Reasons to Keep Smaller Lathe

[Susan_in_SF]

Hello,
I am a newbie who bought a nice old Craftsman 101.07301 metal lathe awhile ago. At the time I bought it, I really did not know (beyond the obvious size issues) the limitations of such a small lathe. At the same time, I am working out of a 1 car garage that also has woodworking equipment in it as well. I really lucked out and found an affordable South Bend 9" model A lathe being sold due to the owner passing away. The South Bend's bed is 48 inches. My 6" Craftsman's bed is 30 inches. Is there any practical reason for keeping the Craftsman lathe? I like the little guy, but if the South Bend can work on small parts just as well, I might just sell the Craftsman. I was once told by a hobby machinist that smaller lathes work better making smaller stuff than bigger lathes. As for what the lathe(s) would be used for, that is up in the air. I am hoping to share my workshop with friends so we have the ability to make anything we want. That is pretty vague I know. Hence, I now am here asking you experienced guys your opinion on keeping or selling the 6" lathe. I will be taking a poll , but if you have any friendly feedback, you are welcome to share

Thanks,
Susan

 

[chips&more]

Welcome, IMHO the craftsman lathe that you have can be easily replaced with something better and you would not look back. And that is only if you really needed a second lathe. Nice pics!…Dave

 

[Dave Paine]

I also purchased a lathe which I soon found out was too short for my needs. I still have this, but should sell mine since I really need the room.

If you keep the lathe you can have this setup for certain operations, such as a 4 jaw chuck for dialing in close tolerance work on one lathe and 3 jaw chuck on the other. It helps if both lathes have the same spindle thread so can interchange chucks.

You could also set the first lathe up to turn tapers - if you need to make tapers. Just offset the tailstock.

I expect many other examples where a second lathe would be of use.

 

[shooter123456]

My opinion, and its worth exactly what you pay for it, is you should sell the smaller lathe if:

1. You want the space back that it is taking up.
2. You want the money from the sale.
3. It isn't ever used and you don't intent to use it again.
4. You know someone else who wants it and you would like to help them out.

I only have 1 lathe, and I can think of quite a few reasons that I would love to have a second one. I sold my first one because it helped finance the second one.

I would love to have a dedicated lathe for threading. Dealing with change gears is a bit of a hassle and needing to align the cutting tool each time just adds a little bit of hassle to threading so I tend to put it off. If I could rough turn on my 1030v, then move the workpiece over to another lathe and manually turn to final dimensions, then thread, that would save me a lot of time. Especially if the spindle was the same and I could do it without taking the part out of the chuck.

There is also the unavoidable event of machine failure. At some point, a part on the lathe will break and it will be useless until a new one can be sourced. For new machines, that could be 2 or 3 days if the support for it is good and the manufacturer has the part in stock. It could need to ship from China and take a month to arrive. For older machines, finding those parts could take some time. You might also need the lathe to be able to make that part to make it work again. Having a second lathe in the shop would mean no down time while you wait for a new part, or give you the option to make a new one on the functioning lathe.

I have had several projects where I realized I needed to use the machine I am using to make a tool to be able to finish the part I am working on. With only 1 lathe, that means stopping, taking the part out, making whatever I needed (In the most recent case, I broke my boring bar...), then getting the part remounted and indicated back in as best as I can (there will be a certain amount of error introduced, its inevitable.) then continue. With a second lathe, I wouldn't need to break down the set up and I would have saved a lot of time.

If I had the money and space, I would probably have at least 2 lathes, if not 3. I have always wanted one of those 14x40 or larger machines and one of those gorgeous old Monarchs, but for the very forseeable future, I will only have my 1030v.

TL;DR: Unless something is pushing you to sell it, I would keep it.

 

[wrmiller]

When I purchased my 13x40 lathe I had a SB1001 8x18 lathe. In a moment of weakness I sold it to a friend who wanted to get into hobby machining. I've regretted that decision to this day, and I can't get my 'friend' to sell it back to me.

I work on medium to small stuff, mostly gunsmithing related. My pistolsmith mentor had a small Craftsman in addition to his large lathe, and I quickly figured out why: Large lathes stink at making really small stuff (I cleaned that up for the PC crowd). They typically don't spin fast enough or have the right feeds. And I can't 'feel' what the machine/cutter is doing as well on a larger chunk of iron. I've never met a clockmaker or watchmaker with a 16x40 lathe...

Your experience will differ of course.

 

[francist]

I would keep it -- for now anyways. If after a year you find that you've used nothing but the Southbend in that time, revisit the question. Maybe things change, maybe your space requirements change, maybe you find a pal who would really like to use the little Craftsman at their own place for a while. A year isn't that long, but it does tend to be long enough for a person to discover 'gee, I'm really not using this anymore like I thought I might', and the decision becomes easier to make. Plus, you like the little guy! Where's the harm in keeping him around for a little?

-frank

 

[T Bredehoft]

I have two small lathes in my shop, I find that often I can set up two operations, one on each lathe, that complement each other. When this occurs, I realize how much easier it is to do two operations that way. No tear down in case you need to do them again. (Need to make two more pieces because the dog ate the others or what ever.)

 

[benmychree]

I see no valid reason to keep the craftsman lathe; it is no where near the quality of the South Bend, and the fact that it is smaller makes no difference given the small difference (in swing) between the two; sell it and invest the proceeds in some nice tooling for the SB.
Another good reason to dispose of it is the constraints of the available space that you have; there may come along another metal working machine that would be a better value in terms of space taken up than a redundant lathe.

 

[Susan_in_SF]

Wow. I am really appreciative of the posts from all you seasoned pros (I assume). I think I might keep the Craftsman for now, until I learn more about using a lathe. If the ltitle guy can't help out much after I know a bit more, I guess will sell him. After hearing all the advantages of having 2 lathes though, I really will try to see if I can have each lathe run separate operations. If it works out, that would be awesome

 

[Bob Korves]

The only reason I would keep the Craftsman lathe is if it has special tooling that the South Bend does not come with and cannot be easily transferred. Things like a taper attachment, milling attachment, ball turning attachment, those kinds of things. Otherwise, the SB will do everything the Craftsman can. One caveat. Do not sell the Craftsman until the South Bend is up and running and you are pretty certain that everything is working as it is supposed to on the SB.