Clausing Or Leblond?

E

eodcoduto

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I have done my research and I have found two local lathes that fit my needs. The first is a LeBlond Regal 15"x60 with the short plastic gear levers, the second is a Clausing 5900 series 16"x52. I do not have model #'s for either yet. I welcome any recommendations. The LeBlond is from a business with the chuck and tool post, the Clausing is from a dealer with 2 chucks and a good amount of tooling.
I am running a 5hp Rotary Converter for my Bridgeport mill right now and I'm sure that I will have to upgrade with either one of these machines. Fire away!
 
I'm not a big fan of LeBlond lathes personally, but between the two, they are decent all around lathes to have. You can still get parts for both brands of lathes today. Parts for the Clausing will be cheaper!
 
Well now you are comparing two different animals here. If you want a lathe you can move around easily ,1000lbs, the Clausing would be the choice. If you have the room or ability to handle the Leblond , around 2800lbs, go for it. I've owned a real nice Clausing 5914 and wouldn't buy another unless it was only to re sell. In that size lathe I'd look for a Sheldon , the heavier R series are hard to beat too if you can find one. I had also owned an older Leblond 15x54 Dual Drive and would have no problem going for a later Regal. If price and condition were equal and size didn't matter I'd go Leblond hands down. Good luck.
 
I'm not familiar with those model #s but we had both in the general machining area of the shop and the Clausing we had had a spindly spindle and head housing (casting) and the old Lablond had a pretty beefy casting (head and all including the tail stock)...neither came close to our American Pacemaker or "Big" Monarch but our model Clausing was the weakest built of all in that "conventional" "big" lathe area of our shop....anyway, when all else fails compare (eyeball) the beefyness of the castings (especially at the headstock that will be in conjunction with the rest (carriage etc) 1st,... then check for possible spindle bearing runout, worn ways, worn screws and nuts (like cross slide backlash and sloppy compound)...so which is in better shape?...if you plan on or don't mind doing some machine rebuild always go for the Machine Tool that is closer to a "battleship" (While also considering finding and the cost of accessories like chucks ("My" Monarch EE Toolroom lathe had all the KDK tool holders, at/for the tailstock: 2 sizes of Jacob drill chucks and 2 sizes of precision Albreght drill chucks, "big drill" (taper shank) adapter) ...and a 3 jaw, 4 jaw, 6 jaw (all with the reverse ("OD") jaws, a 5c collet chuck and a soft (rubber) collet chuck and the steady rest that your longer lathe will need more... (all that stuff, if needed, can run into a lot of bones ($)...make sure when buying any used Machine Tool the seller isn't holding back on that stuff (I have found that many, unfortunatley, do or whoever you are dealing with just don't know or care about that "stuff" and might even find "it" at a later date then pitching it while saying "eh, we don't have that machine anymore"
 
plumberbutt said:
....snip...... In that size lathe I'd look for a Sheldon , the heavier R series are hard to beat too if you can find one.......snip........
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I own two Sheldon R series lathes. A 13" Sheldon-Sebastian and a 15" "ER" Sheldon lathes. They are very stout lathes for their size. Ken
 
The Clausing sold but there are a few more machines close by. I am weary of buying from a dealer, since most of the lathes come without any accessories and if a dealer bought it, it might have been worn out which is why the owner sold it.
 
I see you're in Cali....I wishes' I could be there with you bud cause' spending a day checking out some machines (yoose' buy lunch and the beer of course!) I could tell you what to buy/not to buy between em' in about a New York second (Smiley Face here)
PS They better, at the least!, come with a 3 jaw, tool post and holder and a couple of cutters, and a drill chuck and dead center for the tailstock (or make em' pay! (discount)
 
4gsr said:
I'm not a big fan of LeBlond lathes personally
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Curious to know why? Reason I'm asking is I'm shopping around for a "new" lathe and there a lot of Le Blond's floating around.
 
Eddyde said:
Curious to know why? Reason I'm asking is I'm shopping around for a "new" lathe and there a lot of Le Blond's floating around.
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I dis-like the funky ways they have on their lathes. Every one I'v ever looked at for sale or one needing repairs, the small shear or way surface on the front side of the lathe bed was always worn beyond belief. LeBlond's belief was the front way, the wide one in the very front took all of the brute force from the cutting tool. In theory, that is correct. What they didn't take in account was, what happens when the carriage starts to wear to the ways and gets out of adjustment. That little way surface winds up taking all the load from cutting and starts to wear almost immediately the day the lathe leaves the factory. And along with everyday cleaning of the ways and oiling, which doesn't happen in industry, you quickly wear out the lathe. A Leblond especially. That's why I'm not a fan of Leblond lathes. Ken
 
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