Quite often, I see absolute novices looking at purchasing large lathes and I wonder why.
A large lathe is more expensive to purchase and to run. Tooling is more expensive. If you are grinding your own HSS tools, it takes a lot more work to grind a 5/8" tool than a 1/4" tool. Power requirements quickly exceed that available in most hobby workshops. A large lathe is more of a hazard to personal safety and property if/when something goes wrong. Novices are more prone to make mistakes that a seasoned machinist would avoid. Large lathes take up considerably more space than their smaller counterparts. Large lathes typically require engaging the services of a rigger at some considerable additional expense and shipping costs also tend to be expensive.
Very few lathe projects exceed a 3" x3" work envelope, more so for a novice machinist. There have been numerous examples of exquisite work accomplished on lathes with swings smaller than 12" and travel less than 30". Very few are turning truck axles or flywheels for heavy equipment.
My suggestion is start with a smaller lathe. Gain some experience using it . If/when you feel that you need or want a larger machine, sell the starter and get the larger machine then.
I agree, yet I am under constraints. Lemme explain. I am the absolute novice you refer to, and any project I can think of
now will certainly fit in the 3" square you mention, but once I get a lathe that will expand I am sure. Do I need a lathe? No. But do I want one? YES.
Once that's settled, comes the realization that small machines cannot really handle steel, they vibrate, have poor finish, etc. I am sure a real artist can work with a sharpened stone and make works of art, but that is not me. I enjoy my tools, but like many, my wallet cannot open wide enough (and is not deep enough) to accommodate my taste.
Getting a new small machine like Little machine shop means China-made vs Taiwanese; also means I will outgrow it fast and the resale value of small-size, hobby grade stuff is very poor in my area. You basically give them away for free. The used market is very limited and I watched for months. That is part of the reason I want a medium (12-14") lathe. It also needs mass to have good finish. My ideal size (I think) would be 1324 but I cannot buy one.
Finally, the difference in tooling cost between small and medium is irrelevant once you factor in that one outgrows the small ones, and cannot recover the cost. I'd rather not buy twice.
You would need to request a quote(ask if there is a 10% discount if you call), I love my ACRA1440 TVS, I started with a 1228 PM, went up to a PM 1340GT that was still a little short for me, and I did not care for the Norton total waste oiling for the gear box that needed upgrades for better oil distribution.
acramachinery.com
Great idea, I have contacted them .
I think he is looking at a very good sized machine and I would not go smaller.
Here are two projects I've done on my 14 1/2 X 30 lathe. The little one could have been done on almost any lathe.
The square end on the part I'm boring is
10 1/2" corner to corner.
You aren't going to do that job on a lathe much smaller.
@Coenbro -
I think it is not worth the extra $ to upsize to a bigger lathe just to have it three phase.
Single phase is just fine for us hobbiests who aren't running real big machines.
My old lathe was 3 phase when I bought it so I needed to do something in order to run it.
And once I built the RPC and got over that common stumbling block, that opened my eyes to watching for other three phase machines and my collection (and capabilities) grew.
Thank you. Seems like three-phase is out of my budget, that much is clear. So I am left with 12, 13 or 14 ", single-phase lathes.
