Birmingham lathe

Hello Gentlemen
I am new to the forum but not new to machining. 1st of all,my hat is off to each and everyone of you who designs, makes, and builds. Myself, I am a Journeymen with 16 years behind me, with mostly a moldmaking background.
I have aways worked for someone else,and it time for me to "step it up". I am planning to buy a lathe and I have been looking at Birmingham,YCL-1660 to be exact. I seen another thread from Shimitup about Birmingham lathes
but that not the lathe I'm looking at, but got some good insite from birmingham products there. I like to here from the guys who has a 1660, or if that not possible any infor on birmingham products would be nice.

Thanks
Dave

Don't know anything about that 1660 YCL, but what I can tell you is the Asian-import lathes are hard to predict sometimes. One model may be a pile of junk made from recycled beer cans in China, and a different model sold under the same name might be made in a high quality, ISO certified factory in Taiwan and be of fairly decent quality.

So although I have nothing else to offer, I will suggest that before you pass judgement on an entire Asian brand based on peoples experience, find out about the specific model you are looking at. One thing to look realy deeply into is parts availability. The sole unifying factor of Asian machine tools is that many have a few small problems when new, and getting replacement parts, even warranty parts, can be a nightmare. Sharp, Victor... probably no problem. Others? I don't know.

There is a guy who posts on this forum with the name qualitymachinetools who sells Birmingham lathes, he can probably help you with any questions.

Welcome to the forums

I have a Birmingham 1440 lathe which was manufactured by LUX_MATTER in Taiwan. The model of mine is called the LUX_1440G which is referred to in the literature which I obtained from the factory as a "Precision Engine Lathe". That same piece of literature describes the LUX_1660T and the LUX-1660G. There is no mention of the 1660 YCL, so I can only wonder if that machine may be manufactured by a firm other than LUX MATTER in Taiwan. All of this is interesting because one of my original requirements was an "older" model made in Taiwan. I ascertained this with certainty via personal contacts with the factory.

I ran a new YCL 1660 for about a year. It would hog metal in a hurry, especially using the carriage stop. It had lots of problems, most of them small but not all.

The half nuts sometimes would not disengage no matter how hard you pulled up on the lever. I crashed several threading tools. I learned to take smaller cuts and that helped a lot.

Almost every lever or knob on the head stock is mounted with a button head type allen bolt. The bolt has a hole drilled and tapped end to end. A long set screw is threaded through the bolt for an adjustable stop. This leaves a thin wall to the hollow bolt which breaks easily when you have to tighten one.

The electrical panel at rear of headstock is full of contactors, you will need several spares. The carrage lever operates some micro switches that had to be adjusted, only once.

I adjusted the spindle bearings after a few weeks operation, too loose was getting chatter. I think they are still OK. There was a couple small oil leaks and the crossfeed manual oiler didn't work very well.

I could go on...

ralphe, I think you may be on to something, at least you are refreshing my memory.

If I remember correctly, different model series (YCL, etc) Birmingham are made in different plants, and to completely different quality standards! I believe I read the YCL is on the lower end for Birmingham. But as usual, it depends on the application. For a guy looking to do some stuff at home, and doesn't mind a little tinkering to get things right, it's probably the perfect lathe. For someone looking to plug it in and run 40 hours a week nonstop, you may want to look in another direction.

I have the YCL 2060 and have run it for a year now and have had little to no problems with it

Jamie

I'll post impessions on my Birmy or GMC whenever I get it. Have to make a spot in the garage first. Mine will be a 1236 which as someone else said may have nothing to do with other sizes, have had positive feedback on the little ones though. By the way vfrflyboy, what do you fly? I fly just about anything fixed gear, renting Cessna lately.

Thanks guys for all your input. Well, I got kinda mixed feelings about this "birmy" now. I definately need to do more homework before I shell out 10K (DRO installed) for it. I"ll ask the dealer I"m working with about the china- Taiwan thing. I"ll also look up qualitymachinetools and ask him what he thinks.
OT- Shimitup, flying about the same here, got lots of time in a 177RG and did a long CC in a 210,got my HP(thats high preformance for the non-flying guys..lol) checked off on that one. Was a lazy man plane..lol. Caughty name. I like that.

Any more infor. would be appreciated
Thanks
Dave

Hi Dave,
Sorry to take so long to respond. Holiday week was busy.
The YCL1660 is a machine that I know very well, very, very similar to our PM Lathes too, model PM-1660.
This machine is made mostly in China, I tell you what though, they are nice machines. Not just saying that because I sell them, but it is a nice, quality built lathe. They are really built with some meat on them, for the heavier cuts but also great for lighter cuts too.

In that price range, it is going to be one of the best deals that you can get. THere is another Birmingham lathe, the LUX series of lathes, that are made in Taiwan, they are more money at around $11,000 for a 16x60. They are not built quite as beefy as the machine from China.

That China Vs. Taiwan is really starting to become a thing of the past, you really can not tell a difference anymore as long as you stick with a good machinery company, except a difference in price. Not saying that there are not some junk machines from China, because Yes there most certainly are some machines that are barely even able to run 1 hour before breaking that are from China. But these Birminghams and PM Lathes are not one of the bad ones.

Main difference between the PM and Birmingham:
PM has all Siemens Electronics in it, Birmingham has standard issue. Other than that, they are the same machine except for accessories they come with. Yes these 2 are the same machine with different options when produced such as the Siemens, and No you can not get a lower set of tolerances for a lower price from this factory.
This is the same factory that makes the Birmingham YCL1236GH, 1340GH, and all other YCL models. But there is also a large difference between the smaller machines and the large ones, besides the obvious size.

With the machines as with Any single new machine that we carry including chinese, taiwanese, japanese, german, spanish, or any, you will need to do some adjustments on it when you first get it running. Its part of set up. It is not a kit as described, Any machine even the Monarch lathes needed this when set up, but back then machinery dealers were local and came in and set the machine up for you.
For Parts, that is absolutely no problem. I order direct from all of the factories, plus have a huge parts stock in the states for them too. I rarely get a parts order, but if I do, it is no problem at all. This YCL/PM Lathe has been being made for over 20 years, its a proven design.

If you have some specific questions about the machines, email me [email protected]. Its late, can't think anymore!

Could you help me? I have a lathe, LATHE YCL-1660,

Could you help me? I have a lathe, LATHE YCL-1660, and I want to make threads but the plate where it says how to make them is blurred, or if they could provide me with the user manual.