How much lathe......

I've spent 15k on a lathe, mill and accessories in a year all because Youtube had the bright idea to put a "This Old Tony" video my Youtube front page. Did not know what a lathe or a mill was before I saw that video.

.. and these are all "cheap" Chinese machining products. I can't even begin to imagine how much I would've paid if I bought American made.
 
Yeah, I can dig it.
They sure make it look easy don't they!!
 
mmcmdl said:
I'd be looking at those Clausings with cash in hand .
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Yes, they (all 3) caught my eye right off.
Do you have experience with that model and would it be a good choice for hobbyest
If so, what can you tell me about them ?
 
I have one sitting in my garage . A 5917 . Very nice heavy lathe for hobbying . The VS is the weak point but if maintained correctly it's great . A VFD is the alternative .
 
Any clue as to what it weighs.
We managed to get the Jet JTM-2 that tips the scales around 2000 home and set up in the shop w/o too much dificulty.
Hw much footprint does this unit require, de[th & Length
 
ezduzit said:
Avoid bare machines. The cost of tooling alone makes that prohibitive.
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True, but fairly often, some of the extras are as worn out as the lathe. I got a high-end 4-jaw chuck with my lathe that was so beat up I ended up having to replace it. That actually make the lathe more expensive than if it came without.
 
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finsruskw said:
Hw much footprint does this unit require, de[th & Length
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Footprint is 68" x 28" with the 36" between centers . Weight is under 2000 lbs.
 
mmcmdl said:
I'd be looking at those Clausings with cash in hand .
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Yeah, we gotta talk to Bruce about posting those links to that porn. :grin:
Those look sweet. Makes a guy's tongue wag.
The one that came up around here two years went for $1200. I wanted to flip the Birmingham and get it, but the guy needed cash quickly.
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Clausing is a very nice machine. I got into this hobby back when my money was very tight. First lathe was a bare Atlas 618. Then later my cousin gave me a South Bend model C in which the bed really looked like hell. Looked like they dropped chucks on it every time they used it. But... when I went through it the cast iron headstock and housing were still immaculate. I’m Amazed how accurate that little lathe is. It’s a short bed that looks like crap but still a very usable machine. In fact since it takes up very little space I plan on finding a spot for it and using it for metric threading.
My Clausing 5403 was another lathe that looked like junk. It was sitting outside and pretty rusty. I talked the guy down to @400.00 bucks. We shook on the deal and then he goes into his shed.... returning with 5 gallon bucket of tooling.
When I finally get the lathe home....it had a very nice Prat Bernard 3-jaw chuck. Also had a bunch of big MT-3 drill bits and complete Aloris BXA wedge QCTP with 3 Aloris tool holders. Heck...only thing really wrong with that lathe was a front 6302 bearing on front of the 1-phase 1-1/2hp motor. It’s an awesome lathe that even had the tailstock. I could have parted it out on EBay and still made a handsome profit...but thankful it didn’t come to that.
Nothing wrong with diamonds in the rough.
 
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