WTB and advice sought

Hello Everyone,

I am a new member (second day here) and I am already trying to tap your vast font of knowledge.

Recently, I managed to create some space in my basement so I can build a small machine shop next to my ammo reloading press and supplies. I live in a townhouse and the basement is accessible via a normal inside staircase (30 inches wide, wooden steps, door and small landing at each end of the staircase). The basement has ceilings that are a bit lower than 8 feet (not sure why, but they are just under that size), so I can't bring in any large, heavy machines.

I want a small lathe (not the tiny Atlas) but not a huge heavy one, either. Also, I would like to have a small mill, probably a horizontal due to the height and weight constraints I have with the house and stairs.

Question 1
Recently, I found a Maximat 7 for sale. It only comes with the compound but not with a tailstock. Looks well used, but not abused. Ways seem OK, but what do I know... It is the lathe only, no stand or cabinets under it. Asking price is $1,500 (somewhat negotiable, I hope). Accepting the fact that I am a total noob, and considering the cost and possible scarcity of the missing tailstock and all the tooling I will have to purchase, plus the cost of the machining classes at one of my local training centers, the question is: should I buy or make an offer on the lathe?

Alternative to Question 1
South Bend sells a 10k lathe for 3 grand, brand new, and they finance it, so my outlay would be a more palatable monthly payment. Should I consider that instead?

Alternative to Question 1
What other relatively small (so I can manhandle it down the stairs) lathe should I consider?

Question 2
Milling machine. I have found the following 3, at about $1,000-$1,200 and within reasonably driving range: Clausing 8540 (dirty with cabinet and some hoses for coolant, but no pump and no reservoir, no idea of power requirement), Atlas MF (small but clean however it is missing the bottom cabinet runs on 110v), Burke Model B 100 which looks pretty (newish paint job), with cabinet, runs on 110v.

They are all within 200 bucks of each-other. The Clausing is the largest, probably 1,000 pounds. the others are smaller, but I have no idea of their individual weights because there are no specs online, that I could find.

Should I consider any of these three? If not, what else should I look for?

Keeping in mind that if I buy a lathe, the mill will have to wait, and if I buy a mill, the lathe will have to wait. I am not rich, unfortunately.

Thank you for taking time to read this post, and for any kinds of advice and guidance you may provide.

just hold off for a minute bucko! get some time on the machines at the local training center, and get a feel for the work you want to do. Also, keep yer posts down to 1/3 of that last duzzy.. just some thoughts.. get a lathe first.

Thank you. I will keep posts shorter. My take from the rules was that the posts should be as complete as possible.

I have been looking at a Maximat 7. Not sure it is the best to start with, but it is the only one that I found that can be manhandled down my townhouse stairs. I will gladly take more advice and feedback.

haha! yes, complete, as in contains enough basic information to answer the question, such as what material, temper, depth of cut, tolerance required, number of parts, and a few more that are SO often left out in quires, but could be included in one paragraph shorter that this one. like that.

complete, concise. not rambling. mill or lathe first, that is a question.

lathe. I think most here would recommend sticking with South Bend or Logan for a lightweight lathe, much more available, as are parts and advise.

my strongest recommendation? DO NOT jump at the first thing that looks like a lathe that comes along. condition is VERY important. you need some experience to evaluate condition. one can waste a lot of time on worn out crap. save your money for something well tooled up and not crapped out. good luck!

My first lathe was a southbend 9a
small enough to take down the stairs
parts and attachments are extremely plentiful all over ebay
great machine to learn on
you can find them cheap if you get lucky

maximat is good but that tailstock could get pricey along with other parts and attachments

i recommend the southbend . get a heavy 10 if you want to spend a bit more

a 9a or heavy 10 can run you anywhere from $500 to $5k depending on condition and tooling


For a manageable size mill i recommend a clausing
8540 is the model. it has a small table
I had a couple of those Clausings. Good for a first mill and you can muscle it down the stairs
i had a problem with the factory x axis feed on both my machines. they were not designed that well.

I also had an atlas mfc horizontal mill. they are cute and collectible

but they are very limited on table travel. they have limited feed power and limited cutting power.

Atlas machines are also not allowed to be discussed on this site. So be careful because you might get scolded.

The Clausing 8540 is also a horizontal mill but with a lot more guts than the Atlas MF horizontal. The 8540 came stock with a 2 HP motor, mechanical variable speed, and power feed driven off the spindle drive pulley. It's nice for a "small" shop but I never found a use for the one I owned for 10 or more years and was glad to sell it last year. A lathe and vertical mill would serve most folks a lot better.

What do you want to do with these machines? If you just want to learn in a hobby environment, you might consider starting with a S*&%line lathe and mill to give you a feel how machine tools work while you keep your eyes open for a good local deal on larger and more capable tools.