I poured a 7" thick slab in my shop with lots of rebar. I'm already wishing I'd gone 10"-12".
Dennis, the more I use it, the more I appreciate how good it is! In general, if something isn't pretty much perfect, it's because the bozo who had it in the past repaired or adjusted something all wrong. The compound worked fine but felt funny; I rebuilt the gib tighteners and replaced a stripped bolt and it's smooth as silk now. The crosslide was smooth as glass in the middle part of it's travel but tightened up at each end. I suspected worn nuts, but no! It was Bozo again. He'd completely misunderstood the backlash adjustment setup, and in the process (this still floors me), lost the bearing off the far end of the leadscrew! I tore into it last week and found the bearing in the oil sludge under the slide. After fixing the backlash adjuster ass'y and adjusting the preload on the front bearing, and of course reassembling it with the rear bearing actually bearing the aft end of the leadscrew, I've got under .005" backlash and glassy smooth end to end.
Anyway, my point being that a high-quality used machine starts out "right" and can usually be returned to that state. Then you've really got something. I do worry that the Grizzly that Spotshooter wants might not start out right. Then again, he won't have to de-Bozo the thing when he gets it, or run the risk of buying a used machine that's truly worn out in an unfixable way. I see the conundrum.
I kinda have a fetish developing with my Webb. They made a 17x60 version of my lathe, as well as a 20x80. Both Mori Seiki copies. I truly hope one doesn't show up cheap locally, or I'm in trouble.
Dennis, I think you'd [bleep] over the Dutch lathe I saw over Xmas. Roughly a 18x60, 6000 lbs. A Hembrug A1. It's as beefy as the Webb, and reputed to be of similar high quality, but talk about obscure! It's in the family and may be mine someday.
