small metal lathe suggestions

Hi all I'll try to keep it short. I am a retired/disabled machinist. I owned a medium size CNC shop for about a dozen years making my own products and doing limited job work. Now to keep busy and make some extra $$ I am producing a line of products, one of a kinds mostly. I'll be working in brass/copper/bronze mostly but some 1018 and other steels similar. simple turning/id threading mostly, parts up to 6" in length max. Unimats seem too small, but they look mighty cute! Sherline seems ok, not sure of the power, Taig is decent, I have their mill and have been happy with it for 7 years so far. I am leery of the chinese 7xs although the micro mark with digital / no gears seems not bad, and a few others I saw mentioned here. I would prefer my old South Bend 9 (first lathe I ever had, got it for $200 wish I didnt sell it along w/ the biz) but unless I get a steal they are out of my $$ now. Thanks for your comments. Regards, Cary

If those would fit your workpiece size, OK... but they are not a cheap option. You may find that Unimat is WAY out of your price range..... they are selling for silly dollars now.... totally unrelated to their actual usefulness.

Neither Sherline or Taig, new, is as low priced as used Logan, or some others, and you may not get as much extra with it...I am not sure what they come with. SB seem to have some "brand-related markup" that doubles the price sround here, but elsewhere they are not so expensive.

N.C. may be another issue... what's cheap in Ohio, or St Louis, may not be cheap there. In N Ohio, my father-in-law is selling a low-end "workshop" S-B that he doesn't need in his shop..... he is getting offers of "I'll take it off your hands for $100" (apparently folks think he is either hard up, or an idiot selling grandpa's tools) ........ but around here it would sell in a day for $500 at least, and likely could be sold at a couple hundred more. That indicates the value of "location", which may be working against you.

If the SB is a possibility for you other than price, I'd think they would be cheaper (used of course) than the others are new.... and I have seen exactly 2 Taigs for sale used, and NO Sherlines, even around here.

How about a Proxxon pd400 made in Germany very well made but metric only.

http://thehobbyistmachinestore.com/store/proxxon-pd400-precision-lathe.html

Larry

Hi Cary and welcome to PM.
Please read the machinery discussion guidelines (sticky topic near top of General) as most of the machines you mentioned are banned from discussion here. I think SBs are OK and there is a section dedicated to them. Rockwell and Logan are also allowed.
Since you mention that you will be cutting steel at least part of the time... most of the small hobby lathes are totally inadequate. Yes they will cut but you will be taking very shallow cuts. You will be MUCH better served by a Rockwell, Logan, or SB. Since most of your stuff is on the oder of 6" long or less and you are doing small scale production a collet system would be a real plus.

Such a machine have a $1000-$2000 price tag on eBay. Often one can find them for much less on Craigslist. Then there is the cost of shipping.

-DU-

thanks for the information. I did not realize they were banned here, which I understand, because I found this site through searches on these machines. I had seen the Atlas/craftsman lathe - a cute looking miniature of true machines - I found info on this site to steer clear of them and for good reason - zinc gears. there seems to be almost nothing used here worth a look. so I am looking on ebay, but shipping gets mighty expensive , often more than the lathe itself. Again thanks for the information and I will do my best to keep to "allowed topics" !