Leblond Regal lathe

[Petersen]

Anybody use these lathes for gunsmithing?

Looking at purchasing one and I have a little info on it. 15x52 - 1 3/8 headstock - I think the lowest speed setting is around 60 (not sure it might be 45). Comes with 3, 4, and 6 jaws.

Any ideas of what else I need to check out?

 

[lazylabs]

I have one.... Make sure you get a steady rest. I had to build one and it was a bit of a pain. The cross feed screw and nut on mine were pretty worn and could of been real expensive to replace if I used factory parts. I would take the time to adjust the gibbs to a snug fit at the headstock and then see how tight the carriage gets as you move it back that will tell you how much wear you have in the bed. I would also spin a dial in the chuck and see where the height of the tailstock falls into relation to the spindle. The point of those two test is mine needed about .002 shim to be centered when very close to the headstock. That put it a touch high when ran back to the far end of the bed for threading/chambering. The headstock/spindle is also long enough that most barrels will not stick through to run a normal spider chambering through the spindle. Both of those situation can be mitigated but just be aware and pick a path. I assume it has the L0 spindle, the backplates and used chucks are not as easy to find for that as say the D series. So in the end I really do like mine and it threads/chambers great. No worries about a low enough speed. Good luck.

 

[Petersen]

Thanks for the info.