Enco 9x20?

[Ultradog MN]

If you’re cutting threads that coarse it’s not on a 10” lathe.

I have gotten a bit of flak here for not having a "hobby sized lathe".
I've asked, what a hobby sized lathe is but haven't gotten a diffinitive answer yet.

 

[JustTrimitaLittle]

When I was looking for the lathe I have I hooked up my trailer and drove 12 hours one way from Minneapolis to Cincinnati for an older Leblond. It was a very nice machine, had a pile of tooling and was just as the seller described. I had even arranged to have a local tow truck guy meet me there to lift it onto my trailer.
I got there and didnt want it. It was just smaller that what I had pictured in my mind's eye. I paid the tow truck guy the C-Note we had agreed upon, turned my truck around and came home.
About 6 weeks later the one I have showed up at an auction 90 miles away and I bought it.
Even if I include the $600 for fuel and the tow truck driver that I wasted going to Cincinatti the cost of this one it was a much better deal than the one I didn't buy.
You may go off on a few wild goose chases and waste some time and gas but If there is a lathe in your future and you wait for the right one you Will find it.

It’s just really difficult to travel beyond like 2 hours. I take care of the kids when my wife is at work and then I also work 6 or 7 days a week myself. So any trip beyond what I can accomplish during school is hard. And I have some other issues with longer car rides and a pinched nerve. Unfortunately I think I might just have to be more patient than I typically am. But that’s ok I guess. The longer it takes the more cash I’ll have for it and tooling. I just seen these local and thought it’d be convenient and it’s right around my price. And I like the size. I’d love larger, but I’m pushing it for space to begin with. Eventually I want to build a shed as a workshop but even that won’t be able to be huge without my town coming in and being a pita about it.

The more I read about these imports the less I like. Seems like these older ones are better than the newer but still idk. But then again the US made ones in this size have their drawbacks too.

 

[JustTrimitaLittle]

I've had very good luck on going to see machines and I've had to drive 2 hours + for most of mine. If the seller is evasive or doesn't seem to know anything about the machine, that can be an indicator that it isn't the machine to make a drive for.

I don't even waste my time on the sellers that can't bother to include decent photos or answer basic questions. Of course some of those may also have been the greatest deal ever because the seller has no idea what they are selling, but I've not been willing to waste my time chasing them.

This is how I feel right now. If he can’t even answer 3 or 4 questions I just don’t want to even bother. They might be great machines. But I have a thing about good communication. Granted these aren’t $20k machines. But that’s still close to a grand. And I’m not loaded so $900 is a bit of coin for me. It’s not going to break me (well… I guess it’ll break my “fun” money) but I feel it’s enough to warrant proper communication. Whenever I sell something I really attempt to document and communicate very well, regardless of what it is. The more I go on in life the more I realize just how bad people are at basic communication in general.

Edited to add:
This isn’t even a far off drive. It’s listed in my town but the machine is maybe 20 minutes from me. But the lack of response is frustrating.

 

[JustTrimitaLittle]

There is one about 2.5 hours away that looks pretty nice. The guy had answered my questions and sent me better bedway shots. I feel better about it. Now is it worth the $1k? That I don’t know. But it checks the old USA box and is a bit bigger.

 

[C-Bag]

I've had very good luck on going to see machines and I've had to drive 2 hours + for most of mine. If the seller is evasive or doesn't seem to know anything about the machine, that can be an indicator that it isn't the machine to make a drive for.

I don't even waste my time on the sellers that can't bother to include decent photos or answer basic questions. Of course some of those may also have been the greatest deal ever because the seller has no idea what they are selling, but I've not been willing to waste my time chasing them.

My experience so matches yours. I’ve also had good luck with actually calling and talking to the seller after first email or two and a couple of questions. You have to feel sorry for them dealing with the public as there are a bunch of nutbars out there. Getting a feel for the seller and letting them know what you are looking for etc has really worked. My problem is we are equidistant between LA and SF and my small town ways makes going to those insane traffic zones feel like hostile areas. My lathe was down in LA. So was the crazy deal I got on an air bearing for my tool grinder. Both were good deals but I felt uneasy the whole time.

Oddly I never call those ads that say no email or text, only phone anymore. Early on I called a couple and all three sounded like they just got up and were super grumpy.

 

[David2011]

I have gotten a bit of flak here for not having a "hobby sized lathe".
I've asked, what a hobby sized lathe is but haven't gotten a diffinitive answer yet.

Is there an answer? If the hobby is repairing pocket watches, a different size and type of lathe is called for compared to building knock-off race car spindles. BTW, what uses a 1.5 tpi thread? I’ve been around oilfield equipment and drilling rigs for much of my life. Never saw a thread that coarse.

 

[JustTrimitaLittle]

Yes, I was referring to current production, but there are a few early imports like the Jet 1024 that did offer a qc gear box. All are long out of production. The Grizzly "South Bend" Heavy 10 was another very expensive option, but also seems to have recently gone out of production.

The PM 1228 is the smallest lathe I know of with a qcgb that you can actually order, vs shopping the used market.



A South Bend 9A or Logan 9B-17 or 28-21 would be a big step up from the Enco / Grizzly / Jet etc, as that would give you a power cross feed and quick change gear box. If you were able to find one of the shorter bed models they can still be pretty compact, although they will be at least 100lbs heavier and the foot print is probably a foot deeper thanks to the motor hanging off the back side.

All are 50+ years old, so require a search and good looking over, but in my mind are some of the best options for a small lathe having a decent swing and all of the desirable features of a bigger lathe. Unfortunately the short 17" and 22" versions seem to be less common than the 28" and 34" versions.

Advantage to the 9x19/20s is availability. They are available new for about the same price as a decent used USA lathe, parts are available and tons of them have been sold since the 1980s so they are common on the used market. They also have an active support network of users who have figured out ways to work around some of the bigger faults.

I’ve seen several sb9 that have looked interesting, but that was prior to my starting to look at all. I have a feeling if I am patient I can find one. They seemed to be decently priced. It’d be kinda cool to find one. I’m about 99% sure that’s the first lathe I ever used as a kid at my dad’s machine shop job. They had a small South Bend they used for a specific task off in a small room. He let me cut a stabilizer for my bow on it. I could be wrong but it sure looks the same.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Is there an answer? If the hobby is repairing pocket watches, a different size and type of lathe is called for compared to building knock-off race car spindles. BTW, what uses a 1.5 tpi thread? I’ve been around oilfield equipment and drilling rigs for much of my life. Never saw a thread that coarse.

Lol,
I've never cut, nor even seen a set of 1.5 tpi threads either. It was more a comment about the lowest speed on that Enco lathe which seemed a little fast for thread cutting. I would really need to be on my toes to cut threads that fast.
I like it slow.

 

[ShagDog]

I’ve seen several sb9 that have looked interesting, but that was prior to my starting to look at all. I have a feeling if I am patient I can find one. They seemed to be decently priced. It’d be kinda cool to find one. I’m about 99% sure that’s the first lathe I ever used as a kid at my dad’s machine shop job. They had a small South Bend they used for a specific task off in a small room. He let me cut a stabilizer for my bow on it. I could be wrong but it sure looks the same.

The wait will be worth it.

 

[Aaron_W]

I’ve seen several sb9 that have looked interesting, but that was prior to my starting to look at all. I have a feeling if I am patient I can find one. They seemed to be decently priced. It’d be kinda cool to find one. I’m about 99% sure that’s the first lathe I ever used as a kid at my dad’s machine shop job. They had a small South Bend they used for a specific task off in a small room. He let me cut a stabilizer for my bow on it. I could be wrong but it sure looks the same.

South Bend, Atlas / Craftsman and Logan / Montgomery Wards 9" and 10" lathes were super common, and are still probably the most common home lathes around.

The 9x20s are not a bad option for a compact lathe, they will be noticeably smaller than a 9" vintage USA.

If you can find one in decent shape, even a change gear 9" or 10" USA lathe will be superior, but finding one in decent shape is always the issue. Most went out of production by the 1970s, so you are looking for machines that are typically a minimum of 50 years old. Age doesn't really matter, it is all about how they were used / cared for. Lots of people have 100 year old lathes that are still in great shape.