What lathe?

[blsnelling]

I really need a lathe to do the mods I want to do. I only need a small bench top model. I'm very limited in bench space, so size is important. All I need for it to do is cut cylinder bases and piston crowns. I'm sold on mandrel cutters for squish band mods. I love quality tools, but what would be the best lathe for the least money that will do what I need?

 

[Zombiechopper]

least money is not the way to go. I have a friend that got a chinese lathe and it has been a nightmare. The gear box grenaded. Nothing was true. It had slop every which way, which he knew how how to correct and tune. It took him a long while to get it set up to be accurate, and then the gear box disintegrated. I don't know what brand this thing was but he always called it his 'chinese' lathe

Buy a used high quality American made machine and have it refurbed.

 

[sunfish]

Old American Made is the best way to go and not that hard to find one. I have a South Bend that's older than me and works great.

On the cheap and new, I'd get a Grizzly. Or Better but more money a Jet...

Stay away from Harbor Freight!!!

 

[blsnelling]

I do not want to buy an old lathe that needs refurbed. If buying used, I wouldn't know a worn out machine from a good one. I was thinking something along the lines of a Grizzly. Of course, if someone I knew had a good older US made unit, that would be different. It MUST be small though.

 

[Streblerm]

If you are looking at a Grizzly you may as well look at the HF models. I really dont think there is much of a difference. Check out some of the reviews of the HF lathes.

I would like to have one too and I have the same concerns about buying used. You should probably go fish for some information on a machinist website.

 

[Nitroman]

I really need a lathe to do the mods I want to do. I only need a small bench top model. I'm very limited in bench space, so size is important. All I need for it to do is cut cylinder bases and piston crowns. I'm sold on mandrel cutters for squish band mods. I love quality tools, but what would be the best lathe for the least money that will do what I need?

Machine Tool Rebuilding, Retrofitting, Repair, Service & Manuals

Brad, I spoke to the owner several times a few years ago when trying to acquire machine tools for a rocketry program I and another professor were trying to set up. The fellow will have several machines not listed on his list on the webpage. Call him and tell him your needs, he can set up up or point you in the right direction. You don't have to spend huge dollars, but on the other hand you don't want a worn out machine.

A good previously owned South Bend 9" can be had from eBay, close enough you'd be able to drive to look at it, but you need to drag someone with you to check it out, or hire a machinist from a local shop to look it over. Sometimes you can get one that is in remarkable condition. I bought a 9" from a machine tool reseller in Cincinnati that was completely original, with almost all the accessories, and had been hardly used at all, but I was lucky. Were I living in the states, I'd not worry about buying used since I could drive to check them out like I said, but it is up to you. If going new, as previously stated, Grizzly. In their search bar type in "South Bend Lathe", they are selling the brand again and they are a step above the current Chinese lathes.

Here http://www.grizzly.com/search/search.aspx?q=south bend lathes&cachebuster=5138330987826150

Do not be surprised by the prices, you get what you pay for. Practicalmachinist.com go to the South Bend section and ask for your needs. Sometimes people will sell a lathe they've just finished restoring for under $2k and it will be as-new condition. Ask around, they are very helpfull and won't laugh at you.

Don't be in a hurry, I have seen lathes sell for ridiculously low prices that are in good condition and come with just about every accessory and tool available for the machine. Take your time and ask your questions. Bite the bullet once and you'll own the machine for years and be tickled with it, or buy a lemon and curse it (and yourself), every time you try to use it.

 

[Mastermind]

Cut me off at the knees if you must but i bought a Harbor Freight 7X12 model for a "getting started" lathe. I took it completely apart and cleaned every piece. It is a must on these things........think about it.....they are assembled by 12 year old kids working for three cent a day.

The gear box was full of trash and needed greased. The ways and gibs needed truing and adjusted. Plus the three jaw 3" chuck is a joke.

I installed a 5" independently adjustable chuck, and did some mods to the cross slide to allow the tool post to back up further from the centerline. Also the slides under the carriage cracked and I had to make some new ones out of a more malleable material.

I have an Atlas from the 1930s that I'm planning to rebuild but I'm in no real hurry as this little lathe does a great job.

 

[imagineero]

Small, cheap and quality are two words that rarely go together when you're talking about lathes, mills, or drill presses.

I'd suggest starting with a google search on 'tramming' and 'lathe' to get you going. Tramming is the practice of zeroing in any piece of machining equipment. On good gear, you do it rarely, and mostly on critical jobs. When you search, you'll find that guys who buy cheap gear just can't tram it effectively. There's too much slop and play in every part of the machine - every mating surface, every gear, every moving part. So they can never machine any part to any meaningful tolerance. You can dump a whole lot of dollars on a cheap machine trying to get any kind of accuracy out of it, and still be throwing your money away. The machine is worth nothing from the time you buy it, and mods will not add to the value of the junk you bought.

Buy old, buy large, buy quality. Good quality machines aren't cheap, but they are good value. Especially if everyone reading your post knows you are going to be using that machine to work on their saw. Quality machinery doesn't need refurbing. It's well made from scratch, has very little movement between all the critical parts, and close to zero lash on gears plus often comes with a bunch of useful extras like extra tooling. On top of that, you'll lose no money when selling it.

Shaun

 

[firmwood]

You start getting within half a thousandth of accuracy , its going to get expensive if you need anything of size.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[blsnelling]

Bottom line, I don't need the quality you guys are recommending. I don't have that much to spend on one, nor the space to put it, thus my requirements in the first post. I love quality, but in this case am not willing to pay for it. I'm looking to spend <$1,000 on this purchase. So, what can I get for $500-$1,000?

 

[Mastermind]

Bottom line, I don't need the quality you guys are recommending. I don't have that much to spend on one, nor the space to put it, thus my requirements in the first post. I love quality, but in this case am not willing to pay for it. I'm looking to spend <$1,000 on this purchase. So, what can I get for $500-$1,000?

If you do decide to get a Chinese lathe. Just be prepared to do a days worth of work on it before it's usable.

I would love to have a nice South Bend. The Atlas has flat ways and is more prone to carriage misalignment.

 

[Nitroman]

Bottom line, I don't need the quality you guys are recommending. I don't have that much to spend on one, nor the space to put it, thus my requirements in the first post. I love quality, but in this case am not willing to pay for it. I'm looking to spend <$1,000 on this purchase. So, what can I get for $500-$1,000?

South Bend off eBay can be had for these prices. It will fit on a bench. It will be heavier than it looks. Take your time though and check them out. You can get one for $500-$700 that will work for you. You may even end up with a really nice one.

 

[oldmar]

Brad, I've got and old Craftsman/Atlas from 1939, the version with the roller bearing headstock, and it has about .0015 runout on the spindle. I got it with a lot of tooling for under 300 about ten years back, which was a great deal, but they're affordable and plenty accurate, especially if you're just doing alu and mag. If you see one locally, don't pass it over just because it's old and says Craftsman.

 

[Zombiechopper]

Cut me off at the knees if you must but i bought a Harbor Freight 7X12 model for a "getting started" lathe. I took it completely apart and cleaned every piece. It is a must on these things........think about it.....they are assembled by 12 year old kids working for three cent a day.

The gear box was full of trash and needed greased. The ways and gibs needed truing and adjusted. Plus the three jaw 3" chuck is a joke.

I installed a 5" independently adjustable chuck, and did some mods to the cross slide to allow the tool post to back up further from the centerline. Also the slides under the carriage cracked and I had to make some new ones out of a more malleable material.

I have an Atlas from the 1930s that I'm planning to rebuild but I'm in no real hurry as this little lathe does a great job.

exactly what I was saying. If you buy a new cheap lathe it needs to rebuilt and gone through just like a used one. Machine tools are never ready to go out of the box. They require lots of set up time and truing/adjusting to be accurate. You will have to do that with a used quality machine or new low quality machine so my money would go with quality if it were me.

 

[blsnelling]

The problem with buying used is that I have no idea what I'm looking for. What about a 9" Southbend model A?

 

[Nitroman]

The problem with buying used is that I have no idea what I'm looking for. What about a 9" Southbend model A?

Good popular machines with accessories, tools and repair parts readily available.

 

[nmurph]

This one-

8" x 12" Benchtop Lathe

It gets very good reviews. It was on my shopping list until I stumbled across the 7x HF lathe for cheap. You can find HF 20% off coupons in the back of lots of magazines. Be prepared to spend several hundred more to get the tooling and gauges you need.
Littlemachineshop.com is a good place to look for accessories and information.

 

[blsnelling]

Hardinge DV-59?

What's the minimum size I would need?

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

I'd be buying FATGUY lots of cold ones and have a long talk with him, JMO. I'm sure he knows some hook ups out there.

When I find stuff like this used up here I just run it by Al Smith and he tells me the good and the bad, just like Nik could for you.

 

[barneyrb]

I bought a used Smithy with the mill on top and it's all I need