cinematechnic
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2005
- Location
- Walnut Creek, CA
I've owned my HLV-H for over 3 years now and it is the cornerstone of my very small one-man workshop. As much as I liked my Schaublin (plain turning 102N), the Hardinge is a huge leap in versatility with no compromise in accuracy.
Sometimes I have to put off potential projects because they are too big for the HLV-H. Ironic since it is the largest lathe I have ever owned (I started 20 years ago with a tiny Sherline).
In particular I may have the need in the future to accurately turn long aluminum tubes, diameter up to 4", length up to around 42". I need to be able to face both ends of the tube so that they are square to the tube axis.
This would be for making collimator objective tubes, very similar to refracting telescope tubes.
What are some good choices for manual lathes with larger capacity that the HLV-H, having good build quality and good accuracy. I don't quite need HLV-H level accuracy on the large machine, but want better than generic Chinese lathe level.
I'm thinking older pre-CNC era American iron, like the larger Monarch lathes, but know next to nothing about them. Will certainly consider European and Japan/Taiwan machines as well.
Thanks for your advice!
Sometimes I have to put off potential projects because they are too big for the HLV-H. Ironic since it is the largest lathe I have ever owned (I started 20 years ago with a tiny Sherline).
In particular I may have the need in the future to accurately turn long aluminum tubes, diameter up to 4", length up to around 42". I need to be able to face both ends of the tube so that they are square to the tube axis.
This would be for making collimator objective tubes, very similar to refracting telescope tubes.
What are some good choices for manual lathes with larger capacity that the HLV-H, having good build quality and good accuracy. I don't quite need HLV-H level accuracy on the large machine, but want better than generic Chinese lathe level.
I'm thinking older pre-CNC era American iron, like the larger Monarch lathes, but know next to nothing about them. Will certainly consider European and Japan/Taiwan machines as well.
Thanks for your advice!