Next step up from SB 10K

Question: what lathes would be a good general purpose upgrade from a manual hobby type lathe?
I've had my 1960's SB 10K for 20 years, it's always gotten me by. I'm not a pro machinist, but I do use my metal gear for work a fair bit, so say "semi-pro"

I'm focusing more on metalwork these past few years, and the first time I saw a machinist in a job shop running an industrial manual lathe (it was a Mori or a 10EE) was a jaw dropper. It was just a bunch of bushings or something like that, but the spindle was instant on/off, there were travadials and decent reading cross and compound dials, power feeds with levers and auto stops. The parts were dropping in seconds rather than the 5-10 minutes per that it would have taken me

General:
10-14" swing (I almost never go over 6", but I do occasional faceplate work, so a collet oriented setup not likely. No more than 30" long workpiece, I doubt I've ever spun anything longer than 12".
3 phase would have to be by converter, but would I figure that will be needed
Larger spindle: bigger than the 10K's .6875 through-spindle is a must.
Able to take an .060" pass on mild steel
Not fixated on US iron/old iron. If it runs and holds .005 that's the goal. Most of my work is "architectural tolerance"

Not a dream machine, just something I could make 30 threaded bushings on in an afternoon. I could never justify a $10,000 lathe, but would try to go a little north of $5K (and wind up spending $7000 for bare unit plus minimal tooling and build from there)

TIA for your 2 cents

Do you need metric threading? I like my Harrison m300. A three pahse lathe that size will be a little cheaper since home shop types shy away fro m3 phase. But vfd and three phase gives you power brakes, instant reverse etc.
Do not be fooled into investing into a quick change tool post for a home shop lathe. For many home shop types they do not have the need and a HSS lantern post is better.
Bill D

What part Of CA??

just keep in mind that the average smaller lathe (regals , traytops, Taks) gains~ 1000-1500 lbs for every 2 inches of swing.

a monarch or pacemaker even more so. depending on your situation and location , this could be a significant factor.

tnmgcarbide said:

just keep in mind that the average smaller lathe (regals , traytops, Taks) gains~ 1000-1500 lbs for every 2 inches of swing.

a monarch or pacemaker even more so. depending on your situation and location , this could be a significant factor.

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Anything over about one ton the engine hoist gets too weak to lift it into a trailer with the boom extended and with it retracted it will not lift it high enough.

Almost anything is a step up from a 10K. I suffered with one for a while and have never hated a machine more than that one. Not only its general weakness, but more subtle things like the tailstock with a rib on the front side as well as the back so when I worked with the compound at 90 degrees, it constantly bumped up against it. OTOH, I had a 14 1/2" South Bend for almost 40 years and did a lot of good work with it. I also ran a 12" Clausing for a couple of years. A bare bones lathe but solid and quite usable. Harrisons seem good, although the only one I ran was annoying because I kept reaching for the carriage handwheel with the wrong hand.

Bill

At least the Harrison m300 has an option of carriage wheel to the left or to the right. I think one way is preferred in North America and the other in Europe. I have no idea which way is preferred in Mexico and South America and Eastern Europe/Asia or Africa. I assume Australia goes the British way?

Clausing lathes often represent a step up at an affordable price. You did say a bit about what sort of work you have in mind, but were not too clear about accuracy. Accepting the tolerance figure you cite, 5 thous, would make it hard to do what is generally considered here to be decent work. That is not to disparage your particular work standards, just to suggest that you may want to aim a bit higher when taking the "next step up".

About the budget figures you give, think carefully about tooling costs. You envision "minimal" tooling, but I trust you recognize that decent lathe tooling can easily outstrip in cost the machine itself.

-Marty-

Suggest a 14x40 lathe. Aggressively go after Whacheon or YAM. TUM (Poland) is also good. Next step down would be Cadillac or Victor.

Of course, if you come across a LeBlond Regal ...

metalmagpie

I'm a bit confused by the OP when he states .060" per pass on his new lathe. I also have a 10k and I love it. Yes, it is light, but I easily cut .100" per pass in steel in high gear and up to .200" in back gear. A QC tool post really helps in that department.

Your next lathe step should be a 13 or 14 by 40, but be careful of two things. Many have only 9 spindle speeds and a limited number of threads available in their QC gearbox. You need to avoid them at all costs. Insist on 12 spindle speeds that range between 50 and 2000 RPM. Many Asian lathes do not go slower than 100 RPM. In that size range, 3 HP motors would be nominal. Be also careful about the spindle type, avoid odd ball spindles because of cost and availability of chucks and such, D1-4 offers the most availability and lowest costs. On a personal note, I won't own a lathe without a taper attachment. These offer much more capability in the same foot print.

If a fundamental capability of a "new" lathe is to make multiples or low production runs of things like threaded bushings, perhaps you should look at turret lathes.

smt

steve-l said:

Yes, it is light, but I easily cut .100" per pass in steel in high gear and up to .200" in back gear. A QC tool post really helps in that department.

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What? In high-gear as in high back-gear or on the direct belt-drive speeds? Flat belt or v-belt machine? I don't see any way you could come close to that on a flat-belt machine. Mine, even retrofitted to a rubber serpentine belt will stall well before that, letting out a shrill squeal of the belt. It may be able to do it on 1/2" stock but taking that much off thin stock like that is just asking for it to bite and climb the tool from deflection.