Why no small high-quality lathes?

Well there are small, high quality lathes although not many, the problem is they are are quite expensive Forget the chinese ones, A few good ones are made in Taiwan, they will be the cheapest, some very good ones from Japan , but getting expensive

What a lot of people forget is that you can do the same high quality work on lathe 2 -3 times bigger than you might think you need. I remember as an apprentice in a tool room making some very small precision parts on a largish lathe, about 14 x 40, as long as its in good condition and well adjusted precision is easy.
 
This is a favorite and perennial question of the ages. The market has never been able to support large quantities of small, inexpensive, precise lathes. Atlas would probably be the closest, along with Myford, Emco-Maier, and a few others. It's always been much more of a niche hobby than say, photography or even woodworking.
Mark
 
i predict the era of chinese tech is now upon us and we will start to see chinese products with levels of precision rivaling those of the best out there - and then some maybe ...
 
Mr. Science said:
i predict the era of chinese tech is now upon us and we will start to see chinese products with levels of precision rivaling those of the best out there - and then some maybe ...
Click to expand...

The Chinese make good equipment, but since thier good equipment is expensive as well, it's not imported into the US. They launch satelites into space, they can do quality. But why pay for high quality Chinese stuff when you can just buy US, Japan or Europen stuff, probably cheaper.
 
cjtoombs said:
The Chinese make good equipment, but since thier good equipment is expensive as well, it's not imported into the US. They launch satelites into space, they can do quality. But why pay for high quality Chinese stuff when you can just buy US, Japan or Europen stuff, probably cheaper.
Click to expand...


well i think you can't really compare it to any other market - they can do economies of scale better than ANYONE on the planet ... god knows they have the resources and the manpower and seem to be able to do clever things with shipping ... i think it will be interesting to see what comes down the pike in coming years
 
If you can find it, buy a used Tilda 4a or 5a lathe, Made in taiwan, these are as rigid as their big brothers. They are very heavy for their size,about 400 lbs for a 4a (about 8X28 if I recall correctly)
 
I have a South Bend Heavy 10 with a 3 foot bed, about 14" between centers max, and the spindle turns within .0005". These machines are everywhere and parts are very easy to get still. If you find a decent one buy it.
 
Dabbler said:
If you can find it, buy a used Tilda 4a or 5a lathe, Made in taiwan, these are as rigid as their big brothers. They are very heavy for their size,about 400 lbs for a 4a (about 8X28 if I recall correctly)
Click to expand...
Is it Tida TA-4A? Tried to google Tilda and didn’t find anything.
 
Mr. Science said:
i predict the era of chinese tech is now upon us and we will start to see chinese products with levels of precision rivaling those of the best out there - and then some maybe ...
Click to expand...

The problem isn't that the Chinese or Europeans or even Americans do not produce quality machines anymore. The problem is that the market is not there to support them, and in particular the market for manual machines. Hobby guys want cheap so that is what they get ... cheap.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top