Lets talk lathes

Ardent

Ardent

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Northern BC, Coastal BC, or Africa. Depends on the
I've finally got a big shop, and floors that will support real machines. What I need from my lather is a minimum 2" through bore, 36" between centers, and a nice long swing. Going to be doing barrels, i.e. contouring, chambering, and threading. Used is good, I prefer an older solid lathe to a new "ok" one. Any recommendations? All are appreciated. For my mill, I'll be shopping for a Bridgeport.
 
There is a recent thread in Gunsmithing, "Mill machines and what to get" which discusses this at length. IF you could find one in good enough condition, I could recommend a South Bend heavy 10, with 36" centres. Spindle bore is less than 2", but will pass at least 1 1/2". SB made similar lathes in larger increments. If you are looking for a used American, European, Japanese machine, condition and accompanying tooling are likely more important than make. A short headstock is helpful if you are going to pass a barrel through the spindle for chambering. Discussion has gone around the block several times with respect to the brand new Chinese lathes available, opinion varying from - one might make a passable boat anchor - to - capable of doing decent gunsmithing work. There are a number of websites where machine tools are discussed.
I'm in the same position you are. I now have a shop with the floor and access to install a machine, and am in the market for one.
 
There is a used 10" Atlas for sale in the EE. This should be a good machine if in good shape. There are lots of big "Bridgeposrt" milling machines for sale at good prices these days. Many older machines are being changed out for CNC machines and are selling a lot cheaper than you would expect.
Life is too short to live without a lathe!
"Only accurate lathes are interesting." Townsend Wheelmaker
 
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A 10" Atlas can be a very useful machine; the 9" and light 10" South Bends as well. Spindle bore is a little on the small side, but many prefer to chamber using a steady rest anyway.
 
Ardent said:
I've finally got a big shop, and floors that will support real machines. What I need from my lather is a minimum 2" through bore, 36" between centers, and a nice long swing. Going to be doing barrels, i.e. contouring, chambering, and threading. Used is good, I prefer an older solid lathe to a new "ok" one. Any recommendations? All are appreciated. For my mill, I'll be shopping for a Bridgeport.
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Here is an interesting link, copy and paste it into your address bar, then click enter:

benchrest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38795



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Thanks for the link, Dennis. I've seen the ads for these machines. Grizzly is well thought of, south of the border. Its an established business. The machines are undoubtedly manufactured to Grizzly's quality control specs. Apart from the added complication of importation, I've heard that Grizzly does not welcome Cdn. business. Have you ever heard that?
 
tiriaq said:
Thanks for the link, Dennis. I've seen the ads for these machines. Grizzly is well thought of, south of the border. Its an established business. The machines are undoubtedly manufactured to Grizzly's quality control specs. Apart from the added complication of importation, I've heard that Grizzly does not welcome Cdn. business. Have you ever heard that?
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I haven't heard one way or another... But it doesn't make sense that they would not sell to Canada... money is money... no restrictions on lathes.. freight is always added... I would just find a dealer as close as you can and make a trip with a truck or trailer...

I am sure I have seen some "Grizzly" stuff in Canada.. ?
 
From what I've been able to see working with machine tools for the last 10 years:

Buy american for power (strongest machine I've ever worked with...)
Buy german for overall quality
Buy swiss for small precision (fast, small and precise)
Buy japanees for cnc (automation part is excellent, machine itself is ok to great, best mix is a american frame with a japaneese control system)

stay away from anything made in China, Korea or south america.

I'm currently working on a Japaneese FIRST conventionnal milling, it's good but lacks in power and rigidity, accuracy is pretty good...usualy around 0.001/0.002. NEVER EVER buy EUMEGA brand of machine tools... they are excellent for the first 6 months to 1 year, after that your better off with a file. TOS is a decent line of machine for medium loads both in lathes and millings. Horizontal mills is the playground of BROW&SHARP nothing can compare. Bridgeport and Cincinaty are very powerfull machines but in the models I worked with where not realy well suited for the work i had to do with them ( RPM was to low for aluminium so where feeds, but that was on a 12 year old machine 5 years ago....).

for CNC OKK are workhorses, MAZAK are for fast and light production work. YAMATSURA are excellent overall machines but the interfaces are not to user friendly althow they are mutch better nowdays...
 
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tiriaq said:
Apart from the added complication of importation, I've heard that Grizzly does not welcome Cdn. business. Have you ever heard that?
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I got this info from a friend, who was told by one of the operators on the order desk at Grizzly, that there is a family connection between the owners of Grizzly, and the owners of Busy Bee Tools, and that they would not cut into each others territory.

Dunno whether that's the facts or not, but that's what a guy I trust told me he was told.

Grizzly has a better reputation than most of the import tool dealers, for the prep work they do on the machines, and for their followup support if required.

I had considered a road trip from BC down to the Washinton state Grizzly dealership to buy off the floor, as the prices are better than those at Busy Bee, even factoring in the exchange, which was really poor at the time.

Cheers
Trev
 
Ardent said:
I've finally got a big shop, and floors that will support real machines. What I need from my lather is a minimum 2" through bore, 36" between centers, and a nice long swing. Going to be doing barrels, i.e. contouring, chambering, and threading. Used is good, I prefer an older solid lathe to a new "ok" one. Any recommendations? All are appreciated. For my mill, I'll be shopping for a Bridgeport.
Click to expand...

You pretty much rule out all the old americal iron with the 2" through bore. Almost all the American made lathes that are in the 36" between centers range, have through bores in the 1 3/8 to 1 1/2 inches range, which was large enough to use a 5C collet in.
To get the through bore in old american iron, you are into a machine that is much larger than the average guy can find room for. On the plus side, though, these big machines are cheap, as they have few guys willing to go to the trouble.

In new machines, it's going to be one of the asian built ones, or a mortgage.

To get a 2 inch bore from Grizzly, from what I can find on their site, you have to buy a 16 inch swing lathe. Nice to have, but big!

Cheers
Trev



Cheers
Trev
 
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