Price Point or Size for Better Quality?

[twraska]

I know where there is a 16”??? Monarch, war time lathe. It looked in decent shape as it lived a long time at a college.
Twraska@yahoo.com
I’ll get you in contact with the owner.
About 50 miles SW of Houston.

 

[rwdenney]

If none of that works, check out the Youtube channel Steve Watkins at Work. https://youtube.com/@10swatkins?si=-mSfKQuOlwVy_YCU

Steve lives a bit northwest of Houston, and seems to find equipment around there all the time. He might be able to hook you up with something. He sells stuff from time to time but I don't know if he has any lathes at present. His current lathe machines include an Axelson 20 and a Monarch 10EE that he is overhauling.

Rick "several videos of him driving to acquire new machines in the area" Denney

 

[David2011]

Look at Eisen - Taiwanese lathes at a good price. My 1340 was about 6+ thousands before the DRO.

Www.eisenm.com


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks, Koenbro. I took a look. Eisen seems to currently be in the business of "Sold Out" on most items. Their 1340 GHE is right at $9000 with DRO now. It's the only lathe under $10K that they have in stock.

I'm trying to make arrangements to see what I believe is an Acer 14" lathe. FB Marketplace ad with plenty of pictures of an Acer mill but only one very poor image of the lathe. It's not too far from the house but getting an appointment to see it with the woman that's selling it has been a challenge. It might be at a very good price since she's wanting $5540 for both the lathe and the mill.

 

[David2011]

I know where there is a 16”??? Monarch, war time lathe. It looked in decent shape as it lived a long time at a college.
Twraska@yahoo.com
I’ll get you in contact with the owner.
About 50 miles SW of Houston.

That would be nice but I don't have the room for a lathe that big. Thanks!

 

[David2011]

If none of that works, check out the Youtube channel Steve Watkins at Work. https://youtube.com/@10swatkins?si=-mSfKQuOlwVy_YCU

Steve lives a bit northwest of Houston, and seems to find equipment around there all the time. He might be able to hook you up with something. He sells stuff from time to time but I don't know if he has any lathes at present. His current lathe machines include an Axelson 20 and a Monarch 10EE that he is overhauling.

Rick "several videos of him driving to acquire new machines in the area" Denney

Thanks, Rick. I just saw one of his videos for the first time a few days ago. I didn't realize he was "local." I'll explore the possibility.

 

[David2011]

The 14x40 lathes tend to be a heavier build than the 13 x40. Watch for a decent used machine at your budget. Patience is a virtue when buying machines. Dave

Yeah, I'm not in a big hurry. Just tired of switching belts and gears and not having enough spindle bore. I think a 14x40 is the ideal compromise of size and power for me. I'll have to give up a bench and some storage in the shop to move a lathe of that size in but it would do anything I'm interested in doing. In gunsmithing school we had a bunch of 13" South Bends and one new Enco 14x40. I don't think anyone besides myself used it. I liked the size and utility. I didn't encourage the students to use it because it was easier to teach them all on one kind of machine.

 

[epanzella]

I have the Grizzly G4003G 12x 36 for about 7 years now and I'm very happy with it. Would be another in a heartbeat.

 

[David2011]

I found a Victor 1340GHE locally; trying to arrange to see it. Any opinions good or bad on this machine?

 

[rwdenney]

I found a Victor 1340GHE locally; trying to arrange to see it. Any opinions good or bad on this machine?

Abom seems to like the Victor lathe he is using, though I don't know if it's a similar model. His was purchased by his father for the family machine shop, and as I recall was made in Taiwan. You might search Abom79 videos on Youtube with the word "victor" or for his shop tours. He has talked about it.

Rick "he installed a collet chuck on it for most usage" Denney

 

[David2011]

The Victor 1340 looked very good. The ways near the headstock looked great and everything on the machine worked as smooth as glass. It has a nice, tight BXA QCTP, a Trav-a-Dial, 3 jaw, 4 jaw, VFD installed on the headstock up and out of the way. It has all the features I wanted including a D1-4 chuck, foot brake, spindle motor control at the carriage and a 1-1/2" spindle bore. I'm planning on picking it up Saturday morning if nothing goes wrong.