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Hardinge HLV-H any good, should I buy?

Deema

Plastic
Joined
May 3, 2021
I hadn’t considered it before, owning one, but I’ve been offered a Hardinge HLV-H. It’s being sold by the previous owners son, his father has now passed away and like me doesn’t know a great deal about them. I’ve read LathesUK write up, and they seem to be superb lathes. So, any pointers to look for when assessing it? And what kind of price should I be paying for it. There don’t appear to be any good pointers on eBay or similar for pricing and I want to be fair and gentlemanly considering how it’s become available.
 
That model Hardinge is one of the best you can buy for that size and style lathe. Just Google it. I ran many and always loved walking up to a Hardinge. Prices? Depends on who is selling it and what condition it is in. You really need to check it out for wear and completeness. Prices range between 5K and north of 20K.

Paul
 
...You really need to check it out for wear and completeness.

Focus on these ^^^.

Get someone knowledgeable over there with you to run the machine and assess its condition. Also, inventory the parts, tooling, and machining accessories that come with it and ensure that you will be in shape to find/buy/make what's needed after figuring in the rough preliminary estimate of the costs of the machine and the move to your shop. Then you will be ready to talk actual price. Don't dawdle - if the machine is a good one (it certainly was when it was new), it may well move quickly. Let the seller know you are actively interested and ready to buy if things are right. And it never hurts your chances if you can get a bit of friendship with him going in the meanwhile.

-Marty-
 
Things that wear out on a HLV are the bedways And also the gears in the carriage The pinion onto the rack in particular
If that pinion is good and original one could assume the machine has seen little use
I have had lathes with these pinions replaced with a stock item But that was flimsy
Originaly it is one piece with the shaft

Peter
 
Uk prices for hlvhs tend to be north of 2000 depending on condition. That said , there are bargains out there , I know one guy here picked up a very nice machine for £800 .

They are all going to be 415v three phase , so you will need a rotary converter or rewire it with a VFD is you only have 240vac 1ph. DO NOT use a 'phase converter'.

If it doesn't have a worn carriage rack gear, it isn't a hardinge ;-) The headstock bearing are good for 50 plus years . The brake probably won't work !

Chucks, gears sets and banjos , taper attachments , collet closer levers etc. are all difficult to find and expensive, so make sure you get them if they're available.

5C collets are very handy as well
They don't need extra gears to cut the threads on the gearbox .

If it been used for a while , run the speeed up and down a few times before trying to asses the the thing .

Check power feed runs back and forth ok

You won't buy a better small lathe.
 
One of the best lathes ever. That said, they aren't very big and you'd want something larger if you do large work. The lathe is plenty big, but the work space is limited. Horses for courses. Check the bed for wear and yes, it's normal for the tailstock to be hard to move. If you need to cut metric threads, it can be expensive to set up a non-metric version for it.
 
From my experience:

Seen different ones at auctions. Some of those auctions have machinery dealers and they hog the action.
Was at one auction and the auctioneer always looked over to the deal guy before counting hands...

Twenty years ago I looked at a completely restored HLV-H for $20,000. It was the best I've seen. Perfect.
During that period old machines in the $8,000 - $16,000 could be purchased and a rebuild would probably bring them in the $20,000 - $25,000 range.
They go beyond that in price. But a beat up machine with a little elbow grease can be fixed up a little at a time. You can even make parts for the
machine right on that very machine. I've done it plenty of times.

If you are going to do Metric threads than a Metric gear box is required. It is $1000 for a new kit if they are still made. Used banjos and gears are not
a big deal. The aluminum box gear cover is replaced with an extension box with a larger door.
 
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1) when inspecting a machine like this for potential purchase bring cash. If it's right and the price is right, close the deal then and there.

2) if possible begin removing the machine immediately. Tailstock, headstock, tooling can all go in a car easily if they can be removed. Helps to have tools.
 
WATER based coolant will kill a Hardinge HLV-H.
The dovetail bed has a design flaw when compared to
the inverted vee bed conventional lathe. The problem
is that when the dovetail sides wear, the carriage
will crab a lot more than an inverted vee bed type
of lathe. Monarch 10ee and Hendey T&G are much better
design beds. The HLV-H gearbox has limited threads.
And the input gears are pick-off gears, not compounding
gears. That means the input gears do not influence
the ratios of the Norton box. Any custom thread must
be COMPLETELY built up from the pick-off gears.
The 1-2-4 input selector knob does compound with the
pick-off gears, not the Norton box. Tailstock has no
set over ability. Must be shimmed. It does have single
dog clutch threading, that is nice. But overall they
are not all worth the hype that surrounds them.

--Doozer
 
I compared a Monarch with the HLV-H. Either or.

On the HLV-H dovetail wear... It helps if the locking lever is loose when the tail stock is moved. And lubricated every time it is moved. Then, what wear.
 
I compared a Monarch with the HLV-H. Either or.

On the HLV-H dovetail wear... It helps if the locking lever is loose when the tail stock is moved. And lubricated every time it is moved. Then, what wear.

The dovetail on the saddle wears at the outermost ends
and because of where the pinion drive gear is located
that causes the saddle to crab, and you get tool drag
when you bore and tool retraction when you turn.
Every HLV-H is a used machine, because they don't make
them anymore. Lube the tailstock, what ? ? ?

-Doozer
 
The threading is method is so much better than a typical lathe.
The gearing has a small foot print. For most threads the machine is there.

But the manual pages for change gears to setup for uncommon threads is not for weak hearts.
I called Hardinge for one gear and the price was $550. Their bin was empty and it would be made to order.

The bed wear? If there was a softer material to contact the hardened bed when the lock lever is tightened down. The soft material would degrade instead.

Bed wear? I mean the types who sling the tail stock back and forth all day with slight pressure still on the dovetail locking piece.
Always clean and oil the bed when moving to another position.
 








 
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