Buying a lathe - new vs old

[Uglydog]

It's a four-hour drive from me. It's kind of hard to buy something sight-unseen, and kind of hard to blow a whole day driving and a bunch of gasoline when you might come home empty-handed.

As for me.
It's old iron.
Nothing against old import iron.
As long as it's old and needs some repair.
I've learned much from scratching my hairless scalp and asking how a headstock actually works.

I understand, the price of fuel and time is huge.
On the other hand, my bride of 35 years (her extent of shop knowledge is that she finds SWARF in the wash) chooses to drive with me on these trips.
Our several trips have been great in that they've forced us to talk about all kinds of things that otherwise wouldn't get said.
I'm hoping that my prospective son-in-law will volunteer for a future trip. Hmmm.
The above may not have any relevance to your life.
But, perhaps....


Daryl
MN

 

[george wilson]

I like my 16" Grizzly lathe,though it was made in Taiwan. I bought it in 1986 when everything was made there. These days Taiwan costs a good bit more. But,I'd hate to have to resort to buying a lathe from China. I did buy one for the shop at work. The QC gearbox leaked oil,and I did have to take a magnet and clean up some pieces of chips inside the headstock. Nothing serious,though. It just wasn't as nicely finished as a Taiwan lathe.

I still would not recommend my Grizzly for any production work. It is quite accurate,though.

 

[Ray C]

What no one has spoken about thus far, is the difference between "light/medium duty" equipment and professional/industrial equipment. There is a huge difference. I've sold many, many pieces of equipment and the prevailing theme is that many clients think (relatively speaking) that a Chevy Cavalier can somehow perform with the combined utility of a Z06 Vette and a F350 diesel engine truck. -Ain't going to happen! I try to educate folks as much as possible and most important, I try to get a feel if they're serious about metalwork with the future in mind or if it's just a passing-fancy that will last only a few months.

If you want industrial capability and consistently high precision, it comes with a price tag and you won't find it a catalog store; and in the used market, you'll have to search long and hard, know exactly what you're looking for and be willing to possibly spend 4-5 grand to get it tuned-up. The point here, is that not all equipment new or old is (or was) created equal. Just like with cars and trucks, there are different classes of product and there are a few lines of new production automobiles that consistently self-destruct long before they should. Likewise, there are some automobiles I would consider purchasing used -and others I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole... If you don't have proper knowledge of what to look for, you might as well go blow the money at a gambling casino.

New or used? ::: It's really a personal decision... Some folks like rebuilding equipment as a hobby and I admire the folks who can do it properly. It takes more than de-rusting, a paint job, fresh grease and a handful of used gears off eBay. I would love to have a nice 1980's vintage big Sheldon -IF (and only if) it were properly rebuilt and set back to factory condition. If I never find what I'm looking for, I'll settle for the next best thing (which is just as good) -and that would be an industrial Taiwanese unit coming from one of a small handful of factories that really know how to make machines. In the mean time, I use my light/medium Chinese equipment within it's operating envelope with very good results that none of my customers have ever complained about... Still though, I must admit, I feel good and perfectly comfortable at the helm of modern style "big iron" -regardless of what country it was made in. FWIW, my decent-quality Chinese 1236 has seen a LOT of (proper) use and it shows absolutely no sign of wear -and for that, I respect it for what it is.

Ray

 

[rmack898]

What no one has spoken about thus far, is the difference between "light/medium duty" equipment and professional/industrial equipment. There is a huge difference.

New or used? ::: It's really a personal decision.

Ray pretty much summed it up right there.

I started out with a SB project lathe that I never finished and sold it as a basket case. I then bought a Smithy brand new and made some fine parts with it right out of the box.

I replaced the Smithy with another SB project lathe that I finished and wound up with a "like new" machine for half of what I paid for the Smithy, and I made some fine parts on the SB.

I replaced the SB with a Monarch 10EE that I found on craigs list fully tooled and ready to go for le$$ than I could have bought a new Grizzly for, and I make some fine parts on it.

I added a second lathe to the shop in the form of an American Pacemaker that some of you have seen me bring back to life here on this forum and it makes some fine parts.

At my day job, I run a "made in China" Kent USA 1340 lathe, and I make some fine parts on it.

As Ray has said, it all comes down to personal preference and the difference between industrial and casual use machines, regardless of what you choose, you can make some fine parts on just about any machine you decide to bring into your shop.

 

[dave2176]

the prevailing theme is that many clients think (relatively speaking) that a Chevy Cavalier can somehow perform with the combined utility of a Z06 Vette...

Ray

Man, you gotta lay off the Cavaliers. Hurting my cars feelings. :rofl: 2001 cavalier Z24, 184,000 miles. One owner, one driver, best car I've ever owned. Period. Wish i could buy the exact car today. My Grizzly does some nice work too.

Dave

 

[fast freddie]

Another issue for me is the difficulty cutting metric threads on some of those old American standard lathes. Working with imported motorcycles, that's a biggie.

sounds like you know what you want

 

[nickmckinney]

I still would not recommend my Grizzly for any production work. It is quite accurate,though.

This is what I have learned with this class of machine, its accurate enough for casual use, but not full 40-80 hour a week constant work - But.............if busy enough to full shift work a lathe I would think a CNC would be done anymore. Basically at what point are manual lathes being used all that much anymore in production settings and we see why the market offerings are the way they are.

If you want industrial capability and consistently high precision, it comes with a price tag and you won't find it a catalog store; and in the used market, you'll have to search long and hard, know exactly what you're looking for and be willing to possibly spend 4-5 grand to get it tuned-up.

Exactly - if you are looking for a production machine you are a different buyer than most on this site.

 

[projectnut]

"Another issue for me is the difficulty cutting metric threads on some of those old American standard lathes. Working with imported motorcycles, that's a biggie."

It's funny you mention metrics. The 1972 Bridgeport I purchased from a local high school came with both metric and imperial dials on all 3 axis. The recently installed DRO also has metric and imperial readouts. I regularly single point internal and external imperial threads on the lathe, but have used taps & dies for the metric threads. In my case metrics are still a small part of the threads I need to create. If your focus is metric dimensions and metric threads old American iron probably won't fit the bill.

 

[walterk]

Try a smithy lathe


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[Tanshanomi]

Try a smithy lathe

Are you referring to their lathes or mill/lathe combos? The smallest dedicated lathe on the Smithy website is a 12x37 for $3K. That's more lathe than I would need 99% of the time, and meanwhile it would permanently swallow up 50% more of my workbench area in comparison to the SB 8K.