belts or bearings are stock, if a bit pricey compared to normal. I think a set of new bearings for mine ran close to 80$. But that was also because the bearings are bigger then a large fist. If you get it go to owwm.org with questions. You can see my restore at my website apple-wood.com under shop equipment. Also here is a picture of the before and after of my lathe. I also paid 200 for mine, but it wasn't working when I got it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted April 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 thanks apple mine is is much better condition then yours was. i assume that by casting you just mean the frame below the bed. i realy need to pull it apart and check out the guts but it looks solid. didnt see any major rust except surface didnt look like the castings were damaged. the tail stock was there and a few of the original parts. mostly i was looking at it for the weight and the outboard turning ability since i want to do larger bowls. do you know what the thread size is so i can see if there is an adapter out there so i don't have to buy new chucks since i have a small fortune wraped up in chucks now. do you know if its worth having as lathe if i restore it or does it seem to have some major flaws like they dont run true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 I believe it is 1 1/8 with 8 tpi. I believe oneway makes an adapter. They run very true and quite a few people use them for outboard turnings. Check out owwm.org for specifics on these machines, the folks there are very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted April 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 ok i will if nothing more ill buy it use the base and somehow mount my lathe too it for extra weight as a base but i dont think ill need too since it seems to be in good shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Apple Wood, that's a crazy transformation. The paint looks amazing. Did you drive it down to Earle Scheibe and have it painted like a car? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Heh no nothing like that. I put it outside on pallets and used an hvlp spay gun hooked to my compressor to paint it. I think I did 3 or 4 coats. The whole restoration process takes about 2 months working a few hours a day. And just so there is no confusion. When I am talking about castings I am referring to all the parts made of cast iron. That means the bed, the spindle holding assembly, the banjo, and the tailstock. The base is sheet metal. Don't buy it just for the base. Plus the machine is quite large, even if you wanted to, chances are your lathe would be too small for the base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arminius Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 $200 for one that is running well enough to turn spindles is daylight robbery. If you restore it to Apple Wood's standard, your grandchildren could be using it. To get a comparable lathe in today's market, you would be looking at ten times that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted April 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 as long as the casting are solid and you can buy stock replacement parts for the bearings, shaft, and belt which are basically the only parts that move I would be good. a lathe is such a simple machine that there really isn't much of anything that can go wrong. if the motor breaks you just replace it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastyboy Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 I'd buy it NOW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atol86 Posted July 13, 2019 Report Share Posted July 13, 2019 I just bought one of these needing some work to get it back in order, biggest problem I have is the missing drive pulley, any help with dimensions would be awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted July 13, 2019 Report Share Posted July 13, 2019 27 minutes ago, atol86 said: I just bought one of these needing some work to get it back in order, biggest problem I have is the missing drive pulley, any help with dimensions would be awesome! That post is 4 years old. Though you might get lucky getting help from the turners club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted July 14, 2019 Report Share Posted July 14, 2019 Check vintagemachinery.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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