Okuma LK

7farmer7 said:

I have purchased an Okuma LK lathe and it has turned out to be a bumpy ride. The seller was adamant that it had sat in storage for 25 years and was in excellent condition. Stated that ways were smooth and clean. I took a chance as there are very few options in Idaho. It was damaged in shipping. Some handles were broken etc. Ways are terrible but the rest of the machine is a surprisingly tight. Very little backlash in cros slide, tailstock very nice. All gears in head look great. I believe they were running a tool post grinder so that dust damaged the ways. Sent bed to Schmiede to have it ground and it is going to be out of my price range to go any farther. I am a 70 year old farmer who is still working and I do not want to deal with trying to sell parts. Seriously considering hauling it off for scrap which makes me sick. Thought I would check in here and see if maybe my problem could be an opportunity for someone else.

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ncj9769 said:

Hey I have 2 Okuma LK’s. I have an Instagram page I created on rebuild. I had schmiede corp regrind my bed. I reworked the whole machine. What did you do with the machine?

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7farmer7 said:

Sorry we are repairing combines and I have not been checking in. I still have the lathe. Just cannot decide what to do with it. Purchased another lathe so it is resting in a safe place. Schmiede thought 6-8,000 just to grind the bed and that stopped me in my tracks.

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ncj9769 said:

No worries combines first! If you don't mind me asking who did you purchase from? I was watching one on ebay that was up north. I was not going to bid on it. It was priced too high for the condition it was in. Anyway yes I had schmiede corp regrind mine. The bed was reground and the carriage had turcite installed on it. I also had them regrind my crosslide and rework gibs. That was $5400. That was where my money ran out. I reworked my tailstock and compound myself by hand scraping. If you have some pictures you don't mind sharing please email me at [email protected] would love to see them. check out my okuma instagram user group page. okuma_lk_ncj9769

Thanks Jeremy

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ncj9769 said:

No worries combines first! If you don't mind me asking who did you purchase from? I was watching one on ebay that was up north. I was not going to bid on it. It was priced too high for the condition it was in. Anyway yes I had schmiede corp regrind mine. The bed was reground and the carriage had turcite installed on it. I also had them regrind my crosslide and rework gibs. That was $5400. That was where my money ran out. I reworked my tailstock and compound myself by hand scraping. If you have some pictures you don't mind sharing please email me at [email protected] would love to see them. check out my okuma instagram user group page. okuma_lk_ncj9769

Thanks Jeremy

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7farmer7 said:

I did purchase it off of EBay. Will look back to see who it was. I offered $3,000 shipped and he accepted. Shipping was $1,200 to get it to Idaho so I thought it was worth the risk for a quality lathe. It is in fact in very nice shape. All gears look good, tailstock is very tight. I am thinking it was not used much. Crosslide actually looks good too and has very little backlash. Apparently he was running a tool post grinder and it really wore on the ways. Schmiede marked 35 thousandths on the bed in one area….sheesh. It is just to nice a lathe to give up on it so I parked it. Will try to send you some pictures tomorrow . I purchased a Mori Seiki years ago off of EBay and it has been a gem. I was hoping to get an equal quality lathe that was smaller as I am growing older and my projects are getting smaller.

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ncj9769 said:

Yeah .035 on bed in one area is a lot. The max mine was worn was .006 or .007 small section close to the chuck. The oil port on the carriage was plugged opposite the operator. Okuma Lk's are good. So glad I rebuilt mine. I changed every bearing 100% rebuild. One weak link in the LK is the casting on tailstock that house the tailstock adjustment set screws. Its an easy fix. Cut them off and insert a square key stock and drill and tap it. The drive pulley's from the electric motor takes a hit if the machine ran a bunch with poor belting. The pulley's are 7000 series aluminum. I would love to have a mori seiki MS850 though I hate foot brakes. In the end they Okuma made some good manual lathes but they age now has taken a toll on them. I paid high for mine when I got it from colorado.(I am in Louisiana) My machine was used and abused. It took me a long time to get it where it is today.

Jeremy

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