I am just a self taught hobby Machinist and recommend purchasing a new (not wore out) Lathe Milling Machine combination like the Grizzly G9729 presently priced at USD 2495. Be prepared to spend about the same amount for Tooling like 4Jaw, perhaps a Indexing Turntable, Cutters, Endmills, quick changers and such.
When I purchased my Machine almost 20 years ago she paid for itself within the first Week when I was able (with advise of an experienced Machinist) to make a Gear the Local Machine Shop wanted 1200.** to make.
Cheers
Friends don't let friends, buy a 3-in1!
The basic problems with them, are manifold, starting with that they run at too high a spindle speed, at their lowest setting, generally. Set-ups demand some pretty open-minded imagination, in order to get done what you want beyond the basics, and they have the rigidity of a plate of overcooked pasta.
If I were to place money down as a bet, my $20 bill, says that the issues with 3-in-1 machines, have probably chased more guys away from metalworking and machining as a hobby, than they have caused a success with.
The few guys I HAVE seen come away happy from the ownership experience, were generally pretty experienced guys, that had the background, to be able to know how to cheat their way around the various shortcomings. I have seen an awful lot of new guys that were really frustrated with theirs.
And the guys I have seen consistently happy, were the guys doing metal spinning, a process where the high clearance of the chuck, and the high speeds, play directly towards the needs of the operator!
I understand the interest in buying new, but you can do a fair bit better, buying a decent machine that was built to a far higher standard, and that has a little wear, rather than buying a machine that is essentially already built with that and often more, wear, as it was built to a very low price. Saw a listing a short while back for a Dean, Smith and Grace lathe, 13x30" machine, asking was $5300, or, about what a similar rated capacity machine is new, off the floor at Busy Bee. Except the DSG is a TANK, and will outweigh the Busy Bee lathe by about two tons. Not a good 'upstairs apartment' lathe, but in every way, a better machine than the BB one.
My rule of thumb, when looking at the machine, is to see how it generally presents itself. Does it look like the Owner took care of it? Or did he use the lathe bed as a place to beat nails straight? Do the ways look the same from one end to the other, or is there an are that looks visually very different? What comes with it, makes a huge difference. I have bought a couple lathes, solely because of what tooling or accessories came with, so as to upgrade mine. Not the the stuff I sold on was bad, it just wasn't in quite as good shape, as what I kept.
And never forget, that the easiest way to find a better lathe, is to already have one at home! Seriously. They start falling from the trees, almost, and if you see an opportunity to upgrade, you should leap on it, if you can.
Look at lots of lathes, if you can, and you soon form a picture of which ones are in decent nick, vs. those that were simply not taken care of at all.
