Best Lathe For A Beginner? Where To Start?

[wrmiller]

Probably a bit out of your price range OP, but my PM1340GT has a short headstock with a very thick spindle, ground gears in the headstock, and a 3 phase/2hp motor driven by a VFD. Very smooth and finish is excellent with no chatter.

 

[weaselfire]

At this stage, either find a local trade school to learn to use a lathe or buy a small used lathe to practice with. You can't pay for a larger lathe rebarreling a few rifles, you need to do that as a regular part of business to justify the cost.

Jeff

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[skeeks03]

This was just pure curiosity. I wanted to compare and contrast what was recommended. I will not be making a living of this as I'm in college for something else. I appreciate the replies. I am hoping to find someone locally that is willing to teach me some basics.

 

[Jonesturf]

This was just pure curiosity. I wanted to compare and contrast what was recommended. I will not be making a living of this as I'm in college for something else. I appreciate the replies. I am hoping to find someone locally that is willing to teach me some basics.

What's your location?

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[skeeks03]

What's your location?

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I'm in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

 

[epanzella]

Another vote for the G4003G. I'm just a w/e warrior but already built my first rifle on it and it came out great. You'll need to learn what you're doing before you start building rifles. There's a certain "feel" for getting things to come out to .001 accuracy or better. You won't get that just by reading but by doing as well.

 

[gstprecision]

There is various options, but definately you need to learn the basics. You can always get a 7x12 for cheap and learn the basics on that then you will be in a better position to figure out what you need. I started on an old Jet 1024 which was a bit big I believe but I learned a lot. I then switched to a Import 10x18 which was a lot smaller machine. Both the 1024 and the 1018 were capable of most of the work I did but I wanted more. Figured out what my plans were and how I wanted to chamber my barrels from that point on and decided I needed a 40 inch lathe.

I now run a Enco 13x40 which is not a bad machine overall, but I wish I kept the 1018 for smaller stuff. I will buy a small machine in the future for sure. You won't be disapointed with a Grizzly 1340 or any of it's variant, but if you wanna start somewhere a smaller machine is the way to go I believe.

GST