# Delta 46-541S wood lathe



## Aurora North

Hey guys and gals,

My boss gave me a price for his hardly used, dust collector, delta 46-541S lathe. At one time he thought he was going to use it to turn legs for cabinetry, but osbourne has made it less time and cost effective to do so. So there it sits in the corner of the shop, collecting saw dust.

He was asking $1200 for it. It does have a custom extension bed that can allow it to turn longer pieces. (really only interested in it to turn bowls and briar pipes.)

seemed a darn high price to me... Does anyone have one who can tell me about it in terms of value? There's no way I'm going to drop $1200 on the thing... I would rather have a new laguna bandsaw or delta unisaw for that kind of money, but I would like to be able to make a reasonable counter offer because I'm dying to start learning how to turn.

Looking to eventually do bowls and plates. Doesn't seem like you could do a bowl much larger than 12" in diameter with it. Which isn't a terrible size I suppose.

This is what it looks like.


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## Kevin

Don't take my advice in any way shape or form as legit, because it's not. I can only tell you what I would counter with because I'm not knowledgeable about values for certain lathe models. Strictly from a haggling expert of sorts, I would casually counter with $300 because I know for certain I wouldn't pay more than $450ish for it. Most people are afraid to counter that way but it has worked for me numerous times - me pappy taught me that and it does work. Especially since you already know you don't want it that bad, that's how'd I move forward with it.


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## Mike1950

@Treecycle Hardwoods bought one like it and he turns. I have that exact lathe except there is a cover over the pulleys. There is one other difference- mine has a lot of dust on it- enough to probably add structural strength. I have told you how much I paid- with a duplicator. $1200 is too much. Offer him 500 and tell him it is not all there.


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## Treecycle Hardwoods

Mine is very similar. With the gap bed you can go up to 14 " in diameter but not very deep. No way is it worth 1200. 500 is about what I would pay myself.


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## Aurora North

Thank you gentlemen! Yeah when he said 1200 today I instinctively gave him the PPFFFFFFFFFTTTT knowing there was no way in hell it was worth $1200. Did some research on it. It's from the 80's and no longer made. Parts are not available from delta anymore. 

This is what I found from doing a search on it. 

quote
"
A fairly plain vanilla tool, 1980's vintage, sort of a light/middle weight machine. The thread is 1" by 8TPI which is a common size. The tapers are #2 Morse. Swings 12" over the bed, 16" in the gap. 


These were commonly used in schools, make sure it isn't 3 phase which many school shops were wired for. You could change out the motor on a 3 phase machine, or get a converter, but you'll have to factor the extra expense of doing that into the price. 


The gap in the bed is short, so it won't allow you to turn large deep bowls at the largest diameter. The outboard end of the spindle is threaded to take a faceplate, but I doubt if you could turn anything much bigger than what would fit over the bed on the inboard side. 


If it has a variable speed drive controlled by a lever on the cabinet, it may need some disassembly and greasing to get it running smoothly, this will take several hours of work. If the belt needs replacing it could be done with a link belt saving a lot of work disassembling the headstock. The simpler step pulley drive is sturdier and typically trouble free, and adequate for most turning jobs. 


It is old enough that you probably won't be able to get parts for it from Delta, so don't buy it if it is missing anything. 


People seem to be asking around $600 for one with the variable speed, but nobody bid on one on E-bay at that price recently. It isn't a great classic machine, but it would be a good machine for someone needing to do the occasional turning job. It would be worth bidding a few hundred dollars for, but I doubt it is worth more than $500.00 in most markets.


John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine " end quote.



You guys are spot on. I appreciate the time and advice gentlemen. 

-Yusuke

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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