Should I buy this Emco Compact 8?

ARC-170

ARC-170

Jeff L.
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There is an Emco Compact 8 lathe for sale in my area. Austrian made. Seller wants $1200. Has lots of tooling and accessories. Looks like it's in pretty decent shape.
I have an Atlas Craftsman 101.07403 12 x 18. Not sure if the Emco is better, do I thought I would ask your thoughts and comments.
 
Emco-Maier made very good small lathes of toolroom quality. The Compact 8 was widely copied by the Chinese and others.
Make sure it has all the extra gears for cutting threads since they are expensive to replace. Check for cracks around the cross slide handle, I believe there is a die cast mounting bracket that is somewhat weak. You want to try and spot any worn or broken parts. Some used parts can be found on Ebay but the supply is variable.
It's a great little hobby lathe. Price sounds reasonable.
-Mark
 
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I have totally rebuilt a Compact 8 and know it pretty well. Interestingly, it was actually built to a DIN tool room standard if you can believe it. Sold for a lot of money when it came out and was the lathe the Chinese copied to produce all the 9X clones that came on the market. BUT it is still an 8" lathe with a belt drive and is also a change gear lathe that is incomplete without the entire change gear set. On the plus side, the 8" lathe is still available new but the current model is entirely built in China. The good thing is that some parts are still available new, unlike all other Emco lathes.

You can usually find used parts on ebay but when they show up you have to be ready to jump quickly because parts for these lathes go fast. One rare part is a thread dial indicator that was never made for the Compact 8; the one for the Maximat 7 fits, though. They also never made a carriage stop and you'll have to make your own.

I have used this lathe and find it to be pretty quiet and capable. It is small and I'm not sure going from a 12" lathe down to an 8" lathe makes sense but if this suits your needs or wants then it might be a good move. It is well made, as all Emco lathes were. It was built by Emco of Austria before the division that built it was sold off. I have the manuals for it if you decide to jump.
 
mikey said:
I have totally rebuilt a Compact 8 and know it pretty well. Interestingly, it was actually built to a DIN tool room standard if you can believe it. Sold for a lot of money when it came out and was the lathe the Chinese copied to produce all the 9X clones that came on the market. BUT it is still an 8" lathe with a belt drive and is also a change gear lathe that is incomplete without the entire change gear set. On the plus side, the 8" lathe is still available new but the current model is entirely built in China. The good thing is that some parts are still available new, unlike all other Emco lathes.

You can usually find used parts on ebay but when they show up you have to be ready to jump quickly because parts for these lathes go fast. One rare part is a thread dial indicator that was never made for the Compact 8; the one for the Maximat 7 fits, though. They also never made a carriage stop and you'll have to make your own.

I have used this lathe and find it to be pretty quiet and capable. It is small and I'm not sure going from a 12" lathe down to an 8" lathe makes sense but if this suits your needs or wants then it might be a good move. It is well made, as all Emco lathes were. It was built by Emco of Austria before the division that built it was sold off. I have the manuals for it if you decide to jump.
Click to expand...

I saw you had one when I was doing a little research and was hoping you'd chime in! This one has the manual and lots of extras, like the steady and follow rests, 3- and 4-jaw chucks, variable speed motor with digital readout indicator, Chinese QCTP (is that a red flag?), but no change gears.
It seems very similar to the lathes (Jets) we have in the shop at the school where I teach.
I like my 12" lathe and have got it running well. I've made a few projects on it and know its quirks and limits. I'm not sure I'll ever need all 12" of swing (famous last words, I know). I just saw this one and thought I'd ask around and see if it was even worth pursuing. Is it priced well?
 
Mikey who sells the change gear set these days? Blue Ridge's website shows Emco stuff but the links don't work
-M
 
markba633csi said:
Mikey who sells the change gear set these days? Blue Ridge's website shows Emco stuff but the links don't work
-M
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There is currently a set on ebay now. I only spotted it. You will need to look the listing over to make sure it is accurate.

ProMachineTools in the UK carries Compact 8 parts for the Emco machines and the newer Asian-made ones. The owner is a good guy. He may have things on the shelf that are not listed on his website. If you need something, email him and he'll tell you if he has it.

I got my change gear set for my Super 11 from him for a bit over $200; on ebay, when you can find this set, the cost is well over $600 for a pre-owned set.
 
ARC-170 said:
I saw you had one when I was doing a little research and was hoping you'd chime in! This one has the manual and lots of extras, like the steady and follow rests, 3- and 4-jaw chucks, variable speed motor with digital readout indicator, Chinese QCTP (is that a red flag?), but no change gears.
It seems very similar to the lathes (Jets) we have in the shop at the school where I teach.
I like my 12" lathe and have got it running well. I've made a few projects on it and know its quirks and limits. I'm not sure I'll ever need all 12" of swing (famous last words, I know). I just saw this one and thought I'd ask around and see if it was even worth pursuing. Is it priced well?
Click to expand...

Yes, it is priced well. If it is in good shape and comes with all that tooling, $1200 is a fair price. Compact 8's in poor condition and almost no tooling often go for more than that. The cost to buy just the tooling you listed on ebay would be more than the price he is asking. The reason parts cost so much is that Emco no longer makes parts so we are all competing with each other on ebay. Emco lathes rarely break and when they do we can usually make replacements ourselves but some things, like steady rests and gear sets, have to be purchased and there is a LOT of competition out there for parts. You already have most of what you need but you do need the change gear set.

Lathe-2.jpg

This is the lathe I rebuilt. The cost to bring it to this condition was nearly double what your seller is asking because I had to replace the bed and other parts. If you want or need that lathe then I would jump.

Edit: you can see the carriage stop I made for this lathe and the Maximat 7 thread dial indicator in this pic. It's a really nice little lathe and is now owned by a good friend. He is happy with it.

Edit 2: If you do buy the lathe, let me know and I'll tell you how I mounted this one. Emco uses a simple but really effective array under the feet of the lathe that makes leveling simple, fast and easy.
 
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That gear set looks like it's for a compact 5, I just took a look. Does it fit the 8 also? I thought they were different
 
If I go look at this lathe, what should I look for? Are there any particular areas/issues/etc that I should pay attention to?

How is mounting a DRO setup on it? Pretty straight forward?
 
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