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Ballpark Price For Lathe

tscott8201

Plastic
Joined
Mar 19, 2019
Hi all, I'm looking to purchase a lathe for my shop and I'm trying to get a feel for how much I should budget. I'm OK buying new (probably have to be an import) or used (has to be an operational unit that's not going to need a restoration to get started). I'm OK with ugly, but it needs to be sound. I'm thinking something with around a 12" or 13" capacity and whatever length that would generally be associated with. It's going to be used for around the farm stuff and car restoration so no mass part runs. Obviously I'll probably need a VFD and all the associated electrical items but I'm not counting that in the cost of the lathe.

I've seen a few places where folks say they don't pay more than $1000 for an older used lathe but that doesn't seem realistic based on the prices I'm seeing. I've poked around eBay, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace and they all seem to suggest I'll be paying around $2500. For a new Grizzly unit I'll end up around $3500 it would seem.

Does this all seem correct to you guys?

Tom
 
Really depends on your market. Guys in the upper Midwest seems to have a plentiful supply of used iron, but in other parts of the country, you have to work with what you have. A used machine with very little wear and a bit of tooling will go for a lot more than one that's bean beat'n on a little more.

Online prices are not very reliable IMO. Most guys prefer something that's negotiable (craigslist, word-of-mouth, etc.). A lot of those online prices fall into two categories: 1. dealers that want to make top dollar but aren't very familiar with the practical value of the machine, and 2. private sellers that are using other online prices for reference or are trying to cash out all that they put into the machine themselves.

If I was shopping for a lathe like you describe in my area: If I needed a good one right away, I might need to have $5000 in my pocket, but if I'm crafty with where I look and can see through the rust and grime to the gems underneath, I might find something for $1000.

Also bare in mind, a complete and functional lathe with a moderate way wear and a good spindle can make just as good of parts in a home environment as one with no or low wear. Unless you plan on cutting +/- .0005" shafts in a single pass, the accuracy of the machine is entirely in your hands.

Also bear in mind, not all new lathes are the same. Lots of those Asian imports will come out of the box with their own problems. Lots of guys make parts on them with no issues, but the inconsistency dentures me.
 
50 thousand KronKites !

Might want to read the stickies up top, and then peruse the archives for awhile.
 
I think a decent lathe will cost 1,000 to 3,000. good to define your needs. search a number of PM threads. buy an under power machine. find a lathe hand (person)to help check it out.be willing to travel a few hundred miles for the better machine.

Good to go a local college so you might learn a few things, talk to others interested in machining, and play with machines.
 
How much would that Seiki lathe weigh, too much for the bed of a pickup? The sidney lathe is probably too slow an rpm for modern use on small diameters.
Bill D.
 
QT[probably need a VFD and all the associated electrical items but I'm not counting that in the cost of the lathe.].. a DRO is handy but mostly can be done with out.

Needed: 3 jaw, 4 jaw, steady, thread dial, fish gauge, digital caliper, one and two micrometer, .. then indicator, collect holder and taper attachment.
 
I'm tempted to go look at the one in Brunswick. It seems like it might be a diamond in the rough, but it could also be in as poor of shape as the rest of the shop.

Tom

I vote for the sidney (monarch?)

I would also pack a lunch, you might leave with alot more good stuff besides the lathe
 
The price of a used lathe is highly dependent on the area. I was in a small town in south-east Iowa when I purchased my South Bend. I literally had to watch E-Bay for over a year for it to come up. And there were many South Bends that were in better condition and with more accessories that I saw advertised at far more attractive prices. But they were all over 1000 miles away so picking them up was not practical and shipping costs would have more than doubled the amount I would need to spend. It was an area where I could pick up a farm tractor for a song, but a lathe was another thing. Just not too many around.

I noticed one more thing about the used lathe market. Large lathes often went for less money than smaller ones. The SB that I bought was a 9 inch model. There were many 16 or 24 inch models that went for far less.

On the new side, just get the catalogs and drool. The sellers will have good relationships with the shipping companies and often they offer a fixed price or a schedule of zones with established prices. You would not be able to beat their shipping charges unless you work at a company that has a similar relationship.
 
Check the power requirements on that Sidney . Bet the price of a VFD to power that off single phase will scare you if even available. Most likely need a 15-20 HP rotary converter to run it and check if it will run on 220 volt. That Taiwan lathe is much more suitable for your proposed usage.
 
Figure the lathe cost is one price you will spend about that much again to get it fully equipped with tooling over several years. So paying 50% more for a well equipped lathe is money well spent if the tooling included will be used for your work. It will often include several tools the owner never used and may not even know what they are or if they fit the machine being sold.
It pays to look around and pick up any bits that should have been included with the machine. especially change gears. Take some extra cash and offer to buy any turning stock kicking around. old lubricants can be free as long as the can does not leak.
 
I don't know what size farm equipment you have, but 12 or 13 inch is pretty small. You can do little work on a big lathe, but it won't work the other way.

Price depends on how fast you need (or want) a lathe. If you can shop for 6 months you can find a good deal. If you need one this week, you are going to pay more, probably 50% to 100% more. Sometimes you can find a seller that needs the room this week, and has priced it accordingly.

If you have the ability to unload a larger lathe, don't be afraid on having one trucked in. $1.25/mile for half a trailer, air ride and tarped, is a good ballpark number.

Do you have 3 phase power? 240 or 480? Or do you just have 50 amps of 240V single phase? Electricity problems can be eliminated, but at cost.
 
I don't know what size farm equipment you have, but 12 or 13 inch is pretty small. You can do little work on a big lathe, but it won't work the other way.

Price depends on how fast you need (or want) a lathe. If you can shop for 6 months you can find a good deal. If you need one this week, you are going to pay more, probably 50% to 100% more. Sometimes you can find a seller that needs the room this week, and has priced it accordingly.

If you have the ability to unload a larger lathe, don't be afraid on having one trucked in. $1.25/mile for half a trailer, air ride and tarped, is a good ballpark number.

Do you have 3 phase power? 240 or 480? Or do you just have 50 amps of 240V single phase? Electricity problems can be eliminated, but at cost.

I use the term "farm" pretty loosely. We've got 30 acres and a tractor. I mainly restore cars and build stuff for the wife so I think a 13" or so lathe will work for the majority of my needs. I do however have the space to go larger if needed but I think powering it will become the issue at that point.

Unloading shouldn't be an issue, I've got a set of forks on a large JD tractor and I've got access to a legit fork lift if I need it. Loading on the other hand seems to be a bit of an issue. Seems most sellers I speak to don't have the ability to move the lathe they are selling. If I find a deal I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I've only got single phase 220V in my shop so I'll need a lathe with a dual voltage motor (or plan to replace it) and I will likely need a VFD in the 5-10hp range. I'm an electrical engineer by trade so I'm fairly certain I've got that bit covered.

I'm willing to wait for a good deal, I was really just curious how much I should plan to spend. Based on all of the above it would seem that as long as I'm patient I can probably find one for closer to $1000 than $3000.

I do appreciate everyone's advice and will take any additional input you all may have. Until then, I'll be checking the local hot sheets daily in hopes of finding a good deal relatively near me.

Tom
 
How much room do you have in your shop? Around here the really big old lathes often are free other than the cost to move it. My current 16" x 40" lathe cost me a few thousand when I had to pass on a number of free much bigger lathes that would not fit in my shop. I would not go below 16" as my previous lathe was a 12" and it was not big enough for some jobs. Especially when you need the carriage to get under the part to machine the back side. You may think your never going to turn something big but I will guarantee one day you will.
 








 
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