Hi guys,

So I’ve got the opportunity to buy my very first lathe. My colleague is upgrading his lathe and has offered me his vintage Milnes lathe from like 1900 or something (just search “Early Milnes Lathe” into Lathes.com).

I’ve used this machine a half dozen or so times, runs well, nothing seized etc.

I’m not a professional or “proper” hobbyist like you guys probably are – this lathe is probably going to be used a couple of times a month at an absolute maximum and nothing I build needs to have aerospace-grade tolerances so I’m not so worried about that (and have no right to given this machine was old when both world wars were fought!)

The lathe hasn’t got its original stand and is instead bolted to a bench that my friend would like to keep and which I really do not want. I have asked him for a rough weight of the lathe to see how many people I’ll need to  bribe with beer bring along to get it from the shed at the bottom of his garden to the boot of my car and then into my shed. However he apparently inherited the machine from his dad and came on the bench it’s still attached to so he has no idea.

I’ve tried looking on Lathes.com and Google for a weight but I either get nothing or the weights of some of the later Milnes lathes.

I’m hoping perhaps one of you guys have or have had one of these machines and could give me a rough idea?

Thanks.

Gaz

PS: Before someone replies with a comment saying “just go and spend £700 on a Myford (or whatever they are used)” I’ll be completely honest when I say that I just don’t have that kind of money to spend on something that’ll only see occasional use when the missus is out 🙂 and I doubt she’d be impressed with me spending such a sum without discussing it first!