"New" Lathe for the Shop

[@Brad-zb4nl]

I started my business back in 1980 making parts for mini donut machines in Minneapolis. My training was tool & die making. The machine was branded with the name Webb. Exactly the same machine. My wife and I built our manufacturing business up to just under 100 employees and sold just over a year ago. I always enjoyed inventing products and up until the end I still used the Webb lathe to make prototypes even though we had a shop full of high tech CNC machines. The only thing I ever did was about 20 years ago I had the machine professionally painted to match our company colors. The machine was built like a beast and still can’t hold .0005 all day long. You will be happy with your new addition! Congratulations and best wishes for success.

[@edsmachine93]

Very nice lathe. Definitely a nice find. Rare to get an old lathe in such nice shape. Thanks for sharing. 👍🇺🇸👍

[@RustyInventions-wz6ir]

Wow that is a beautiful lathe. I love the size of it.

[@smplyizzy]

You large lathe looks amazing. Now way to refurbish it?

[@mudnducs]

Very nice looking machine!

[@hmw-ms3tx]

Thanks.

[@BruceBoschek]

Gorgeous machine! Congratulations. Good looking workshop, too.

[@hmw-ms3tx]

Thank-you.

[@paulhammond7489]

The old timer that used sure had a big lathe for a home hobby shop. That's an excellent find, wish you luck in obtaining some more chucks etc. Felt for you when you explained about the chuck jaws being separated by the auctioneer into another lot, heard that too many times. Sometimes they'll point you to the buyer of the other lot in case he bought the lot for other stuff.... Looking forward to seeing it make chips in the new year :)

[@hmw-ms3tx]

I tried several times to get hold of the guy who bought the other lot but I never heard from him. I've since ordered a set of jaws from the UK. I'll find out if they fit in the new year.

[@paulhammond7489]

@@hmw-ms3tx Pity he never responded. I hope the jaws from the UK do the job in that case :) Looks like you have a gem of a machine there :)

[@jerrypeal653]

Looks like a good score

[@jasonhull5712]

That’s a beautiful machine ! It’s interesting, I see more shops doing more work on the smaller lathes. The bigger ones are sure capable, but they will wear out the arms after 8-10 hours of cranking ! Haha

[@hmw-ms3tx]

For about 95% of the work I do these sized lathes are perfect. You can still hog a significant amount of material off with 10hp.

[@deltamachine2059]

Yup, you scored. Mori seiki clone. Also badged as whachecon and webb. Parts are available from whachecon which is still in busout of LA in California. Also Greer machinery n CA has parts. I have the webb badged one at home and run a 24" version at work.

[@hmw-ms3tx]

Yes, I think I got pretty lucky considering the usual lack of any decent lathes in my area.

[@Nucul3arTOAST]

Congrats on the machine ! Its got a Webb 17x40 with a 5hp motor, its idendical to your machine. Its probably my favorite lathes ove ran, very smooth and accurate

[@hmw-ms3tx]

I'm looking foward to trying it. Everything on it seems very smooth and well built.

[@stovepipe666]

Nice score will do you for many years to come and the guy coming after you

[@hmw-ms3tx]

Thanks.

[@swanvalleymachineshop]

Looks like a good machine there Ken . Machines like that are rarer than rocking horse shit in that condition ! There is a place in North America , you may have heard of them as i have forgotten their name but they have hundreds of used lathe chucks on the shelf . I just picked up 9 Chinese brand new lathe chucks half price , good enough for most work ! I will use them on tail stock's & rotary tables etc . 👍👍👍

[@jasonhull5712]

GMT max ? .. now you got me curious 👀

[@hmw-ms3tx]

I agree, rocking horse shit would be quite plentiful around here compared to a used lathe in decent shape. I found a set of jaws on ebay from the UK and have ordered them. I'm 95% sure they will fit. I'll find out for sure in the new year. Ken

[@indefatigablelethargy505]

New machine days are always fun. How much does she weigh?

[@hmw-ms3tx]

Yes they are. It supposidly weighs about 5,000 lbs., but I was not able to weigh it.

[@xfire301]

A licenced copy of a Mori Seiki. Mine is imported and labeled Web. Built in Korea by (???). Yours is built in Taiwan. Tom Lipton has one like yours

[@hilltopmachineworks2131]

New machine day is always a good day. Your Yam has a lot of similarities with my 1981 Jet badged lathe. Probably made in the same Taiwanese factory.

[@hmw-ms3tx]

Could be they were made in the same factory. The company's name that built it was Yang Iron Works Ltd. of Taiwan.

[@kooldoozer]

Your lathe is a copy of a Mori Seiki. Copies of the Mori Seiki were also made by Whawcheon and Cadillac. A very good lathe. ---Doozer

[@Nucul3arTOAST]

Webb too !

[@hmw-ms3tx]

Thanks Doozer. It seems like it will be a good lathe, and with 10 hp I should be able to hog pretty good with it.

[@earleclemans4836]

Would you mind sharing your chuck storage solution sometime?

[@hmw-ms3tx]

I'll try to make a short video about it in the new year.

[@chadstrand7868]

great looking machine thanks for the video

[@hmw-ms3tx]

Thanks.

[@johntrevick2060]

Nice machine.

[@hmw-ms3tx]

Thanks.

[@theessexhunter1305]

nice, but i like the big lathe lol

[@hmw-ms3tx]

I like the big lathe as well but for the vast majority of the work I do it isn't really suitable. The carriage is so large and heavy (over 1500 lbs.) that you wear yourself out moving it down the bed. Rapid traverse on the carriage was an option on these lathes but it didn't come on this one. However, when you have a large piece of material and you need to hog it out in a hurry it is very satisfying to operate. It has a 20 hp motor but I'm pretty sure it could easily handle 40 hp or more. Whether or not the machinist could is another story.

[@xfire301]

I’ve got one of those!