Buying a Levin lathe

[JseTay]

I am being offered a Levin lathe with maybe 20 collets, tool rest, motor, and pedal. The guy is asking $750. Is it worth that much? Thank you for the help!

[mbwatch]

Based on my own recent experience buying a lathe and accessorizing it, $750 feels a little high. The lathe and motor together are probably worth about $300. That tailstock looks like it has a micrometric attachment, which adds some value. But that set of collets is not especially big and only contains wire collets & centers, without any other specialty collets/chucks. That batch of collets sold independently would fetch $150-$200.

Without any more interesting accessories like a cross slide, this feels more like a $500 lathe. Unless that micrometer tailstock is an expensive accessory independently.

[JseTay]

6 minutes ago, mbwatch said:

Based on my own recent experience buying a lathe and accessorizing it, $750 feels a little high. The lathe and motor together are probably worth about $300. That tailstock looks like it has a micrometric attachment, which adds some value. But that set of collets is not especially big and only contains wire collets & centers, without any other specialty collets/chucks. That batch of collets sold independently would fetch $150-$200.

Without any more interesting accessories like a cross slide, this feels more like a $500 lathe. Unless that micrometer tailstock is an expensive accessory independently.

What I like about the tail stock is that you can put the collets in it to drill holes. I have a peersless lathe but I can’t drill holes because I don’t have anything that can hold collets or a Jacob chuck. That’s why I am interested in buy this one, but yes I feel like it is a little high.

[mbwatch]

Yes that is a nice tailstock. I could not see from the photo it would accept a collet. That is probably worth a few hundred dollars but overall the price is high.

[nickelsilver]

The tailstock isn't Levin. It was made by Boley-Leinen and sold under the Paulson brand in the U.S. There's a chance that it actually fits the bed correctly and lines up correctly, but much more likely to be a poor match.

[JseTay]

13 minutes ago, nickelsilver said:

The tailstock isn't Levin. It was made by Boley-Leinen and sold under the Paulson brand in the U.S. There's a chance that it actually fits the bed correctly and lines up correctly, but much more likely to be a poor match.

I am glad you told me, I was thinking very seriously about buying it. Maybe that’s why he is selling it. Thank you for your advice!