A friend wants to sell this lathe to me for a very fair price with a few turning tools. The lathe was bought new in 1983 and seems very clean and runs very smooth. The chuck is broken but all else seems intact.
It has a 1,725rpm 3/4 horse Doerr Motor and you have to manually change the belt on the pulleys to change speeds.
Is this a good lathe? What should I look for or test to be sure it operates properly? Does it have the right rpms to turn bowls and spindles? I am not an experienced lathe user.
Any other thoughts are welcome.