Are Good Used Lathes Like Unicorns?

[MtnBiker]

I went back and forth on a VFD vs RPC myself.
Finally made the decision when a friend got me a 7 1/2 hp motor for the idler for free.
I am very glad I went with the RPC. I can run my ancient lathe, mill and belt sander plus any other old 3 ph piece of junk I drag home in the future.

We plan on doing a lot of commercial plasma cutting in the future. That means a 3-phase air compressor is a good idea. And so a RPC may just be the ticket for us too. Then there is that amazing deal on a 3-ph museum piece that comes up every so often. I see your point Ultradog.

 

[fursphere]

I searched for months for a hobby lathe at a decent price. Folks seem to want a lot of money for heavy used stuff here in California. So I decided on just buying a Precision Matthews lathe, as I had a good experience when I bought my PM-30MV mill. Smallest is the 1022, so I figured I'd go one bigger and get the 1127. After some shipping back order status changes, I ended up upgrading to a PM1236. I'm happy.

No more searching craigslist hoping for a good deal. Its done. I can start having fun instead.

 

[MtnBiker]

Folks seem to want a lot of money for heavy used stuff here in California. So I decided on just buying a Precision Matthews lathe...

Seems like a pretty universal sentiment outside of the mid-West. A lot of equipment in the home shop price range is worth approximately zero in a business setting (and that's why it is being sold). Don't want to be on the buy side of that equation. If you need to make money with a tool, or just have something you want to learn on, having to use a 2 foot cheater bar to make a gear change would be awful.

If restoring machines is your jam it is a wonderful thing (I'm mesmerized by some of those serial restorations on YouTube...at episode 19 of a 10ee resto right now). But a lot of labor goes into that sort of thing. And time is money. I'm sure you'll have a great time with the 1236. Matt does a good job.

 

[Janderso]

I searched for months for a hobby lathe at a decent price. Folks seem to want a lot of money for heavy used stuff here in California. So I decided on just buying a Precision Matthews lathe, as I had a good experience when I bought my PM-30MV mill. Smallest is the 1022, so I figured I'd go one bigger and get the 1127. After some shipping back order status changes, I ended up upgrading to a PM1236. I'm happy.

No more searching craigslist hoping for a good deal. Its done. I can start having fun instead.

Did they have the 1236 in stock?
I noticed they have very few of anything in stock.
I've been playing around with the idea of buying one of their high end 5 year warranty, made in Taiwan knee mills. They are about a third smaller than my 3,300# knee mill.
A 50" table means you have to be like a ballerina trying to tip toe with arms akimbo.
I like the idea of more room in the shop.

 

[fursphere]

Did they have the 1236 in stock?
I noticed they have very few of anything in stock.
I've been playing around with the idea of buying one of their high end 5 year warranty, made in Taiwan knee mills. They are about a third smaller than my 3,300# knee mill.
A 50" table means you have to be like a ballerina trying to tip toe with arms akimbo.
I like the idea of more room in the shop.

If I remember correctly, I ordered mine back in Late January / Early February, and received it at the very end of April. The 1127 I originally ordered was supposed to come in April/May, but got pushed back to July I think, so I just asked what else they had coming in and decided to move up a size (after some careful discussions with the wife....). The 1236 is what I originally wanted, but went smaller due to cost at the time. Things just happened to align for me and I was able to make the jump.

I would call them or email sales and tell them what you'd like and ask about availability. They're usually very quick to respond, and are easy to work with. You can put a 20% deposit down too on a future shipment to secure one - so you don't have pay in full up front.

 

[Ischgl99]

We plan on doing a lot of commercial plasma cutting in the future. That means a 3-phase air compressor is a good idea. And so a RPC may just be the ticket for us too. Then there is that amazing deal on a 3-ph museum piece that comes up every so often. I see your point Ultradog.

Have you looked into a Phase Perfect unit instead of a RPC? Since you will be using this in a commercial setting, the efficiency difference might pay off the more expensive PP rather quickly.

 

[MtnBiker]

Have you looked into a Phase Perfect unit instead of a RPC? Since you will be using this in a commercial setting, the efficiency difference might pay off the more expensive PP rather quickly.

The American Rotary ADX series are pretty efficient and produce well regulated 3-phase from what I understand. The Phase Perfect units seem pretty spendy untill you compare the really big ones to equivalent RPCs (the cost/size curves are interesting).

 

[DAM 79]

Plus one for the American Rotary Phase Converter!!!! That is what I have and it was the best thing I ever did I have the ADX -20 (My Monarch Series 60 has a 10 Hp Motor) and have had zero problems out of it !!! Previously I used VFD on my machines and they were not bad on the price if I remember correctly o couple hundred bucks off Amazon and they did work BUT once I switched to RPC I definitely noticed a difference in the performance of the machinery they just had more power and seemed like they ran much smoother!!! Now with all that being said I did not buy mine New I got it Used and I was Very Lucky the previous owner never hooked it up or used it and I pretty much Got a smoking deal($1200 bucks) because it came with a 3-Phase panel and breakers I Was Very Lucky !!! But it was the best Move ever as far as powering my machinery!!!!!!

 

[Ischgl99]

The American Rotary ADX series are pretty efficient and produce well regulated 3-phase from what I understand. The Phase Perfect units seem pretty spendy untill you compare the really big ones to equivalent RPCs (the cost/size curves are interesting).

Looks like the ADX series is more efficient than I remember. When I looked into an RPC a number of years ago I recall it being in the 85% range and not 98%. I ended up going the VFD route since that gives me better control options for the machines.

 

[DAM 79]

Looks like the ADX series is more efficient than I remember. When I looked into an RPC a number of years ago I recall it being in the 85% range and not 98%. I ended up going the VFD route since that gives me better control options for the machines.

Yes you definitely have more control and a host of other things you can do depending on how you see up your VFD and the programming but with the VFD but you lose some Power or at least I did with the ones I had