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Have mill now need a proper lathe?

beeser

Cast Iron
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
I recently purchased my first mill, a Bridgeport 9"x48" with variable speed. Now I need to get a proper lathe to pursue my prototype work. I have a South Bend 9" lathe that obviously has its limitations. What would be a good general purpose lathe to purchase? The Hardinge HVL-H lathe seems well regarded but prices I've found so far are out of my reach.
 
How about this one? It's a lot closer to me but the bed length is much more than I need.
Big Sale Clausing Colchester Engine Lathe 15" x 5" Geared Head - business/commercial - by owner - sale

I remember using a Monarch 10EE in college many years ago and some of these are available somewhat close. Some appear to be offered at a reasonable price. Are these a good choice or will the electrics be a problem?

And what about this one? A local machine shop uses a Takisawa and is impressed with it.
Takisawa Engine Lathe 14" x 32" Model TSL-8 D ... by Webb - general for sale - by owner
 
Now you get to ponder the ins and outs of buying an old, probably heavily used/worn American or European machine...or a new - or near new - Asian machine for about the same money. Check out Grizzly lathes to see what you can buy new before committing to a heavily worn US/Euro unit. And watch reviews of those same lathes on youtube to get an idea of what they can do. For myself, unless a nice American or Euro lathe with minimal wear comes along at a good price, I'm probably going to opt for a new or lightly used Grizzly type "gunsmith" lathe (12" x 40"-ish size).
 
Now you get to ponder the ins and outs of buying an old, probably heavily used/worn American or European machine...or a new - or near new - Asian machine for about the same money. Check out Grizzly lathes to see what you can buy new before committing to a heavily worn US/Euro unit. And watch reviews of those same lathes on youtube to get an idea of what they can do. For myself, unless a nice American or Euro lathe with minimal wear comes along at a good price, I'm probably going to opt for a new or lightly used Grizzly type "gunsmith" lathe (12" x 40"-ish size).
Good points. I know a little more about wood lathes than metal lathes. The best wood lathe made by Grizzly is a far cry from the quality of an equivalent sized one made by Oneway. That comparison alone is enough to sidetrack my interest in a Grizzly.
 
That lathe looks excellent for the money. Stout bed casting, no gap. It would be nice to see it in person to hear it run, find out if it has both metric and inch threading, look at the tailstock quill socket etc.

An HLV wouldn’t be on my radar for general work. Quickly looses its appeal for parts > 3” in diameter.
 
That lathe looks excellent for the money. Stout bed casting, no gap. It would be nice to see it in person to hear it run, find out if it has both metric and inch threading, look at the tailstock quill socket etc.

An HLV wouldn’t be on my radar for general work. Quickly looses its appeal for parts > 3” in diameter.

Yes, it has both inch and metric threading. But I would like to find one nearer the left coast.
 
Now you get to ponder the ins and outs of buying an old, probably heavily used/worn American or European machine...or a new - or near new - Asian machine for about the same money. Check out Grizzly lathes to see what you can buy new before committing to a heavily worn US/Euro unit. And watch reviews of those same lathes on youtube to get an idea of what they can do. For myself, unless a nice American or Euro lathe with minimal wear comes along at a good price, I'm probably going to opt for a new or lightly used Grizzly type "gunsmith" lathe (12" x 40"-ish size).

One of my customers has a griz, I have used it, what a pathetic POS! No wonder they send me so much lathe work! Might be ok if all you cut is plastic.
 
Yes, it has both inch and metric threading. But I would like to find one nearer the left coast.

Ya look on Phoenix Craigslist ? 14" Logan in Florence,those are nice lathes. Metric threading ain't happening on most US stuff without transposing gear set. Even my 12" eastern import ya gota swap a few gears. My 18" does it in the QC box,Chinese lathe. And you get a lathe with 4HP up 3 phase a rotary converter is most likely in your future.BTDTGTS
 
Ya look on Phoenix Craigslist ? 14" Logan in Florence,those are nice lathes. Metric threading ain't happening on most US stuff without transposing gear set. Even my 12" eastern import ya gota swap a few gears. My 18" does it in the QC box,Chinese lathe. And you get a lathe with 4HP up 3 phase a rotary converter is most likely in your future.BTDTGTS

That Logan looks to be a nice machine. Wish it had a bed length of 40" though. What do you think of this one Lagun American Turnmaster?
Lagun lathe hand chucker - tools - by owner - sale
 
I'm seeing several lathes with a 30" bed length. Will this be limiting factor in general prototype work? The sweet spot seems to be around 40".
 
That Logan looks to be a nice machine. Wish it had a bed length of 40" though. What do you think of this one Lagun American Turnmaster?

Poor choice ,no tail stock,no threading . You want a standard 'engine" lathe able to thread etc for prototyping work.
 
One of my customers has a griz, I have used it, what a pathetic POS! No wonder they send me so much lathe work! Might be ok if all you cut is plastic.

Really? They've made a lot of different models over the years, including a lot of smaller/lighter duty models. Which one did you use and what type of lathe are you comparing it to? I've heard pretty good reviews about their newer/larger units, especially when you compare price. A brand new 14 X 40 Grizzly like this...

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...you can get delivered to your door for well under $5K. What can you get in a used American or Euro lathe with similar capacity for less than $5K? Usually something pretty clapped out or in need of some repair. Another issue for older lathes, even reputable brands, is parts availability. Granted Chinese stuff tends to go obsolete pretty quick, but Grizzly actually has about the best re for customer service on cheap Asian models. And they've been around for years and years now, so they're not exactly fly by night.

Not saying these Chinese lathes would necessarily be the tool for a day in, day out professional production shop. But for some schmo in his garage (like me), they seem pretty reasonable.

Here's a guy with some experience reviewing his, take a look:

 
An HLV wouldn’t be on my radar for general work. Quickly looses its appeal for parts > 3” in diameter.

Nor a 10EE, either.

PM's Monarch "community" has solutions for ALL of the electrical variations by this late date.

No one has an easy solution for majority of 'em only having 20" c-to-c before any daylight budget for tooling is factored-in.
 
I've had a Grizzly, and several older Encos. They were as accurate and reliable as any of the Logans and SBs I have now, and had some modern features I miss. If the shop burnt to the ground tomorrow I'd probably order a Grizzly. If I made aircraft parts regularly my choice might be different.
 
I just came across what might be a good deal on a Jet 1340 for less than $1k. It certainly has more capabilities than my current SB9 but less in quality than I expected to get currently. What do you think of this one?
 
I'm not a fan of Jet, Grizzly, Enco, etc.

Colchester or Cadillac for me. Well worth the extra $$$ imo.

I've got a Clausing 1300, I would consider that the bare minimum. It's nowhere near the Colchester in terms of ability to take a decent cut.
 








 
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