buying a lathe

bingo1010

bingo1010

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am looking at buying a lathe and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to what size i should but so i don't go overboard and get something i never will use to it capabilities or on the other hand buy something that i have to replace because it can't do what i want.:confused:
 
I seen those at house of tools in calgary nice lathe it would have feed in both directions they have none in stock right now I was there a few days ago They had one about a month ago they will be getting more in the near future.
 
Not a bad deal considering it comes with several chucks. Got a place for a half ton lathe? Got the right electric service? It'll need to be properly installed too. A lathe isn't like a beer fridge that you can just roll in and plug it into the wall.
 
Not a bad choice, generally they don't have as low a rpm as they say, one of mine says 80 rpm, but measures 100.

Busy bee, and most machine tool dealer have similar lathes to this, if you have about double the $3000 to spend, a 14 x40 is my preference.

For the money this lathe is a great gunsmithing lathe, unless you are doing extra long barrels like some muzzle loaders or big and long like .50 browning barrels. For .50's I would recomend a minimum of 50 " between centres and a 2" spindle bore.
 
When I got mine they were on sale for $2799...pretty basic lathe..has auto feed on carriage and cross slide...you can unload and place it with an engine hoist...220 Single phase power is not hard to hook up. I made a cathead for the rear of the spindle and I had to mill the tool post to get a true 5/8 center height, but it works well. I've threaded and chambered a few barrels on it without a problem.
 
lathe buying advice

I seriously doubt that anything that house of tools sells can even come close to being called a lathe. How much money do you want to spend? what do you want to do with it?do you have space,power? do you want to know how much good tooling will cost and how much proper measuring equipment will run you? get the facts or you will be wasting your time and money. I can help you with the info but you will have to provide some details. I have worked on 20 different toolrom lathes and I can tell you that nothing comes close to quality like the old iron. European made or go home! An I mean the proper EUROPEAN made: Swiss, German ,English and some French stuff, However a Hardinge will make a good machinists knees weak.

I am not trying to be insulting to those that think House of Tools sell good stuff I am just saying do not buy junk.
 
My gunsmithing/lathe experience is limited to three South Bend lathes. A 10K (light 10") with 36" centers, a Heavy 10, also 36", and a 16" with 57". These machines could handle anything I needed to do, with rewarding precision.
I will be buying a lathe in the near future. I would love to find a crisp SB Heavy 10 or similar machine. Really good used machines don't grow on trees.
Some folks can afford top of the line Mercedes, others make do with Kias.
Most gunsmithing involves pretty basic machining. Carefully used, I don't know why an Oriental import couldn't do everything that might be required.
 
i am a millwright with general lathe abilities, and i figured rather than farming out my work and waiting forever that i might as well do it myself. there is allways the reality of doing work for others to help offset the cost. simple stuff like barrel shortening/threading, rebarreling, chambering, parts making...
 
sd watt have you bought any of your listed lathes with YOUR money?I don't mean where you work. They are all very expensive and 3/4 of the time worn out. I have personally owned over 30 lathes now, bought with my own money, including Schaublin's and a Wieler. I would never recomened a used lathe to a begining gunsmith machinst, there are way to many pitfals.

I have only seen one gunsmith with a lathe of your listing, a fellow that had a CVA. What kind of lathe does Kenny Jarret use?, a Korean made Webb lathe. Almost every pro gunsmith Lathe I have seen in Precision Shooting is Tiwanese or Chinese. Ask Bill Leeper what his recomendations are.

How about a Colchester Lathe, nice expensive european lathe, that has been made in Tiwan for the last 20 years!! You can buy the exact same lathe from First for a little over 1/3 the colchester price.

A hardinge is way to short between centres for gunsmithing uses in general. Guess what, even Hardinge buys clones of their tool makers hlvh lathe, for use in manufacturing their own lathe!
 
I share buckbrush's opinion on this, I see how well made the Taiwanese lathes are and how much better the higher priced Chinese lathes have become, they offer excellent value. I would love to own a toolroom Cazeneuve or similar high end lathe but that won't happen any day soon considering that they command upwards of $40,000.00 , I make due with lower priced machinery. If you have time on your side you could find a great deal on a used high end lathe but you would have to keep looking and jump on the deal when it presents itself. Then again for $3000.00 you could buy a brand new Chinese lathe, you would do well to examine the lathe properly before buying any machine at this low of a price but then again you will get what you pay for. There is alot of private labeling these days and it is possible to see the exact same lathe under a different name for a cheaper price, shop around.
bigbull
 
If you do buy one of these imports, go over it very carefully before runnng it. It is a good idea to relube, and make sure that everything is tight, electrics correct, etc.
 
reply to: Buckbrush

Calm down son,

Chinese lathes lack quality, Chinese lathes lack respectability. Any gunsmith that is machining on a Chinese lathe is doing it due to lack of financial options. He would undeniably choose the better quality piece of equipment if his finances allowed it.
Again I stated that if anyone were to buy a lathe I would suggest you save the "3000.00" dollars and hire the work out. It seems that you have lost the concept that a machinist takes pride in the equipment they use, I have yet to meet anyone that is proud of the chinese lathe that someone convinced them to own. Are you proud of your firearm choice? is it some piece of junk SKS? This is only advice though. It appears that there is a market for everyone. So the next time you plan to rip on someone remember that I was offering advice to an individual that was about to throw away 3000.00 dollars on a piece of equipment that would be better spent on hiring out the work to a competent gunsmith or machinist that actually knows what they are doing, unless of course he planned to give the trade the respect it deserves and commit in a professional manner. By the way: Cazeneuve is a good lathe that is way to loud and way to obnoxious, regrettably the best France has to offer. I anxiously await your witty reply! By the way, how did the Flames do?
 
Don't go too cheap

A friend of mine recently purchased a Chinese made lathe. It has no feed screw separate of the lead screw and the chuck is mounted solidly to the spindle. That is, you can't remove the chuck and install other chucks or the faceplate to turn work between centres. If you can, take a machinist friend with you and check out a lathe in person before you order something you will regret.
Bill
 
I have run a machine shop for 30+ yr. In it we have 3 lathes at present. A 9" Southbend that was my grandpa's, a 13" from Tiawan and a Clausing with about a 10 ft. bed and a 5" hole in the headstock. It is quite worn but will swing about 26". We use the 'jap' 13" for most threading and medium jobs and it is plenty accurate for any gunsmith work. I would say that any machine that will swing 13" with 36-40 inch centers would work. Removeable chucks are a must as a 4 jaw may be needed sometime it is a pain in the ass for most applications. More $ will get you gear drive. Tooling is not expensive if you buy from the US tool suppliers(Wholesale tool/Enco etc.) Just my opinion though, Mark
 
I have a 12x36 King gear head lathe.

It's not the best but it does what I want it to do. Apperently its assembled in North America but some parts are made in China.

it came with 3 and 4 jaw chucks as well as a face plate 1 3/4" hone in the spindle, steady rest and follower. I did'nt get the taper attachment or the oiler attachment.

I'm not using it for production work and spend a lot of time in setup to make sure that I'm going to get the results I want so its working good for me.

milage may vary
 
A very high quality accurate lathe, one of the last ones made before Rockwell stopped making them. This belonged to Sam Elliott. He bought it new in 1971 and I bought it from him a few years before he passed away.

Rockwell 11 metal lathe, with 37 inch centers, 48 inch flame hardened bed. 1.375” spindle hole. Threads from 4 tpi to 224. Variable speed from 45 to 250rpm and 220 to 1500rpm. Feeds in and out left and right. Pratt 3 jaw and a Pratt 4 jaw chuck. A 4 screw "spider" was made in the end of the headstock spindle.

If you can find one of these it is a great lathe. This one is 35 years old and is just broken in.......

lathe.JPG
 
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