Looking for some guidance on which lathe I should choose

Hello everyone!

I believe this is my first post, but I've been lurking for well over a year reading as much as I can. So, now it's time to make it known that I don't know anything.

It has become abundantly clear that I need a lathe over the last several years, and I can't really do without one much longer. I do general fabrication, mostly as a hobby, and I've done a considerable amount of gunsmithing work over the last decade - mostly revolving around CNC machining and engraving. I'm searching for a lathe that can hold it's accuracy, have relatively affordable and available parts should anything go wrong, and can thread.

I'd prefer a machine that can do both imperial and metric threading (which I understand the south Bends can - sort of). After reading as much as I can find, it seems metric threading is possible by switching out some of the gears, and even then you can do a few, but not all of them. This part is a little foggy for me and I'd love a little clarification as I can't seem to locate a thread that touches on it in a broad spectrum, most threads focus on a particular job or pitch.

The South Bend lathes seem to meet most of my criteria. I do like the fact they (appear) to be smaller machines. My max dimensions for my shop would be something around 8 feet long, maximum. I think my preferred machine would be the Heavy 10, as I don't see myself needing to turn anything much longer than 20" as that's about the max barrel length I typically deal with and the hardened ways increase the chances I can land a machine that still has relatively tight tolerances. I had been looking at Clausing 14x40" lathes, as they seem a little more abundant in my area. That's the next issue I've been running into. I just don't see many South Bend lathes in the north texas area. Usually I'll see one or maybe two a month. They're either outrageously overpriced, or they're sold seconds after listing. I'd love any advice if you had some - especially where to look. I look forward to hear any input you might have.

You may have gotten more responses to your question outside the south bend forum, but lacking any other advice so far, I'll give my opinion and rationale. For your purposes there are better lathes out there than a southbend, especially for the money.

As you've found, the south bend name carries with it an elusiveness and a pricetag right now, which seems to be based almost entirely on nostalgia perhaps parts availability. Functionally most SBs are nothing special.

The heavy 10 has a lot in common with my Taiwanese belt drive 12" lathe, but I've never run one so hopefully someone can jump in, but here is my list of complaints with mine, which would be in common with most lighter SBs:

1) At around 700lbs it's usually limited to lighter cuts before chatter takes over. Parting is usually a little tricky and chatter is usually involved.

2) The max spindle is 1200 rpm, which is not bad, but for small work it's a little on the slow side. Also requires changing belts for speeds even with a VFD sometimes.

3) The apron, back gears, end gears, and QCGB gears are all open and lubricated with hand applied grease, spray on lube, or drip oiling of questionable value. On mine the gears make a racket when engaged at anything over 500rpm so I never used power feed. I've made a separate DC drive for the feed rod at this point, and engage the gear train just for threading.

My next lathe will be at least 2000lb, have a geared and force lubricated headstock, have an enclosed QCGB, and ideally metric threading with a lever vice change gears.

The Clausing 14x40 is likely much closer to that than a heavy 10 depending on the age.

JCByrd24 said:

You may have gotten more responses to your question outside the south bend forum, but lacking any other advice so far, I'll give my opinion and rationale. For your purposes there are better lathes out there than a southbend, especially for the money.

As you've found, the south bend name carries with it an elusiveness and a pricetag right now, which seems to be based almost entirely on nostalgia perhaps parts availability. Functionally most SBs are nothing special.

The heavy 10 has a lot in common with my Taiwanese belt drive 12" lathe, but I've never run one so hopefully someone can jump in, but here is my list of complaints with mine, which would be in common with most lighter SBs:

1) At around 700lbs it's usually limited to lighter cuts before chatter takes over. Parting is usually a little tricky and chatter is usually involved.

2) The max spindle is 1200 rpm, which is not bad, but for small work it's a little on the slow side. Also requires changing belts for speeds even with a VFD sometimes.

3) The apron, back gears, end gears, and QCGB gears are all open and lubricated with hand applied grease, spray on lube, or drip oiling of questionable value. On mine the gears make a racket when engaged at anything over 500rpm so I never used power feed. I've made a separate DC drive for the feed rod at this point, and engage the gear train just for threading.

My next lathe will be at least 2000lb, have a geared and force lubricated headstock, have an enclosed QCGB, and ideally metric threading with a lever vice change gears.

The Clausing 14x40 is likely much closer to that than a heavy 10 depending on the age.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the honest thoughts. All great stuff I haven't heard, honestly. The larger machines definitely appear more substantial. I'm definitely after rigidity for sure, as dealing with flimsy CNC machines has definitely tempered my patience. I appreciate the info!

Given the requirements you listed I suspect there are better lathes available than the South Bend family that will do what you want. Cutting metric AND inch threads on a South Bend is a bit of an adventure. There is a gearing package that will allow you to do it but those gears are not readily available. Plus if you do make the conversion there's no information easily available on the QCGB to tell you how to select a particular thread.

The "Heavy 10" is a pretty good lathe and I've never had any particular issues with parting operations on it. You just need to use correct tooling and set it up properly and use correct cutting fluids. Oh, and not be in a big hurry!

Since you mention gunsmith operations, if I were you I would have a serious look at something like the Grizzly Gunsmith lathe--either in 12 inch or 14 inch versions. They have a big spindle bore--1-9/16" and are reasonably stout machines and from my experience pretty accurate. There are some issues that you'd need to be aware of such as the lack of any slip clutch protection for the lead screw for power feed operations. I've also found the spindle speed selections somewhat bizarre with odd gaps in the range. There's no back gear provision and if I remember the lowest spindle speed is about 70 rpm which can be a little bit fast for some threading operations. The lathe is a great candidate for a conversion to VFD although the conversion is not for the faint of heart if you wish to retain the electrical connection box and controls on the front of the lathe. Properly done though it can be a pretty slick set-up. It just takes a while to figure out the logic of their connection and relay system.

I'm not a rep shilling for Grizzly and my whole fleet of lathes are all South Bend machines. However, I have used the Grizzly Gunsmith lathes at a part-time job and found them to have some endearing qualities.

I have a Heavy 10L and have been putting together the change gears. I haven't needed them yet, so it hasn't been a priority. It would certainly be easier to work with a machine that was designed to cut metric and inch threads from the factory. A more rigid lathe is always better. Check out these threads.

Heavy 10 Metric Transposing Gears

New way to metric thread on 10L?

and the hardened ways

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Only on later versions. Thousands of "Heavy Tens" were not so equipped