hello i bought one of these from an local auction house for 60 dollars...it has some parts ,tool holders and gravers and more...i did some homework on it and the prices on ebay are much higher than what i paid..it was marked as a watchmakers lathe but i don't know if i can use it for that...it looks like i am going to need a tailstock and a motor of course...but with a set of collets which i know my watchmaker has for sale..would i be able to use it as a watchmakers lathe...it seems like this was a good high class lathe when new..and for its size i don't know what else it would really be used for...
Prices for these on eBay are extremely unrealistic. Watchmaker's lathes, complete with collets, motors, and tool rest and tailstock can be had for less than $500, I recently sold one for $450. They are very expensive when new, of course, usually thousands. Is this an 8mm? If you can get those collets for it and a motor, you are off and running. The cross slide is a nice thing to have, also, to buy one after the fact would have cost you about $250. A good purchase, for sure.
Whenever I'm asked if I could build a watch from scratch, I am reminded of what George Daniels had to say about this, which was, essentially: You can build one in a year if you are really good, and organized, but up to two years is average.
So, in order to make it worthwhile, I would charge no less than $80,000 for this watch, or two year's salary, at a modest rate. The additional cost of tools would have to be factored in.
Roger Smith will make you a Daniels watch starting at $45,000, but he has helpers and lots of tools, and George's designs all ready to go, and he IS good, he even impressed George, and improved the co-axial design.