Wanted - Precision Lathe with automatic thread gearing system.

[rajhliux]

Hello, I need a good Lathe machine. Benchtop type.

Applications that I'll be using the lathe for:
-Precision gears
-Precision water connector with threads of all kinds (Both American and British)
-Quick Connectors
-Hydraulics

Note: I do not want to play with the lathe gearing system just to change simple threading. The lathe machine needs to have an automatic gearing system to change threading pitch.

Thanks!

 

[wa5cab]

rajhliux,

An "automatic thread gearing system" has for over a Century been known as a "Quick Change Gear Box" or QCGB for short. Various makes and models of machine may come with, without, or both. The without version is generally known as a Change Gear model or lathe. So for a first cut, you won't be interested in any machines listed as Change Gear models.

 

[rajhliux]

rajhliux,

An "automatic thread gearing system" has for over a Century been known as a "Quick Change Gear Box" or QCGB for short. Various makes and models of machine may come with, without, or both. The without version is generally known as a Change Gear model or lathe. So for a first cut, you won't be interested in any machines listed as Change Gear models.

What about electronic leadscrew? Isn't that a fully automatic system to change from different values of threads and also to change automatically from metric and imperial?

 

[wa5cab]

Well, yes. But you had specified a "gearing system".

 

[JRaut]

Seems like you're trying to take in and process lots and lots of new information, and drinking from a fire hose in the process.

For what it's worth, it seems to me you're putting wayyyyyy too much emphasis on your desire to thread any pitch at any time with zero effort.

Several folks have chimed in here saying, in varying ways, that changing a gear or two from time to time is quick and easy. I absolutely agree. I'll also add that it's important you know what's going on inside there anyway. The more you know about the innards of your lathe, the less likely you are to break anything.

My lathe doesn't have a QCGB so I have to change my gears manually. Is it sometimes a pain? Sure. But it certainly isn't the end of the world.

For a lathe to have every thread pitch, both metric and imperial, built in, you're talking about a pretty major piece of equipment (or full-blown CNC). An electronic leadscrew is certainly an option, but it'll be a custom job for the price range you're considering and you're going to sink weeks and weeks (probably months actually) and lots of money into getting something working for whatever lathe you go with.

I'd do yourself a favor: do some googling to find a local used machine supplier. Go to their warehouse and just walk around for a while. Get a feel for what types of lathes are out there, what their threading capabilities are, how damn big and heavy they actually are, etc.

 

[JimDawson]

I agree with the others here. What you are looking for really doesn't exist in the price range you are looking at. You are really asking for a CNC lathe, in a benchtop size.

The closest machine that I can think of that meets your requirements is a Hardinge CHNC. You can find these used for reasonable prices. These machines are built on the HLV frame, so are small and very precision.

 

[rajhliux]

Seems like you're trying to take in and process lots and lots of new information, and drinking from a fire hose in the process.

For what it's worth, it seems to me you're putting wayyyyyy too much emphasis on your desire to thread any pitch at any time with zero effort.

Several folks have chimed in here saying, in varying ways, that changing a gear or two from time to time is quick and easy. I absolutely agree. I'll also add that it's important you know what's going on inside there anyway. The more you know about the innards of your lathe, the less likely you are to break anything.

My lathe doesn't have a QCGB so I have to change my gears manually. Is it sometimes a pain? Sure. But it certainly isn't the end of the world.

For a lathe to have every thread pitch, both metric and imperial, built in, you're talking about a pretty major piece of equipment (or full-blown CNC). An electronic leadscrew is certainly an option, but it'll be a custom job for the price range you're considering and you're going to sink weeks and weeks (probably months actually) and lots of money into getting something working for whatever lathe you go with.

I'd do yourself a favor: do some googling to find a local used machine supplier. Go to their warehouse and just walk around for a while. Get a feel for what types of lathes are out there, what their threading capabilities are, how damn big and heavy they actually are, etc.

I agree with the others here. What you are looking for really doesn't exist in the price range you are looking at. You are really asking for a CNC lathe, in a benchtop size.

The closest machine that I can think of that meets your requirements is a Hardinge CHNC. You can find these used for reasonable prices. These machines are built on the HLV frame, so are small and very precision.

Someone in my other post mentioned about an "electronic leadscrew"... I have no idea what a leadscrew is but after finding a video in youtube I finally understand why gears are used in a lathe. I come to a conclusion that the lathe industry are simply over engineered unnecessarily in the year 2020 for threading. The threading caused by the leascrew should not be run by gears it's just straight up over complicated and makes no sense why to use gears for this purpose.

This video on youtube shows how an "electronic leadscrew" completely provides the solution I need by 1000% of ease and use for threading on a lathe:

Believe it or not the lathe manufacturers has absolutely no idea what they're doing, every lathe should come with an option of having the lathe retro fitted with an "electronic leadscrew" system. Anything under $1K for a new lathe seems justifiable for not having an "electronic leadscrew" system since the parts for an "electronic leadscrew" are around $100-$200 depending on what method is used.

Anyhow when a person is going to spend $2K-$5K for a lathe, and still has to change gears for imperial, metric and different threads seems extremely dumb to me. I don't see why it should take months for retrofitting a simple "electronic leadscrew" setup. It shouldn't even take more than a month if you're retrofitting from scratch. Maximum should take a week or two as long the machinist knows a thing or two about microcontrollers.

The "electronic leadscrew" should be all engineered by the manufacturer and must give this option to the machinist who are spending more than $2K for a lathe. People here should not think that spending $2K for a lathe is a low end lathe which does not deserve an "electronic leadscrew".

But now I'm happy to know that the world is not completely sabotaged by the old gear leadscrew

 

[JimDawson]

We've been doing that way for the last 200 years so why change now?

You are correct, today it would be relatively inexpensive to have lathes come equipped with electronic lead screws. Most likely would be less expensive than a quick change gearbox or even manual change gears. I think the manufacturer's really have no incentive to do it, if there was a market, then it would happen.

But the real question is: Why use a lead screw at all? All manual lathes have a rack & pinion carriage drive. Just drive the carriage with that for threading. Add a linear scale and a pneumatic backlash compensator and start threading. Add a drive on the X axis and you have a full CNC.

 

[Winegrower]

Believe it or not the lathe manufacturers has absolutely no idea what they're doing, every lathe should come with an option of having the lathe retro fitted with an "electronic leadscrew" system. Anything under $1K for a new lathe seems justifiable for not having an "electronic leadscrew" system since the parts for an "electronic leadscrew" are around $100-$200 depending on what method is used.

Welcome, you have an impressive learning curve. Perhaps you should drop the connectors and start a lathe business, blow those no- nothings away.

 

[pacifica]

A lot of threading can be done by a geometric style die head, don't need a lead screw and the operation is automatic to some degree. I have about $500 in my unit with 15 different chasers and can easily cut class 3 threads with a beautiful surface. Much easier to master than single point threading.
That means you could get by with a Hardinge HC Chucker which are common and Less expensive. one example- https://www.ebay.com/itm/HARDINGE-HC-CHUCKER/143630950043?hash=item2171125e9b:g:ebkAAOSwXLle5i8d.