Mini lathes?
- Thread starter TrxR
- Start date
I bought a Taig from Lee Valley and I have never regretted buying it. I do a fair bit of case forming for obsolete cartridges. Many gun related parts have been made on it. Firing pins ,M dies muzzle loader jags and cases from solid bar stock. I have used it to make die sets, was more to see if I could make them. With the right attachments any case can be made from solid round bar. Try finding M dies for obsolete calibers. Drastic case length reduction with a saw blade. I have used brass ,aluminum and softer steels.
Nope don't regret buying it.
Nope don't regret buying it.
Brought back a HF 7x12 from US trip some years ago. Played with it for a while, sold it. Cheap is cheap. Have 12x36 Taiwanese, solid machine, better quality than China made. A small high quality one is a different story, but pricy. Haven't followed prices or brands for a long time.
The mini lathes are among the most frequently found "improved" and "upgraded" topics on You Tube and web sites. And lots of videos on their shortcomings as they come out of the box. Better than nothing but when you start trying to really make things down to a fine degree don't be surprised that it's the machine and not you holding things back.
If they were just a LITTLE bit better made they'd be a fantastic machine. But the often poorly made dovetails for the cross and compound slides means that out of the box they won't do really good and repeatable precision work. The Taig for small parts is actually a better deal for being able to make things with the machine as provided if the smaller size is not a problem.
Next up the food chain from the mini lathes here in Canada is the 10x22 such as THIS ONE SOLD BY BUSY BEE. I've seen these at both Busy Bee and some other places and although it's a bit more than double the price it's easily 4x the machine. I would still suggest that the gibs and head stock bearings need to be set or at least checked following a little bit of break in on the bearings. But you could do nice precise work with them with no actual teardown and modifications to fix many of the built in issues found on the mini lathes.
If you want to do any hobby gunsmithing a lot of the stuff could be done on the Taig. Lots of the parts needed are screws or firing pins and stuff like that. So a Taig would do about half of the small parts that need a lathe. The 10x22 would handle all the rest other than more major barrel work that needs the whole length of the outside exposed for profiling. But with a 25mm through hole in the head stock a lot of the work on less than massive bull barrels could be done for chambering, threading and crown cutting.
I've found that for my own hobby smithing other than barrel work the jobs come down to roughly 1/3 are done with only hand tools and drill press, 1/3 need the lathe plus hand tools and 1/3 need the milling machine plus hand tools.
Note that I'm including my small 4x6 horizontal and vertical band saw for metal in this "hand tools" range since the work COULD be done with a hacksaw with a bit more sweat.
And most of the "hand tools" part is working with metal files. And for that you need both hands on the file. So a good fine running bench vise mounted on a solid and rigid bench holding the jaws at a good height for filing is a must and a huge factor in doing good quality work with a file. The top of the jaws should be just at or within a couple of cm lower than your elbows when your forearms are held level. No higher than that and not a whole lot lower either. My vise in my metal shop is at least as important as any of the machine tools.
If they were just a LITTLE bit better made they'd be a fantastic machine. But the often poorly made dovetails for the cross and compound slides means that out of the box they won't do really good and repeatable precision work. The Taig for small parts is actually a better deal for being able to make things with the machine as provided if the smaller size is not a problem.
Next up the food chain from the mini lathes here in Canada is the 10x22 such as THIS ONE SOLD BY BUSY BEE. I've seen these at both Busy Bee and some other places and although it's a bit more than double the price it's easily 4x the machine. I would still suggest that the gibs and head stock bearings need to be set or at least checked following a little bit of break in on the bearings. But you could do nice precise work with them with no actual teardown and modifications to fix many of the built in issues found on the mini lathes.
If you want to do any hobby gunsmithing a lot of the stuff could be done on the Taig. Lots of the parts needed are screws or firing pins and stuff like that. So a Taig would do about half of the small parts that need a lathe. The 10x22 would handle all the rest other than more major barrel work that needs the whole length of the outside exposed for profiling. But with a 25mm through hole in the head stock a lot of the work on less than massive bull barrels could be done for chambering, threading and crown cutting.
I've found that for my own hobby smithing other than barrel work the jobs come down to roughly 1/3 are done with only hand tools and drill press, 1/3 need the lathe plus hand tools and 1/3 need the milling machine plus hand tools.
Note that I'm including my small 4x6 horizontal and vertical band saw for metal in this "hand tools" range since the work COULD be done with a hacksaw with a bit more sweat.
And most of the "hand tools" part is working with metal files. And for that you need both hands on the file. So a good fine running bench vise mounted on a solid and rigid bench holding the jaws at a good height for filing is a must and a huge factor in doing good quality work with a file. The top of the jaws should be just at or within a couple of cm lower than your elbows when your forearms are held level. No higher than that and not a whole lot lower either. My vise in my metal shop is at least as important as any of the machine tools.
NavyShooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- XMU Local .303
I went through this a couple of years ago when I was lathe shopping.
I did some shopping. I'm a hobbyist - I'm looking to do hobby level work - gun stuff, home shop stuff, nothing industrial. So, I looked at hobby machines. I determined that my 'minimum' length of work was 22" - so I could work on an 18.5" rifle barrel. That basically put me into the 10x22 lathe range. 22 was my 'minimum' and I figured I'd consider longer - there are 28" and 30" lathes in the 10X or 12X range - so, I figured I'd include them in my examination. I also considered a powered cross-feed, and the availability or inclusion of a QCTP. Also, because of my shop setup, I was limited to 115V power.
The price range I set was between $3500-4K. I was willing to consider slightly over $4K to get extra features.
I also included in the price for each the following: Stand, QCTP set, Live center, Precision Keyless chuck, turning tool set, shipping.
I compared the CX 706, CX 701, G0602, G0602Z DRO, G0752, G0752Z DRO, KC-1022ML, PM 1022, and PM 1030.
Prices ranged from $3539 (G0602) to $5191 (CX 701)
In the end, I selected the Precision Matthews PM1030 at a price of $4067. (It ended up, with customs fees, cross-docking, etc, running me just about $4300 all said and done.)
I got a 115V lathe that came with a QCTP pre-installed, an RPM range that goes down to 50 RPM for threading, has power cross-feed, and has a 30 inch bed - I have used the extra length a couple of times now.
So. In the end - what's your desired capacity for work? Looking at one of the little mini-lathes, you are really only getting about 8-10" of useable length of cut.
Here's a couple of threads about my decision making process, and the setup of my lathe:
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/pm-1030v-has-landed.67355/
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/canadian-shipping-costs-estimate.65071/
If you buy small, you'll spend again. Buy big enough to do what you want to do in the end.
Good luck with your decisions!
NS
I did some shopping. I'm a hobbyist - I'm looking to do hobby level work - gun stuff, home shop stuff, nothing industrial. So, I looked at hobby machines. I determined that my 'minimum' length of work was 22" - so I could work on an 18.5" rifle barrel. That basically put me into the 10x22 lathe range. 22 was my 'minimum' and I figured I'd consider longer - there are 28" and 30" lathes in the 10X or 12X range - so, I figured I'd include them in my examination. I also considered a powered cross-feed, and the availability or inclusion of a QCTP. Also, because of my shop setup, I was limited to 115V power.
The price range I set was between $3500-4K. I was willing to consider slightly over $4K to get extra features.
I also included in the price for each the following: Stand, QCTP set, Live center, Precision Keyless chuck, turning tool set, shipping.
I compared the CX 706, CX 701, G0602, G0602Z DRO, G0752, G0752Z DRO, KC-1022ML, PM 1022, and PM 1030.
Prices ranged from $3539 (G0602) to $5191 (CX 701)
In the end, I selected the Precision Matthews PM1030 at a price of $4067. (It ended up, with customs fees, cross-docking, etc, running me just about $4300 all said and done.)
I got a 115V lathe that came with a QCTP pre-installed, an RPM range that goes down to 50 RPM for threading, has power cross-feed, and has a 30 inch bed - I have used the extra length a couple of times now.
So. In the end - what's your desired capacity for work? Looking at one of the little mini-lathes, you are really only getting about 8-10" of useable length of cut.
Here's a couple of threads about my decision making process, and the setup of my lathe:
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/pm-1030v-has-landed.67355/
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/canadian-shipping-costs-estimate.65071/
If you buy small, you'll spend again. Buy big enough to do what you want to do in the end.
Good luck with your decisions!
NS
NavyShooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- XMU Local .303
Oh, should note, once upon a time, I bought a Sherline 4400 lathe/mill combo.
Wasted a LOT of money making it work and accessorizing it.
Better to buy a bigger machine than going with a mini one like the Taig lathe. That said, I have a Taig CNC Mill in my garage that I'm hoping to get around to assembling someday soon.
NS
Wasted a LOT of money making it work and accessorizing it.
Better to buy a bigger machine than going with a mini one like the Taig lathe. That said, I have a Taig CNC Mill in my garage that I'm hoping to get around to assembling someday soon.
NS
I purchased a taig a few years back.by the time I had baught all the accessories available for it I would of been better off buying something bigger for only a slight difference in price.dont get me wrong,the taig is a nice machine but you will hit her limitations fairly quick.
NavyShooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- XMU Local .303
Lets take the Busy Bee 7x12 lathe, their CX-704.
https://www.busybeetools.com/products/lathe-mini-7in-x12in-1-2hp-cx-series-csa-cx704.html
Base price (currently on sale) is $950.
Their QCTP is $170
You're up to $1120.
With taxes that goes to just shy of $1300.
With that you get a lathe that has a maximum carriage travel of 10.5 inches.
Honestly, if this is all that you can afford - save your money, or sell a gun and go bigger. You'll be thankful in the end.
NS
https://www.busybeetools.com/products/lathe-mini-7in-x12in-1-2hp-cx-series-csa-cx704.html
Base price (currently on sale) is $950.
Their QCTP is $170
You're up to $1120.
With taxes that goes to just shy of $1300.
With that you get a lathe that has a maximum carriage travel of 10.5 inches.
Honestly, if this is all that you can afford - save your money, or sell a gun and go bigger. You'll be thankful in the end.
NS
I had a old Myford ML7 lathe for probably ten years. I just sold it to a guy at work in november. It cost me 900$ and i sold it for 1000$ after surface grinding all the ways and gibs. they are well worth the money. And they are 7"x21" and have good wight to them and made in England. I loved it. But i have all i will ever need at my work.
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Given the amount of stuff that needs to be done to a mini-lathe to make it into a reasonably plug and play tool, you should really consider a used, older lathe.
Consider that if you are not able or willing to put the time into doing any possible repairs to the used machine, then you are essentially in the same boat, buying a less capable, smaller machine that was made down to a price point, rather than made up to a specification. A lathe that is absolutely beat to heck, is still likely starting out about as worn out as a mini-lathe was when new. But if you shop even a little wisely, you should do much better, for the same money.
I have had several used lathes that I have bought, used, and sold on, a couple South Bend 9's, one 10 inch Rockwell, and a Myford. I still have my second Myford, for which I have a pretty good selection of goodies, and likely will have, if not this same one, then at least one like it, up until they bury me. Well, plus my 13x40 Colchester Master, 11x24 Emco Super 11, and a Marshall WW Pattern Watchmakers lathe....
For my nickel, buying a used lathe, is like to give you a better experience, with, likely, less actual repairs or work needed to make it happen. Add to that that you may end up with a fairly well equipped lathe instead of a bare one, and the math looks even better.
The biggest problem, as I see it, is if the idea of risk at buying a used lathe stalls you, like as not, you won't be able to tell what is wrong with your new cheap lathe either. And that is going to make for a rough ride getting to the point where you can actually make anything with it.
Consider that if you are not able or willing to put the time into doing any possible repairs to the used machine, then you are essentially in the same boat, buying a less capable, smaller machine that was made down to a price point, rather than made up to a specification. A lathe that is absolutely beat to heck, is still likely starting out about as worn out as a mini-lathe was when new. But if you shop even a little wisely, you should do much better, for the same money.
I have had several used lathes that I have bought, used, and sold on, a couple South Bend 9's, one 10 inch Rockwell, and a Myford. I still have my second Myford, for which I have a pretty good selection of goodies, and likely will have, if not this same one, then at least one like it, up until they bury me. Well, plus my 13x40 Colchester Master, 11x24 Emco Super 11, and a Marshall WW Pattern Watchmakers lathe....
For my nickel, buying a used lathe, is like to give you a better experience, with, likely, less actual repairs or work needed to make it happen. Add to that that you may end up with a fairly well equipped lathe instead of a bare one, and the math looks even better.
The biggest problem, as I see it, is if the idea of risk at buying a used lathe stalls you, like as not, you won't be able to tell what is wrong with your new cheap lathe either. And that is going to make for a rough ride getting to the point where you can actually make anything with it.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
I’ve owned one of the busy bee mini lathes and if you’re not looking to do really precice machining they are fine, I used it to make lots of things over the years and it did the job well for what it was. Turning small things down and threading with dies making screws and bolts etc, spacers, collars and such. I got into some milling operations on them as well, if you can afford a better quality older used lathe you will get more out of it in the long run and be able to do more precision work on it. For general hobby turning it’s fine, remember though they come with no tooling. So add that into the price, gets more expensive than first glance...
leebuilder
Regular
- Location
- Nova Scotia
I also went through this. I have a taig, good machine if it could thread it would be outstanding. I since got a 12,20 Ltd by smithy. I can do alot!! If the spindle bore was bigger I could do even more. I looked a busy bee, asked the salesman a few questions and I havent been there since. Looking back the machines weren't very accurate or sturdy.
Do your research, dont be cheap really the lathe is only a start tooling and bits are expensive. You will need tools for layout and measurement as well. Four jaw chucks, steady rests, tool holders and a grinder as well as access to a welder will all help but the list goes on if you wish to pursue "making chips"
Good luck
Do your research, dont be cheap really the lathe is only a start tooling and bits are expensive. You will need tools for layout and measurement as well. Four jaw chucks, steady rests, tool holders and a grinder as well as access to a welder will all help but the list goes on if you wish to pursue "making chips"
Good luck
The Taig by it self is the cheap part as with others also. It is the extra tools needed that costs. $1500 more on cross slides,compound slides, risers and carbide bits just to name some. I usually keep some Lee Valley cutters around so they can be custom made for such things as cutting new extractor grooves in case heads.
The acccessories will be worth more than the lathe. My Taig and tools add up to over two grand.
leebuilder
Regular
- Location
- Nova Scotia
You should get familiar with deep hole drilling and small diameter reaming plus cutting rifling, I run into this all the time "oh just make a barrel, can't be that hard". Really it isnt just the gear required is pretty specialized, the footprint of the gear isn't what you would expect and then to do it straight in fine steel. I know I could do it but,,,,,, it would very expensive and time consuming just to get to a usable 30 cal barrel 28 inches long, hats off to the machining master artists that do. I taught machine shop and pulled off quite a few jobs that many wouldn't touch.
Be well
Check out the prices on those deep hole drills .
The lathe is the cheap part of the equation, you need tooling it to make it work and that adds up.Grizz
You'd be doing pretty well to get out the door with a lathe at all, at that budget.
Frankly, you'd be reliant upon a golden opportunity of pure luckiness, while shopping for a used lathe.
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-7-x-12-Mini-Metal-Lathe/G8688
https://www.busybeetools.com/products/lathe-mini-7in-x12in-1-2hp-cx-series-csa-cx704.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-x-10-inch-precision-mini-lathe-93212.html
As the links above show, the days of buying a mini-lathe at retail for $250 are long gone.
And, per several other posts, you still have to tool it up before you really have a useful tool.
As for what you can do with a basic Taig, you can do about the same as you can do with spinning a part in a drill press. Dress off ends of firing pins, freehand turn and round off the ends of pins, clean up screw threads with a chaser or file, and similar jobs. The basic Taig lathe is a very basic base tool for adding all sorts of other stuff to. Hell, that pretty much describes most lathes. But the Taig starts out a little more bare than most, if cheaper.
Now, if you are at all handy, you can make a lot of the stuff you might need or want. But you are still looking at a decision a to whether you want your hobby to be USING the machine, or fixing it and making stuff for it (which is enjoyable in it's own right, if you are so inclined).
I would say that the real target audience for small machine tools like the Taig and Sherline, would be those folks that are really enthused about machining as a hobby, but simply do not have the space to dedicate to placing even a small lathe or mill in their homes. They are not a 'cheaper by being smaller' option.
If by barrel making you mean threading and chambering a blank, that's a whole different thing from gundrilling a bar, reaming and rifling it.
Thanks for the reply and answering my questions. Unfortunately, people seem to be focusing purely on the cost......It’s not about the money, but at the same time, I don’t want to purchase a 5000 dollar lathe “just to see if I could use one.” I am interested in getting into gunsmithing and want to “equip” my bench so I can actually do stuff. That said, I’ve not done any machining and am willing to purchase a Taig (350.00 at a store near me) as a “starting point” regardless of what accessories I also need to see if it would be a useful tool.
Once I get an idea of what all I can do, which is why I am here, I can try to determine if it is worth it to me. If all I can do is make firing pins here and there, I am not sure that I would see that as valuable as my Ghost Gunner C&C
I've been down this road and run a lot of different sized lathes. I even did a few hours on an old round bar bed style Unimat SL micro lathe that has the round bar bed. If your goal is to do parts for guns I'm going to reluctantly suggest that you won't be very happy with a Taig for much other than as a training aid and for small parts. Plus unless you can find a used outfit with a bunch of tooling you'll spend lots on it over and above the lathe itself on tooling and accessories that won't be at all useful on the next lathe you buy to actually make the things and do the work you really want to do as a hobby gunsmith.
And as mentioned a few times already the lathe cost is just the wedge in the door that leads to buying a lot of bucks worth of tooling to go with the lathe. They are not as bad as a mill where you'll end up paying the price again in tooling. But I'd say it's fair to say that if you buy a new 10x22 over the next few years that you would end up buying about half the lathe cost in tooling that is only used on the lathe.
The downside on starting with a new small lathe that you will outgrow is that money spent on all the extras is generally lost. So there's much to be said for buy the size you can actually use for your goals and that way what you invest in the extras is a life long investment. Otherwise you buy a lot of stuff and then sell it with the machine at a major loss.
Knowing what I do and having made a lot of things in the lathe as well as doing a bunch of small bits as a hobby gunsmith I'd have to say that I'd be quite happy with the 10x22 lathes out there these days. Even happier if the machines had a proper full featured quick change gearbox for threading and feeds. If you could find a South Bend 9 lathe of any sort in half way decent shape it would be an excellent way to go. Or a 10" Logan. Both of these do show up here and there and often have the desirable QCGB. These are a great size. And truth be told if I suddenly found that my 12x36 and tooling had shrunk overnight to a 10x22 with tooling I would not miss the lost size all that much or all that frequently. But I sure as blazes would not want to drop down to a 7x mini lathe of any size. Both for what seems like a lack of decent quality from looking at the videos on "fixes" as well as the lack of room on the machine for items and tooling.
Another option that shows up fairly often is the slightly light duty 9x19 lathes. They are still sold by some places but mostly have been replaced by the 10x22 options. You could do worse than one of those if you came across a good deal on a used one. Not as nice or solid as a South Bend or Logan or some others but still quite a decent size and weight for smaller items and some light duty barrel work.
If you decide to make this leap into a metal shop and take on some home hobby gunsmithing sooner rather than later your eyes will turn to a mill. I think I do maybe 1/3 of my gunsmithing on the lathe and 2/3's on the mill. That's machine time mind you. For every hour on the machines I put in at least one hour with hand tools. Mostly filing things to shape using some nice files and my trusty 90lb bench vise. A massive amount of home gunsmithing can be done with hand tools. In fact a good amount of my machine use has been to make things like stoning jigs and other bits to use with the hand tools. Often the making such tools might take four hours of shop time to make the tool that lets me stone a trigger sear hook which takes literaly 90 seconds. But it's a very important 90 seconds....
But the point about the mill....... you might be tempted to think that if you buy a 3in1 machine that you'll have it all. But sadly those 3in1 machines are neutered as lathes and neutered as mills. And they aren't even great drill presses either. There's a whole list of shortcomings with them. It's like ever compromise that could be made was made and the added total is well short of what they COULD be. Bottom line is seriously do not bother. They are OK for learning some basics. But as you start to get better and want to work to tighter tolerances you'll find that these beasts trip you up at every step. And a lot of features I take for granted on my lathe and mill are not even available on the 3in1's. And that further adds items on the "kiss of death" list that applies to such machines.
Having said that again if you come across a helluva deal on a 3in1 by all means buy it and learn on it. As long as you don't buy the smallest and cheapest of them you could use them to learn quite a bit and even make usable smaller items on it. Then when you realize that it's holding you back sell it for the same heck of a good deal to the next person. Just do NOT pay full pop or close to full pop for it because no one wants them at anything like the new price.
And as mentioned a few times already the lathe cost is just the wedge in the door that leads to buying a lot of bucks worth of tooling to go with the lathe. They are not as bad as a mill where you'll end up paying the price again in tooling. But I'd say it's fair to say that if you buy a new 10x22 over the next few years that you would end up buying about half the lathe cost in tooling that is only used on the lathe.
The downside on starting with a new small lathe that you will outgrow is that money spent on all the extras is generally lost. So there's much to be said for buy the size you can actually use for your goals and that way what you invest in the extras is a life long investment. Otherwise you buy a lot of stuff and then sell it with the machine at a major loss.
Knowing what I do and having made a lot of things in the lathe as well as doing a bunch of small bits as a hobby gunsmith I'd have to say that I'd be quite happy with the 10x22 lathes out there these days. Even happier if the machines had a proper full featured quick change gearbox for threading and feeds. If you could find a South Bend 9 lathe of any sort in half way decent shape it would be an excellent way to go. Or a 10" Logan. Both of these do show up here and there and often have the desirable QCGB. These are a great size. And truth be told if I suddenly found that my 12x36 and tooling had shrunk overnight to a 10x22 with tooling I would not miss the lost size all that much or all that frequently. But I sure as blazes would not want to drop down to a 7x mini lathe of any size. Both for what seems like a lack of decent quality from looking at the videos on "fixes" as well as the lack of room on the machine for items and tooling.
Another option that shows up fairly often is the slightly light duty 9x19 lathes. They are still sold by some places but mostly have been replaced by the 10x22 options. You could do worse than one of those if you came across a good deal on a used one. Not as nice or solid as a South Bend or Logan or some others but still quite a decent size and weight for smaller items and some light duty barrel work.
If you decide to make this leap into a metal shop and take on some home hobby gunsmithing sooner rather than later your eyes will turn to a mill. I think I do maybe 1/3 of my gunsmithing on the lathe and 2/3's on the mill. That's machine time mind you. For every hour on the machines I put in at least one hour with hand tools. Mostly filing things to shape using some nice files and my trusty 90lb bench vise. A massive amount of home gunsmithing can be done with hand tools. In fact a good amount of my machine use has been to make things like stoning jigs and other bits to use with the hand tools. Often the making such tools might take four hours of shop time to make the tool that lets me stone a trigger sear hook which takes literaly 90 seconds. But it's a very important 90 seconds....
But the point about the mill....... you might be tempted to think that if you buy a 3in1 machine that you'll have it all. But sadly those 3in1 machines are neutered as lathes and neutered as mills. And they aren't even great drill presses either. There's a whole list of shortcomings with them. It's like ever compromise that could be made was made and the added total is well short of what they COULD be. Bottom line is seriously do not bother. They are OK for learning some basics. But as you start to get better and want to work to tighter tolerances you'll find that these beasts trip you up at every step. And a lot of features I take for granted on my lathe and mill are not even available on the 3in1's. And that further adds items on the "kiss of death" list that applies to such machines.
Having said that again if you come across a helluva deal on a 3in1 by all means buy it and learn on it. As long as you don't buy the smallest and cheapest of them you could use them to learn quite a bit and even make usable smaller items on it. Then when you realize that it's holding you back sell it for the same heck of a good deal to the next person. Just do NOT pay full pop or close to full pop for it because no one wants them at anything like the new price.
The reality from my angle, is that you don't have to spend $5K to try it out.
For roughly the price of a new mini-lathe, in most parts of the country, you can pick up a decent used lathe, much larger, and generally far better equipped.
A few years back, I picked up a 9 inch South Bend, in pretty rough, incomplete condition, for $20. My first Myford cost me $1400, my second $1200, both were on stands, and came with assorted tooling which would have cost me a great deal. I have since sold one of the Myfords on, as well as having added somewhat to the goodies for my remaining one.
I was outright GIVEN 2 lathes, a 12 inch Atlas on a steel stand (fair condition), and an 11 Inch Emco Super 11 (new, unused, accessories in boxes), along with a South Bend Shaper, for being willing to haul them away. They were in a formerly mothballed school, the school was facing having to pay someone to haul the stuff, and word reached me. I gave away the 12 inch Atlas to one of my co-workers, a young fella that was interested and showed some promise as a machine tool user.
I paid $3500 and change for my Colchester off Crown Assets. It came with two large deployment boxes (4x4 foot steel sets of drawers set up for stacking by forklift) full of chucks and other tooling. A bargain! Current retail on one of the Pratt Burnerd chucks is pretty close to that. The equivalent of that lathe now is well past $20K new, without all I got with this one.
So, while it sounds a lot like we are talking about price, it's really more about value.
I think you will find that you won't get very much satisfaction out of a Taig lathe, if you have any definite plans to actually make parts or do small jobs beyond what you might accomplish with a file and spinning the part in a drill chuck. It comes with a tool post mounted on the cross slide, so parallel cylindrical shapes and facing off are about the limit, as well as hand turning for shaping radii and knocking off corners.
I know a couple folks that are running CNC, and manual, Taig and Sherline lathes and mills, they are happy with them, but they accept the limitations that come with. They also spent considerably on parts beside the basic machine, plus the CNC parts.
My best advice to about anyone, is to start watching the usual suspects (kijiji, craigslist, any other local buy and sell sites) for metal lathes, and check their data out on www.lathes.co.uk, and any other assorted websites, to see what you can learn about them. I don't think you'd be happy with the capability you get for the money, with a Taig for your purposes. By the time all the parts you need or want get added to it, you are into a considerable investment, with less to show for it than if you spent the same on something more appropriate to your actual wants/needs.
Rather than wondering what you can do with $350 worth of new Taig lathe, maybe spend some time considering the parts you expect to want to make, and consider the work envelope and capabilities you figure you need, and shop accordingly. You will end up happier in the long run, I think.
