- Joined
- Jan 31, 2016
- Messages
- 11,460
Jeff . The Clausings are considered the industry standards . Over the years , I've run all types of lathes , manuals , nc and cnc . I feel the Colchesters are the lathes I feel most comfortable with as far as availability , tooling available , acurracy , looks , ease of operation etc . The Harrison 15" is a identical clone to the Colchester . I have operated nicer , larger lathes in the past , but for a home shop with limited space the 15" would suit most anyone's needs . We had a beautiful American Pacemaker , maybe a 20 some incher with full tracing abilities . Little large for a home shop but man what a sweet lathe . I currently know where a 17" and 20" Colchester reside and am keeping my eyes on them just in case they would ever need to vacate the premises .
As far as the Hardinge . You can't get a nicer " small " lathe . You're not going to go ripping material off on this lathe , but for accuracy , this is the go to lathe in most toolrooms . The Monarch 10 EE would be my second choice . They are still around and the owners always seem to complain about electrical issues with them . I've never owned one so I can't comment on it . I may be getting my hands on a Hardinge very very soon . Won't be an HVL-H but , it's a Hardinge none the less . For those who asked . The last $$$$ price for a fully tooled up HLV-H was $48,000 back in the late 90s .
As for the mills . BPs , Laguns , Sharps , Encos etc . All are good and all will get the job done . It is the type of mill and not the name on the badge . I have my Bridgeport at home and the Enco in at work . Both equal machines . I DO like the 2 speed motor on the Enco being it's a step pulley machine , and variable speed drive on the BP is nice . Like I said , it's not the badge on the machine . It's the versatility of this type of mill that gets it onto my list . Tooling available to all everywhere . I'm not going to stir the pot as far as R8 vs. collet systems other than to say I use R8 as I have a ton of it .
SGs . I'm bias on the SGs I suppose . I have the 618 Micromaster as yourself . I did 12 years of die work on this actual machine years back . I bought the machine back after 30 years and found my old toolroom badge in the electrical cabinet . We had larger Okamotos , G&Ls , Chevraliers , etc , but the 618 was my go to grinder . Nice size for a home shop .
I've mentioned I may be aquiring a full shop in the very near future . We'll see how it goes and I'll keep you posted on the progress . It'll have to happen quick if it happens at all .
The machines I've aquired/sold over the past few years are posted down below . They are all gone as I usually get tired of looking at them if not in use . It's a deep hole we get into with this trade .
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