I've been looking for a decent sized lathe, and have come across two potential candidates. The first is a Victor 1630, and the other is a Nardini-TT 1230 E. Both look to be in about the same condition, except the Victor comes with a little more tooling. It has both the 3 & 4 jaw chucks, as well as a collet system, whereas the Nardini only has a 3 jaw chuck. The real positive with the Nardini is its set up for single phase 220v, with the Victor being a 3-phase 7.5hp motor. I know its possible to run the Victor with a converter, but I am not sure I will have enough power...looks like the phase converter will need at least 50-60a. The other option would be replacing it with a 7.5hp 240v motor, but that will likely add a minimum of $500 to the cost.
Before I even consider that, is one necessarily any "better" than the other. My understanding is the Victor is Taiwanese, with the Nardini being from Brazil. Both will present challenges as far as replacement parts are concerned, but that is pretty much the same with a lot of the older imports. Is it just a matter of whichever one is in better condition? The Nardini will likely be around $1k cheaper ($2k vs 3k), is already set up for single phase, and is probably 1k lbs lighter.
Any suggestions?
Before I even consider that, is one necessarily any "better" than the other. My understanding is the Victor is Taiwanese, with the Nardini being from Brazil. Both will present challenges as far as replacement parts are concerned, but that is pretty much the same with a lot of the older imports. Is it just a matter of whichever one is in better condition? The Nardini will likely be around $1k cheaper ($2k vs 3k), is already set up for single phase, and is probably 1k lbs lighter.
Any suggestions?