Ant is certainly right- a big lathe... an industrial lathe... usually comes at a much higher value-per-dollar than a smaller one. Frequently tooling comes with 'em too!
Why?
Because guys with hobbyist inclinations want something that they can get their buddies to help carry 'em into the basement... or something that 'doesn't take up much space in the garage".
I was in this boat once, but decided I was tired of it. I went big, and never turned back.
When you go looking for a lathe, do expect 3 phase. Don't expect tooling. Do expect greasy, dirty, possibly a rusty patina. Plan on scrubbin' the heck out of it to find out what all the ID PLATES (not stickers, right?) say.
Don't dive in and start taking off the headstock and rippin' it down for restoration. Oftentimes, these things were assembled with particular care (sometimes shims carefully placed) to grant that precision test cut. Get it home, get it cleaned, get it powered up, lubricated, with some basic tooling, and work with it a bit before you start dismantling it for any reason.
Expect it to be 3ph, but don't get bent on fears that you couldn't power it... Even if it's 480-3. If it's 28hp, and you've got a 12x18 garage with a piece of 12-3 Romex direct buried 90 feet from the house, then we'll have some work to do, but do NOT let any power circumstance, or even the machine's weight, prevent you from getting a good machine.
And just to clarify... moving a machine is NOT difficult... it just requires appropriate scalar thought. I moved my 10EE with a 5000lb capacity tandem-axle car hauler. It was set on with forklift by government-issue riggers at the auction site, and I lifted it off with a chain-fall, then shuffled it to position with a pallet jack. I actually built a pallet that bolted to the 3-point stance of the machine, and has fork pockets UNDER to fit the jack from all four sides, OR a forklift, and it won't tip... never regretted that... did same with my little bridgeport and the Johannsen radial drill too.
There's lots of tooling you won't need. There's some tooling you WILL need (to get started) and as you go, you'll find things that you WANT in your tooling. If you only get ONE chuck, get a 4-jaw independant. You can center any workpiece (round, square, hexagon, etc), and you can intentionally offset to create eccentric mechanisms... or intentionally offset to correct a problem in a piece you're attempting to repair.
Don't buy a lathe because it has a quick change toolpost. Buy a lathe. If it doesn't have a quick-change, then get a QCTP kit. That being said, if you find a fully-operational Hendy or Monarch with an Aloris, and the price is $800 cash-and-carry, don't wait more than a half a heartbeat to grab-and-go. Don't be surprised if the police follow you, just be ready to prove your purchase was legit... :-)
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