Good day fellow machinist and enthusiasts, Long time listener, first time caller...
I'm currently in research mode for a suitable first lathe, I live in Australia and have a mirad of re-branded chinesium at my never ending disposal, however, I am trying to strike a good balance between quality and price from Taiwan and any quality info that could be past my way would be infinitely appreciated.
The lathe's first task with be cutting chambers in barrels for my match rifles, I understand I don't require a $60k Swiss made manual lathe to do this task, but I am after a lathe which will fulfil my duties for the foreseeable future.
My research thus far has lead me currently looking at the SunMaster as the bench mark available to me locally, specifically, the model BHL1550 and RML1460, the latter of which appeals to me on many levels, but is a touch out of my price range retailing for $23500 aud new - Sans DRO.
I have seen Liang Dei make a 1440 machine and it appears to be re-branded by many company's such as BAiley Engineering, Whitelaw Engineering, Precision Mathews, Eximus to name a few.
Are there any first hand experiences with the 1440 machine from LD, good bad or otherwise?
Are these machines considered a decent place to start?
I have been quoted a new price with a German made DRO at $13750 delivered to my door. The price seems about where I'm at, but I'm not interested in sinking that sort of cash unless the machine is worth the $$$.
Ultimately I wish to chamber between centres, and I suspect a 40" lathe may prove to be a little short when playing with 30" blanks, by the time one set's up a reamer holder or pusher and reamer tooling I suspect I'll be struggling to pull it off? Again, experienced hands chime in please..
If there are any Aussie gunsmiths or hobby machinist floating around that wouldn't mind schooling an enthusiast, I'd be all ears.
I appreciate your insight.
Dan
I'm currently in research mode for a suitable first lathe, I live in Australia and have a mirad of re-branded chinesium at my never ending disposal, however, I am trying to strike a good balance between quality and price from Taiwan and any quality info that could be past my way would be infinitely appreciated.
The lathe's first task with be cutting chambers in barrels for my match rifles, I understand I don't require a $60k Swiss made manual lathe to do this task, but I am after a lathe which will fulfil my duties for the foreseeable future.
My research thus far has lead me currently looking at the SunMaster as the bench mark available to me locally, specifically, the model BHL1550 and RML1460, the latter of which appeals to me on many levels, but is a touch out of my price range retailing for $23500 aud new - Sans DRO.
I have seen Liang Dei make a 1440 machine and it appears to be re-branded by many company's such as BAiley Engineering, Whitelaw Engineering, Precision Mathews, Eximus to name a few.
Are there any first hand experiences with the 1440 machine from LD, good bad or otherwise?
Are these machines considered a decent place to start?
I have been quoted a new price with a German made DRO at $13750 delivered to my door. The price seems about where I'm at, but I'm not interested in sinking that sort of cash unless the machine is worth the $$$.
Ultimately I wish to chamber between centres, and I suspect a 40" lathe may prove to be a little short when playing with 30" blanks, by the time one set's up a reamer holder or pusher and reamer tooling I suspect I'll be struggling to pull it off? Again, experienced hands chime in please..
If there are any Aussie gunsmiths or hobby machinist floating around that wouldn't mind schooling an enthusiast, I'd be all ears.
I appreciate your insight.
Dan
