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West Central Wisconsin | Looking to purchase a lathe for my farm shop. I have a little knowledge of them but want to learn more hands on and make some basic stuff. Any suggestions on brands to look for? Sizes? Must haves? |
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| Do you have any retired machinists that you know ? these guys can help a TON ! I had a guy I got my lathe and mill from, that ended up being a 3rd grandpa to me, then I have several friends and some family that worked maintenance or in machine shops that gave me all kinds of different ideas.
What kind of work do you want to do ? intricate, medium / average, or heavy duty ?
How much space do you have, not only for the machine, but tooling as well ?
What about power ? single phase ? 3 phase ? will you need a phase converter ?
Do you want CNC or numerical DRO display ?
How much work do you want to do ?
Do you have equipment to be able to move it in your workspace or move it out of where you purchase it ?
I know lots of questions, but kind of a reality check....
FWIW, I have a 19" swing Heavy duty LeBlonde lathe, 1931 vintage, an older heavy lathe with about a 6ft bed.
http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=598658&mid=496...
This is a nice size for me, average size farmer, and self employed mechanic / fabricator. I use mine to make many of my specialized tools and pullers, build up / turn down shafts, make new shafts, and have even turned down some brake drums and rotors. I even made a winder jig, so I can wind small spool gun spools of aluminum welding wire off of a large spool to single 1 lb spools. I have knurled some tools but the thread cutting can get a little perplexing for me, especially the internal ones, but with a little practice ahead of time, can get it done.
I also use a smaller Craftsman lathe with a 3 jaw chuck, that I have set up more for intricate work, like bushings, 1" and smaller, but I can do it with the LeBlonde too.
Mine has a taper attachment, that I do use occasionally, and I posted recently of installing a cheap way to DRO a lathe, see link below.
http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=598658&mid=496...
I have a 3 jaw check and a 4 jaw, and use both, depending on the job, but the 3 jaw is on there 90% of the time
My one retired machinist neighbor has had several, but uses a rebuilt Atlas lathe quite a bit.
He had another from the late 1800's ( 1878 ? ) anyhow was belt pulley powered and he converted it to be powered by a electric motor and chevy 3 speed transmission, and it really worked and was made to look just like it was made for it.
Practical Machinist is a good website to browse, and I like watching TubalCain on YouTube. He is the one that really helped me nail down centering work for a 4 jaw chuck.
We have Yoder Equipment close in Toledo, and they are a tooling reseller outfit, and will have lathes of many brands and sizes.
South Bend and Monarch are good ones too.
You can have mine........when you pry my cold dead fingers from them.....I dont use them everyday, but I could not be without one anymore. My next thing to buy for mine is a tool post grinder for it. They get addicting once you start playing with them and doing some projects.
Good luck, and have fun.
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central mich |
We have two. An old Oliver and a newer aircraft quality smaller unit.
The old Oliver is used about 100%. It is about 18" swing and 60" bed. We wish we had a bigger unit with at least a
3" center hole. We would like a longer bed for truck drive lines and we turn some 2" plus material.
So it kind of depends what you intend to do. Hobby stuff small lathe, farm equipment medium ( maybe even smaller than the 18" x 60") , heavy equipment then get something a little larger.
Get the biggest center hole you can find, power shift is nice. I would prefer any older American brand name to Japanese JET brand and prob would not purchase a Chinese unit. Lots of them around. I have had many and sold them all. Lots of them in Mich and Wisc. in auctions of all the machine shops.
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Brandon, MS | Get something with a digital read out. Doesn't have to be CNC, but having the DRO will tell you exactly and accurately where the bit is. Chances are you'll be buying a used machine with lots of slack, so good luck getting the backlash out and making sure you've got the slack out of the dials. Just get a DRO.
And I'd look for something beefy. Didn't say big, just beefy. Heavy, lots of cast iron.
I think a 9 x 20 would be about the smallest I would see justifiable, and usually in that size it will be an import. There are lots of good 12 x 36 lathes out there. I think on the high side would be an 18 x 60. All depends on the lengths and diameters you plan on turning.
I would buy the package with the best lathe and the most tooling. A lathe without tooling is like a tractor with no implements. |
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NW Washington | You might be able to find a good used lathe that runs on 3 phase power at a good price, and then get a phase converter to run it on single phase.
As mentioned a digital read out will make an old sloppy lathe do good work.
Grizzly has some nice new lathes, they are all Chinese imports but I think the quality is pretty good. http://www.grizzly.com/search?q=(category:%22Metal+Lathes%22)
Edited by JohnW 1/19/2016 12:30
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West Chazy, New York | Try to get one with the chuck included. There are several different standards for attaching the chuck to the lathe, and if you buy the chucks separately you will have to make sure they fit your machine. Often the chucks, centers, and tool holders can cost more than the basic machine. The more you get at once the better chance you have of getting a decent value. If you expect to do a lot of thread work, be aware that most older American machines will not cut metric threads. A taper attachment is worth a lot, as are lots of different spindle speeds. It helps a lot if you can get the workpiece turning at the speed you want. My old American Pacemaker (1941) is by no means modern, but it will probably still be usable long after I am gone. |
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northeastern Ohio | My neighbor has a Monarch with a 6' bed. He has made a lot of parts with it, but is now retiring. He has it for sale right now: http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/hvo/5371437636.html |
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lizton IN | I have a old south Ben lathe and a old Cincinnati Lathe. Both old and both do a good job. How ever they do need 3 phase power. And all I have is single phase. That is the bad news. The good news is you can get a 3 phase power converter to make them work. I also wanted a better lathe what isn't wore out to cut threads. I got a Smithy lathe and it came with a lot of tooling and it was 220 single phase. With Mills and Lathes the machine is the cheap part the tooling to make it work adds up quick. I found a old south Ben lathe book that has helped more then anything. I have the memory span of a gold fish so i look at it a lot to make sure I am setting things right. If you can find someone around that can teach you would be your best bet. I don't have any digital on my lathes I just use the dials you can save some money there. I would get the quick change tool post they are great you can add that at any time. Keith
Edit to say there is a bunch of information on Youtube.
Keith
Edited by Lizton farmer 1/19/2016 09:10
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 cincinnati lathe.jpg (252KB - 80 downloads)
Smithy lathe.jpg (88KB - 56 downloads)
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SeMN | A good source if you are looking , is the monthly auction at Hoff. http://www.hoffonlineauctions.com/janme16.aspx |
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Sac & Story county IA | Something like this will give you learning and playing time.
https://www.hgrinc.com/productDetail/Machine-Tools/USED-SOUTH-BEND-L... Stuff from that place is pretty negotiable.
Now, HGR is the last place things go before scrap yard.
A vfd on a lathe is great. Feed with single phase and variable speed.
Number 1 rule about a lathe is never go close to one with hood sweatshirt strings hanging. It will pull you in and grind off your head. |
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lizton IN | I did think of something. I got my big lathe because I wanted to be able to do long shafts and big turnings. For me I do a lot of small stuff. bushings making pins. The bigger lathes don't do that quite as well. ON my big lathe my chuck will not go down tight enough to hold a 1/4 dia rod. If I had it to do over again I would buy a smaller lathe and go bigger if i needed it. That said i did buy both of the older lathes and phase converter for about the same money as the smithy.
Keith |
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SW MN | I have a used summit profit master for sale. It has both 3 and 4 jaw chucks. It has a 17" swing with and 84" bed. My email is good if you are interested.
Thanks Bill |
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| South Bend is about the best if you can find a vintage lathe. Otherwise a Grizzly lathe isnt a bad machine at all |
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Sac & Story county IA | The work I do is most all small stuff. Less than 6 inch diameter and less than 6 inches from the chuck. I use my small lathe way more than the 6000 pound one.
My big lathe and the phase converter. My wife will ask me "you have been using that lathe again, haven't you?" The lathe makes the lights in house go dim when it starts. The 10 hp motor and drive train pulls hard when it starts. Especially in cold. |
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Middlesex County, Ontario | I have a small 10"x18" with a 1" bore that I bought in highschool. Its not glorious and its not big, but it will make all kinds of bushings, spacers, and shafts. For me the musts are a 3 jaw chuck, 4 jaw chuck, quick change tool post, centers, drill chuck, and a whole lot of tool blanks. I grind my own tools, never was a fan of carbide for the farm as its all small jobs and often questionable metal, welds, etc. Carbide does not handle interrupted cuts well.
Life without a quick change tool post is fine until you try one, after that not having one is honestly enough to make you dread using the lathe.
I'd go bigger next time but a small lathe is better than no lathe,
You don't need a DRO. I work with and without a DRO and I'm fine and just as accurate without. Backlash doesn't affect accuracy. Its nice to have a DRO but its not a big a deal to me on a lathe. On a mill I would say differently. |
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White Stone, Virginia | Your round ram Bridgeport is just like mine! Don't see too many of them. I have a 14 x 40 Taiwanese lathe. I wouldn't want anything smaller as an only lathe. Get a big one and then a smaller one. I would have liked to have an old school American made, but this is what I found for a good price. As for working smaller pieces, you can chuck a smaller chuck in the big chuck. You get a lot of overhang, but it will work.
Edited by Rawleigh 1/19/2016 14:47
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just a tish NE of central ND | Book, how to run a turning lathe, is a good read if you need some pointers. Look closely at sharpening and shaping tool bits. Without good cutting bits you are dead on the water so to speak and will get frustrated fast.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-33rd-Edition-How-To-Run-a-Lathe-Sou...
Im pretty sure you can find that book a lot cheaper and maybe even free online. Its been re published over and over by a little different look or name for many many decades and it a good simple information source.
Watch tubalcain YOUTUBE videos on how to run a turning lathe, especially how to sharpen turning lathe tools.
Edited by School Of Hard Knock 1/19/2016 23:36
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used metal lathes
