King 12/36 Lathe

[jason silliker]

Finally found a lathe reasonably close. Picked up this King 12/36 lathe that’s only four years old with very minimal hours. I would like to have the next size up, but this is a great starter. It’s very clean and everything was there except for the manuals which I’ve printed off online anyway. Came with a little bit of tooling. I have to order a precision level and make up a set of feet so I can level it and raise the height a couple of inches. Ironically, I had two of these old filing cabinets, that once it’s raised up will fit under it quite nicely to hold all the extra tooling and cases. Of course I’ll paint them to match lol. I haven’t been getting many hours and I’m forgetting what little did learn lol. Can’t wait to get it. Set up and give it a try. Any tips trips and info was greatly appreciated.

 

[Sawdust]

That looks nice Jason. Being a woodworker most all of my life it’s to me seeing metal tooled into something. Keep us posted on your progress of setting it up.

 

[4getgto]

Really looks nice.
I wouldn't know what I'm doing but looks like fun..

 

[29 Chev]

Nice looking lathe. One suggestion I will offer is to mount the bases on steel casters and then have pads that are threaded and can be turned down to come in contact with the floor to lift the lathe off the casters and make the unit stationary and they will also make it easier to level it. That way if you need to move the lathe out away from the wall so you can insert a long piece of round stock in the headstock spindle or extend it out past the steady rest at the tail stock end you can. Having the lathe on casters will also make it easier to clean the floor area around it once a month or year or ??

 

[BMaverick]

Some day I'll get a lathe. I want a bench top one about 24-inches long. I've used the Grizzly brand at work before.

Doing this, I hope to make tractor 4WD gearbox splines that typically go BAD after 40 years of use!

 

[MFDAC]

Great machine, Jason! Sure hope you show us a project soon that you built on it!

DAC

 

[Cvans]

It's nice you were patient and picked up a newer machine with the quick change gearbox. I've always been attracted to the old lathes but have not regretted getting something newer. The best advice I can think of is to think your projects through before starting. In other words know beforehand what all the steps it will to complete the project. It will be a little tough at first but if you start with simple projects it will come naturally. You-Tube is your friend and there are some excellent videos out there.
Just have fun and be carefull.

 

[TAHOE]

Nice grab.


I have access to multiple lathes and Bridgeports at work, but I'm a lowly assembler and not a machinist and never been trained to use them.

 

[WNYtractortinkerer]

Complete with a Jacobs chuck! Sweet