Tim Campbell needed a machine tool company that was his bestie when it came to parts and that wasn’t happening.

Earlier this year, the owner of TC Machine & Repair in Boonville, NC split the casting on the tailstock of his metal lathe. He called the manufacturer, one of LeBlond’s competitors, for a replacement part and found out that they did not support parts on machines older than five years. He was out of luck.

He was able to rig the machine up to working order but vowed to himself when buying another machine, he would go with a company that provided its equipment with machine tool parts support.

Campbell bought a LeBlond RKL metal lathe, citing parts support as one of the central reasons.

LeBlond Supports Parts for Past and Future

“Unlike some other machine manufacturers whose product support becomes increasing limited as their machines age, we still provide OEM service repair and replacement parts for machines built as early as 1940,” says Jon Tallman, President of LeBlond Ltd. “Customers know that we have a reputation for supporting machines and can rely on us for timely repair and replacement parts.”

We’ve recently run a series of blog posts on the differences between LeBlond’s classic Regal line and its current RKL manual lathe models. See this post about the history of the two lines and this one about the primary difference between the two models – variable speed. The third post in the series discusses the advantages of a modern design that the RKL offers over the Regal.

RKL Parts Support: Newer so Fewer

This post is a coda to this series of posts but looks at a similarity between the RKL and Regal and that is parts support. LeBlond has tens of thousands of Regal parts and also supports the RKL, but with not as many parts because the product line is only five years old.

“LeBlond Ltd. does have support for their product lines like the RKL, K.O. Lee and Johnson Press to name a few,” says John Cook, a LeBlond Ltd. Customer Service Representative.

“We support the RKL line, maybe with not as many parts as the older Regal because it is a more current design and has fewer moving parts than the Regal. The Regal design for the headstock is only a two-range head versus a 12-speed head on the RKL, so you’re going to have less things potentially go wrong.”

OEM Parts are a BIG Deal

Over the years, LeBlond has stocked up on wear items for the RKL like parts for the apron (the X and Z axis drive), QC (Quick Change) box and gears and belts for the headstock.

All LeBlond parts are OEM or Original Equipment Manufacturer parts. “We have the original drawings for the original specifications on all LeBlond Ltd. parts,” Cook explains.

So if your LeBlond lathe or K.O. Lee equipment falters, be assured the company will support you with parts no matter the age of your machine.

If you’re interested in new LeBlond or K.O. Lee equipment, call LeBlond Ltd. at (888) 532-5663 Ext. 200 or email LeBlond Ltd. GM Aaron Juillerat at [email protected]. If you need original OEM parts for LeBlond, K.O. Lee, Standard Modern, Johnson Press, Deka Drill and W.F. & John Barnes equipment, fill out a contact form here.