# Harrison M300 13" x 40" engine lathe 3hp England - $2,800 (santa clara, CA)



## MrWhoopee (Sep 20, 2020)

Harrison M300 13" x 40" engine lathe 3hp England - tools - by owner...
					

Harrison M300 13" x 40" engine lathe mad in England. I don't have room for it in my current garage...



					sfbay.craigslist.org


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## ddickey (Sep 20, 2020)

Maybe the stand is made in England.


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## matthewsx (Sep 20, 2020)

Here it is. Yes, English.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/harrison-m/

John


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## matthewsx (Sep 20, 2020)

And yes, it looks an awful lot like my Bolton.




But they have to copy something, right?

John


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## akjeff (Sep 20, 2020)

Wish it were closer. I'd dump my Craftsman for that lathe in a heartbeat.


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## Cheeseking (Sep 20, 2020)

Thats a good quality lathe for the price.
Hard to judge condition from phone pics but looks in so so shape. Kinda par for whats out there unfortunately. As long as everything works and it isn’t worn out $2800 is a good price and you would negotiate down some I assume. 
One thing you rarely find on hobby size lathes is a foot brake. 
My 11” Colchester has a brake and after getting accustomed to having it would not consider a lathe without one. 3phase a plus too.
Parts are likely still available thru 600 but wicked expensive. Anyone who considering this one may want to check first just to be eyes open.


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## MrWhoopee (Sep 20, 2020)

Cheeseking said:


> One thing you rarely find on hobby size lathes is a foot brake.
> My 11” Colchester has a brake and after getting accustomed to having it would not consider a lathe without one.



One of the bad things about getting used to a foot brake is trying to stomp on it when the lathe doesn't have one.


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## tjb (Sep 20, 2020)

Be careful.  I had a Harrison M300 a few years ago that was an absolute steal ($900).  It is definitely a Made-in-England machine, and it was a very heavy, well constructed lathe.  The only problem was that, depending on the age of the machine, if you need replacement parts, you better be sitting down when you hear the price.  Clausing is now the US distributor, and older parts are no longer made.  They can make them for you - one off - but it is expensive.  Finding used parts is one step removed from impossible.  I needed a change gear for it, but for a long time I just lived without it (did not have mid-range speeds).  I continually trolled the internet and found a guy that had a complete gear box that I bought for three- or four-hundred dollars.  (The machine was dropped on the tailstock end and ruined.  The gearbox and everything on the headstock end was fine, and he was parting it out.)  I used the gear I needed out of it and used the rest of the gearbox assembly to drive an elevator I made to lift my 12" rotary table.  (That's the gear box in the lower left




No question, they are very heavy built, well-made machines, but if anything needs to be replaced, the bargain can turn into a real nightmare in a hurry.

Regards


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## matthewsx (Sep 20, 2020)

My Bolton looks like it could have one, just need to fab one up. Worth it?

John


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## Cheeseking (Sep 20, 2020)

MrWhoopee said:


> One of the bad things about getting used to a foot brake is trying to stomp on it when the lathe doesn't have one.



 but it do got a brake!


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## uncle harry (Sep 24, 2020)

Cheeseking said:


> Thats a good quality lathe for the price.
> Hard to judge condition from phone pics but looks in so so shape. Kinda par for whats out there unfortunately. As long as everything works and it isn’t worn out $2800 is a good price and you would negotiate down some I assume.
> One thing you rarely find on hobby size lathes is a foot brake.
> My 11” Colchester has a brake and after getting accustomed to having it would not consider a lathe without one. 3phase a plus too.
> Parts are likely still available thru 600 but wicked expensive. Anyone who considering this one may want to check first just to be eyes open.



Ditto on price shock for parts. The 80 tooth fiber change gear for mine was over $400.00


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## uncle harry (Sep 24, 2020)

tjb said:


> Be careful.  I had a Harrison M300 a few years ago that was an absolute steal ($900).  It is definitely a Made-in-England machine, and it was a very heavy, well constructed lathe.  The only problem was that, depending on the age of the machine, if you need replacement parts, you better be sitting down when you hear the price.  Clausing is now the US distributor, and older parts are no longer made.  They can make them for you - one off - but it is expensive.  Finding used parts is one step removed from impossible.  I needed a change gear for it, but for a long time I just lived without it (did not have mid-range speeds).  I continually trolled the internet and found a guy that had a complete gear box that I bought for three- or four-hundred dollars.  (The machine was dropped on the tailstock end and ruined.  The gearbox and everything on the headstock end was fine, and he was parting it out.)  I used the gear I needed out of it and used the rest of the gearbox assembly to drive an elevator I made to lift my 12" rotary table.  (That's the gear box in the lower left
> 
> View attachment 337732
> 
> ...




Most parts for the Harrison M300 are available as new manufacture. The "machine manual" is available on line from Colchester in both the older vintage version and the new manufacture version.  I was able to get the oil level sight glass inserts using the new number catalog.  The downloads are free and include valuable maintenance data.


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