Deude-Mann
Aluminum
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2021
So I'll ask the question here since:
1. I am interested in gunsmithing as a hobby, already handload and build rifles from components.
2. If I talk about Precision Matthews lathes I won't get kicked in the butt and thrown out the door.
I am looking for a lathe. I am very mechanically inclined, am a very experienced Mech Engineer by trade, and have experience working on cars, building engines and race cars, fabrication, etc.. More importantly, I have friends that are very experienced machinists and can give me advice on what to get.
It has come down to two basic paths:
1. Get a PM or other good quality SE Asian lathe, which even one of my machinist friends who does not like Asian equipment said was a good value. I'd probably get a 1340 or a 1440 with a single phase motor (I don't have 3-phase power available). Some considerations:
- It's going to cost more, at least upfront, than a deal on a good used 'merican lathe (see option 2 below) unless I find a used PM or Jet or the like somewhere.
- Asian lathe quality, though I have been seeing good things about Taiwanese lathes, PM in particular. Gavin Toobe (youtube gunsmith) is ecstatic over his PM 1440GT .
2. Get a used lathe, save some money. Problem is, most stuff that is in this size range or larger is OLD equipment. That does not bother me except for a few things:
- The spindle speeds are too slow for carbide tools (so my machinist friend tells me)
- They are set up for three phase power (I know converters/VFDs are available)
- They need to be checked out thoroughly before buying (to make sure they are actually operational and not bent).
- Parts may or may not be reasonably available
- Headstocks are really long
- Usually only cut inch threads (no metric, unless a gear change can do it).
- I really do not care about the name, as long as it is a good machine. I don't need bro points because I have a Monarch (no offense to Monarch owners).
I am not interested in a big lathe restoration project. I want to make stuff with the lathe. I am willing and able to do things like clean rust off the ways, go through the machine, fix seals, change lubricants, etc.. I do not want to spend hours a week for months just to get it up and running, and give it a nice paint job. I have a large shop to keep/use it in.
So, within the context of gunsmithing, is option 1 the way to go here, or is option 2 viable, assuming I can deal with the issues presented above?
For example, I think VFDs can be used to speed up spindles, but I don't know how far that goes... Can a 1000 RPM max spindle/headstock be pushed to 2000 rpm safely? However some items may be insurmountable, like dealing with a spindle that is way too long or not large enough (diameter).
I can anticipate operations like turning threads on barrels, and cutting chambers, but I don't see myself drilling the barrel caliber and cutting rifling... I'll just buy caliber blanks.
I did search in this forum, but had trouble with the search engine due to words being too short or what not so sorry in advance if I missed a topic that covers the same thing.
Damn... Tried to be concise but it's still a word wall. Just anticipating questions. Thanks
1. I am interested in gunsmithing as a hobby, already handload and build rifles from components.
2. If I talk about Precision Matthews lathes I won't get kicked in the butt and thrown out the door.
I am looking for a lathe. I am very mechanically inclined, am a very experienced Mech Engineer by trade, and have experience working on cars, building engines and race cars, fabrication, etc.. More importantly, I have friends that are very experienced machinists and can give me advice on what to get.
It has come down to two basic paths:
1. Get a PM or other good quality SE Asian lathe, which even one of my machinist friends who does not like Asian equipment said was a good value. I'd probably get a 1340 or a 1440 with a single phase motor (I don't have 3-phase power available). Some considerations:
- It's going to cost more, at least upfront, than a deal on a good used 'merican lathe (see option 2 below) unless I find a used PM or Jet or the like somewhere.
- Asian lathe quality, though I have been seeing good things about Taiwanese lathes, PM in particular. Gavin Toobe (youtube gunsmith) is ecstatic over his PM 1440GT .
2. Get a used lathe, save some money. Problem is, most stuff that is in this size range or larger is OLD equipment. That does not bother me except for a few things:
- The spindle speeds are too slow for carbide tools (so my machinist friend tells me)
- They are set up for three phase power (I know converters/VFDs are available)
- They need to be checked out thoroughly before buying (to make sure they are actually operational and not bent).
- Parts may or may not be reasonably available
- Headstocks are really long
- Usually only cut inch threads (no metric, unless a gear change can do it).
- I really do not care about the name, as long as it is a good machine. I don't need bro points because I have a Monarch (no offense to Monarch owners).
I am not interested in a big lathe restoration project. I want to make stuff with the lathe. I am willing and able to do things like clean rust off the ways, go through the machine, fix seals, change lubricants, etc.. I do not want to spend hours a week for months just to get it up and running, and give it a nice paint job. I have a large shop to keep/use it in.
So, within the context of gunsmithing, is option 1 the way to go here, or is option 2 viable, assuming I can deal with the issues presented above?
For example, I think VFDs can be used to speed up spindles, but I don't know how far that goes... Can a 1000 RPM max spindle/headstock be pushed to 2000 rpm safely? However some items may be insurmountable, like dealing with a spindle that is way too long or not large enough (diameter).
I can anticipate operations like turning threads on barrels, and cutting chambers, but I don't see myself drilling the barrel caliber and cutting rifling... I'll just buy caliber blanks.
I did search in this forum, but had trouble with the search engine due to words being too short or what not so sorry in advance if I missed a topic that covers the same thing.
Damn... Tried to be concise but it's still a word wall. Just anticipating questions. Thanks