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What size lathe? Genaral lathe questions
- Thread starter ed_v
- Start date
- Replies 60
- Views 6,753
Lanso
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Location
- Cerritos, CA
Are you using 5” dia steel bar stock cut to length?
more than likely, yes
Lanso
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Location
- Cerritos, CA
RR wheels don’t have a groove they have a flange.
The swing isn’t his biggest concern but the power and rigidity will be quite important or he’ll be there all day taking little cuts on a 5” steel bar.
The swing isn’t his biggest concern but the power and rigidity will be quite important or he’ll be there all day taking little cuts on a 5” steel bar.
no groove for track, but the outer edge of wheel will have 3/16" flange. I guess that would kind of make it half grooved.
IME the bigger the machine, the more versatile (notice didn't say the bigger the better). 5" is not big, but it isn't small either. Smaller lathes are actually precision lathes, bigger lathes are.....bigger. With size comes power, so if you need some real torque you need a bigger machine.
@OP is the real question; What is the smallest lathe I can get away with?? Different answers. I agree with Hazzert in general 10" Chuck with 15" swing would be ideal.
R
@OP is the real question; What is the smallest lathe I can get away with?? Different answers. I agree with Hazzert in general 10" Chuck with 15" swing would be ideal.
R
Lanso
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Location
- Cerritos, CA
I think an old 15” LeBlond would be perfect
Yes, I guess that is the real question.
I like that size too but would go for an 8" six-jaw chuck. Make sure it has removable top jaws and can be trued up like a Buck.
alskdjfhg
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2013
- Location
- Houston TX
For live steam,large model trails, I'd say a 10x36 lathe would probably be ok.
But a roughing pass for my 10" Sheldon in tough steel is about .050 per side and .005 per revolution, not exactly gonna set the world on fire there.
I'd get the largest, heaviest lathe you can get.
But a roughing pass for my 10" Sheldon in tough steel is about .050 per side and .005 per revolution, not exactly gonna set the world on fire there.
I'd get the largest, heaviest lathe you can get.
I will want to make dozens of them. No certain time frame.
I have them drawn up in solidworks. I could just do them in on the cnc lathe at work.... but what fun is that?
Ed
johnoder
Diamond
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2004
- Location
- Houston, TX USA
Profile is nicely detailed on page 1170 in the 1940 American Machinist's Handbook
Yeah Fuck that, if you have a good excuse to buy a Lathe for your home or yourself dooooo it!!! At that size there are about 10,000,000 Lathes to choose from, from super garbage to very nice (Monarch EE would fit the bill). So now you know in general what the size range is.
Camscan makes a good point, Murphy is lurking around the corner waiting for you to buy a Lathe that is 1/16" too small for something really cool. In general you want the work holding device to be bigger than the work. But every once in a while your going to have some oddball, so you need the clearance (swing) to run 2x to 4x the radius of the Chuck.
Do you want a Tailstock, a Steady, A Follow, Collet closer, all 3 Chucks, Coolant tank, Brake, Thread cutting, Taper/Radius attachments? Do you plan on really moving some metal? Surface finish requirements?
A 6 jaw Buck Chuck is a really good all around Chuck, they take a minute to get comfy with, but good initial tool to have.
R
HuFlungDung
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2005
- Location
- Canada
I dunno, a cnc is pretty fun when it comes to making more than a couple of anything. The profile will (could) be smooth (and shiny!!
) and cut with simple tooling, and the parts will have a much better chance of all being identical (supposing the bore dimensions are likely important).Tell you what though, still get the larger manual lathe anyways. You can prep the blanks (face the ends square) with it. I run a 19" Summit every day for ordinary sized work, with a 12" chuck. It's "just right" for the size of stuff you are talking about. 10 hp, 3 phase as standard. I guess you need to consider the power hookup you have to make, too.
steve-l
Titanium
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2012
- Location
- Geilenkirchen, Germany
I have no objection to the previous recommendations in this thread, but you may have a space limitation. If so a nice 13 or 14 x 40 would fit the bill nicely. These are middle size lathes and most have 3 or 4 HP motors and good stiffness and make a pretty good home machine.
jlegge
Stainless
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2004
- Location
- Grayslake, IL
I would suggest a 1610 or 2013 size machine. For this type of work you will need a lathe with some mass like Monarch 60/61, 610, 612, etc. or older Monarchs
