Free Scully Lathe!

[dcharrison]

Ray A Rayburn just posted this in the unofficial AES page on Facebook:

Scully Lathe FREE if you haul it away. Located in the Queens section of NYC.
Bought from RCA Records NYC around 1980 and stored ever since.
Lathe only no cutting head or electronics.
At one time there was a spare turntable in a crate to go with the lathe,
but I do not know if it is still there. Building is being sold and need to get the lathe out of there.

You can contact him at: fb@soundfirst.com

I'm sure it needs some work, but I can't imagine it wouldn't be worth a truck ride just for parts.
I have zero additional information, but if you score this and it makes you happy, send me some records.

[sameal]

If i had a truck and any spare room at all.....

[piaptk]

This is KrisD's dream machine and we've talked to Ray and are gonna get it. He is soooo stoked!

[Stevie342000]

This is KrisD's dream machine and we've talked to Ray and are gonna get it. He is soooo stoked!

Yes him and me both, had I been able to get it to float and a long enough piece of rope I would have dragged it across the Atlantic Ocean for that price, thus avoiding shipping and import duties.

I do not know what it is about Scully lathes but they look so so good, it might be that it was the Scully I first saw a picture of, or that EMI used Scully lathes, yes I think they converted to Neumann pretty much at the same time as the US possibly earlier. I doubt that there are many surviving Scully lathes in the UK, there would not have been that many any how.

Not that many major record labels in the UK (some only set up in the mid to late 1950s, which probably means Neumann and not Scully) or the master tapes were sent to EMI or Decca for cutting plus pressing. Of the true flat-bed lathes the Scully looks must be real real heavy too.

I hope you keep us posted on the full restoration of this one from Pick up to completion, it is going to be a lot of work and a lot of fun too.

[Aussie0zborn]

Scully Lathe FREE if you haul it away.

Thanks for posting. These are the kinds of posts we like around here. Good job.

[Stevie342000]

If it was not being listed as free to haul away, what would the current market price of Scully range from not working to fully working, ball park figures?

I suspect that many of the Scully machines (given that they are mostly a solid block of metal) went to the scrap yard when the switch took place to Neumann lathes in the US a long time back.

[cosmO_O]

My biggest dream, a real Scully lathe, it's stays a dream

I hope it finds a new loving owner and get back to cutting business.

[Gridlock]

That would be cool if since was basically donated that some educational value for the community or whatever. Sounds like a fun project. i dont know man rockabilly just dont sound right on NEU stuff

[tragwag]

WOW this is so cool, congrats on picking it up Kris.
If only I was back in the northeast I would have given you a run for your money (or in this case - free)

[piaptk]

Well, after canceling $500 worth of plane tickets out of Nashville, driving 15 hours to NYC, booking $800 worth of new return tickets and four days (that I really couldn't afford to waste) worth of twiddling our thumbs in NYC blowing money we didn't have, it turns out that this whole thing was just what it sounded like.... Way too good to be true. Apparently, unknown to Ray, his mother had trashed the lathe and anything of value years ago. The only thing left was part of the base (cut with a torch into three pieces so it could be pulled out of the basement) and the table the lathe would have sat on.

What a disaster.

Mike Dixon: Lighting thousand dollar bills on fire and running screaming chasing wild geese through smoke and mirrors to the end of the rainbow since 1979.

[EpicenterBryan]

Lighting thousand dollar bills on fire...

Wow. Really sorry to hear that. It could have been a home run though! Never forget that.

Bryan

[powerstrip]

Well, after canceling $500 worth of plane tickets out of Nashville,...since 1979.

Well, I tried to save you the trouble...

I live 4 miles from there and floored it to queens on a much smaller wild goose chase when I saw this ad last thursday.

called ray about it, he said he was taking everything in order of emails received.

Maybe we should just start using Tidal and Spotify, guys. Surrender to mother brain!!!

[Gridlock]

Ouch dude that sucks. Speaking of goose chases if you start seeing old Soviet era Metallica Russian bootlegs on x-ray don't buy them. It's just me in a last ditch attempt at make money

[ejemmons]

I was so excited for you!! So sorry it had to be a torched mass of metal - ouch - that really hurts!

[barbaroja]

It sounded too incredibly good to be true

[sameal]

Man that hurts. I feel for you.

I will say, i asked for photos of it and received none, that was the end of my thoughts of questing to new york.

[dcharrison]

Well ain't that a kick in the shins! I'd feel guilty for posting this, but, hey, I didn't know and Ray didn't know, so...blame Mama.
Caveat emptor.