What Lathe @ £2500?

Ratch · Nov 21, 2017

Hi all.

Hopefully I'm in the right place. I'm after a Lathe, ideally bench top but big enough to handle workpieces of upto 40cm in length and upto 10cm in diameter. I'm a home mechanic that wants to make parts for my motorbikes and motorcycles ranging from spacers to axle bolts and nuts.

Also would like an automated threading feature if these exist.

This may be too hardcore / industrial a forum but any advice would be much appreciated.

steve-l · Nov 21, 2017

Hi Ratch,
Your ideal size would be a 13x40 machine. Your best deal will be what is available locally. Once you locate one, take photos and as much data as you can find including serial number. Then post it here for maximum assistance. Watch for auctions.

billzweig · Nov 21, 2017

A very decent and popular lathe in the UK is Harrison 11-inch. Certainly adequate for all you tasks and in your price range - possibly with a a good selection of accessories.

boslab · Nov 21, 2017

I have a Harrison 12", it's a good workhorse, capable of fairly heavy cutting if your so inclined, it isn't as heavy as a similar capacity DSG (bout half the weight, but they are like a bently to my escort)
The good thing about Harrison's particularly there's no need to level it, just shove it wherever, the heavy steel base holds it all in place.
The more modern M250 is nice but pricy, if I was going to chuck that much at it I'd probably go with a Colchester, long enough to stick a crankshaft in for a bit of polishing and such.
Mark

Bill D · Nov 21, 2017

If you need metric threading a Harrison M300 would be a good choice.
Bill D

Bill D · Nov 21, 2017

A newer lathe will have a bigger through hole in the headstock so long work can be accommodated. A modern 13x40 lathe will have a 1.5" hole. one built in the 1950's might be 5/8"
Bill D

Ratch · Nov 22, 2017

Thanks all.

Kind of after a modern lathe to be honest, one with automatic Metric threading.

Was looking at a Bernado? Austrian brand, seems good quality and modern.

Monarchist · Nov 22, 2017

Ratch said:
Thanks all.

Kind of after a modern lathe to be honest, one with automatic Metric threading.

Was looking at a Bernado? Austrian brand, seems good quality and modern.

Not sure what your perception of "threading", let alone "automatic", in a lathe actually consists of.

Specialized machinery for making fasteners ,(rolled threads, most-often), and (turret, preferably) lathes with geometric die tooling can make threaded goods rapidly, albeit not always in a completely "automatic" manner.

Likewise, most modern "CNC" goods CAN make threads in an "automated" manner. "Lights out" and by the multiple tens of thousands, even.

For working on your own motorbike? One can use "hand" taps & dies with the lathe as guarantor of alignment and source of power. Or not. Hand pulling is better for the fragile ones.

Otherwise, one "single points" threads, and "automatic" at anywhere near GBP 2,500 budget, it is anything BUT.

Closest you are likely to find is a lathe with Inch/metric gearboxen. Mine is a Cazeneuve HBX-360-BC, but 2500 GBP wouldn't but half cover their typical used cost.

Coupla good sets of taps & dies, the various tribes, clans, and "races" of fastener standards might serve you better.

2CW

onecut · Nov 22, 2017

Ratch your in England so look on Gumtree at minute theres a lot that would be suitable for what your doing have a look,theres 3 that I would say would meet your needs if they still are available number one a Warco GH-1322 with the threading gearbox its ammaculate sounds like its being sold by a school price £300 thats cheap in that condition its worth at least £1500+ Second choice XL-918 that also has the threading gearbox price £250.Third choice is being sold by the same place as the Warco its a Boxford lathe no thread cutting gearbox you have to put the gears on the banjo then you can cut any threads you like again price £200 its a bargain price worth treble what they are asking and at that price you can buy the threading gearbox and put it on yourself they go for £200-£300 on Ebay and are easy to put on but for me it would be the warco its in mint condition and underpriced but the vulture dealers might have already beat you to it as thers profit in the three machines with you budget you can pick up a milling machine and still be inside your budget as you will find you probably will have a use for a mill

Ratch · Nov 27, 2017

Cheers all.

From what I gather, older used gear needs maintenance and probably refurbishment. I can't get into that. But I don't want to buy Chinese rubbish either.

I'm essentially looking for a modern(wish) bench top lathe from the mid-90s onward, around 500mm centre-to-centre and a strong motor and metric thread gearbox with power cross feed WITH readily available accessories.

Happy to go used.

Hopefuldave · Nov 27, 2017

Hi Ratch,
For pretty much the same purpose I bought a 1950's toolroom lathe, a Holbrook C13, and did the maintenance / refurb and installed a (hacked) VFD to run its 415v 3-phase motor from 240v domestic mains, if you're happy working on bikes you'll be fine working on a lathe or a mill, the bits are heavier though...

The Harrison M300 is "native" metric, a good choice and should come within your budget if you're not worried about cosmetics, just inspect thoroughly for excessive wear and damage.

Most Imperial lathes can be made to cut metric threads with a set of translating gears, ideally you want those to come with the machine, but you'll have to learn to thread without releasing the halfnuts as the threading dial will be useless - it's not too hard, just needs a bit of rhythm learnt!

If considering the Warco, be aware that it's a big hobby lathe, not an industrial tool, and is very much built down to a price - as with most hobby machines you need to think of it as a "kit lathe" that needs to be dismantled, cleaned and fettled before use, whereas a Harrison, a Colchester or similar industrial machine may need less work to render it properly usable - parts will be a lot more expensive, but they're built to higher standards and less likely to fail in the first place!

And he's right, you'll soon want a milling machine - again, avoid Chinese like the Wanko, buy a used industrial machine and get better features like power feeds and rapids in all directions, better quality overall.

Dave H. (the other one)

Bill D · Nov 27, 2017

The Harrison m300 comes in two versions. native metric or native imperial. One has metric leadscrew, metric crosstravel etc. the other has imperial leadscrew and imperal crossfeed etc.
They both have a feedbox that alows metric and imperial threading easily but it will be slightly off for the non native threads. Close enough for most users but long threads can multiply the error.
Bill D

henrya · Nov 28, 2017

Finding a Boxford should be straight forward given your location. Read up about the various models at http://lathes.co.uk/

If the Boxfords seem too small the site will give good guidance for other machines.

lionelt · Nov 29, 2017

See if anything turns up on this list.

Advert - All Ads

Hopefuldave · Nov 30, 2017

There's my lathe's baby brother... HOLBROOK MODEL C8 LATHE CAM FITTING CHUCKS AND TAPER TURNING ATTACHMENT | eBay

It's very Imperial though, and not particularly high-speed...

Dave H. (the other one)

Luke Rickert · Dec 4, 2017

It might be a good idea to get some sort of training in machining before buying anything. It sounds like you don't have much experience. Perhaps there is someone local to you who could spend a few hours in their workshop to give you a quick orientation. I would offer but Norway is a little far

in the States I world suggest a community college course, not sure if there is anything similar in the UK.

Luke

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

DDoug · Dec 4, 2017

camscan said:
That is the problem when someone just says UK

Same here for "Pennsylvania".

Better yet, "North East Pa.", is Damn far away from "North East, Pa."

onecut · Dec 4, 2017

Metal/wood lathe will hold either. | in Leyland, Lancashire | Gumtree Surprised you havn,t considered this the guy who owns this lathe is selling as he,s bought a South bend its £200 and comes with steadies/capstan attachment/collet holder with collets,and three chucks and all the bits and pieces you need if he sold this off seperately he would treble his money not counting the lathe.He needs the space its a Hardinge a very good make and I believe this little lathe is quite rare.He bought it 20yrs ago to make parts for his motor bikes idealfor making bushes etc if you wanted to thread them you would use a tap and if you wanted to thread end of shafts you would use the capstan attachment and load the dye box.Why you want a bigger lathe for what your doing baffles me

Ratch · Dec 6, 2017

whidbey said:
It might be a good idea to get some sort of training in machining before buying anything. It sounds like you don't have much experience. Perhaps there is someone local to you who could spend a few hours in their workshop to give you a quick orientation. I would offer but Norway is a little far in the States I world suggest a community college course, not sure if there is anything similar in the UK.

Luke

Thanks. I know enough to get started and make basic stuff - just not what models are any good.

Ratch · Dec 6, 2017

onecut said:
Why you want a bigger lathe for what your doing baffles me

I don't want a big lathe I mentioned a bench top lathe specifically but down the line will want to make axles for bikes which can be quite chunky with big hex heads factored in.

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