Input on hobbyist combination machine choice

[Weldingrod1]

Now that's getting into "done right" territory!

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[Weldingrod1]

And it's seriously all singing all dancing! Power carriage with a separate motor, tilting mill table (?!?), chop saw...

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[mattthemuppet2]

I saw this machine at Westec back in the 80's.
Still have the sales lit somewhere.

I've seen similar sorts of machines that were used in the Navy, often on small ships/ submarines with limited space. They were pretty stout for the size!

 

[CAG.Thompson]

I would love to see if anyone makes a clone or variant of this today, or if this is the original, if fidning one of these would be possible.

 

[hman]

I don't know if this would be suitable for you, but ...
It's a CNC Boxford, for sale in Tempe, for $1750.

BOXFORD LATHE/MILL - tools - by owner - sale

Boxford CNC lathe and mill combo unit, mfg. in England and sold to schools, so great for learning CNC. Runs good, it's in the lathe position as shown, stand on end and add a vise, it becomes a...

phoenix.craigslist.org

 

[CAG.Thompson]

Thank you all for the help and opinions, I finally got my hands on a machine at a relatively great price. A Bolton Tools BPD290VG, its a combo machine with full DRO, power feeds, threading, a 1.5" spinel bore, and variable speed to name a few of the top features i was looking for. Still very new in this sort of work so it will be perfect for starting I think. It retails for about 5.3k with the stands and I got it for 3200 locally, brand new though it had been sitting for 2 years (another story), with the stands as well although the owner did not have the 4 jaw or the change gears which sucks. As expected Bolton Tools' ability to supply any specific parts is literally none. Meaning, they will give parts to those under warranty for free, but won't sell parts to those not under warranty. Anyways, it will certainly provide me plenty of machining use and experience over the next few years before whenever I may grow out of it and get the dream machine. Thanks again everyone,

Matt

 

[Larry$]

Missing the change gears does suck. But you might get lucky and find some online. Did you get the owner's manual? That will tell you what gears you need to find. Be sure to get a matching tooth profile. Members here may be able to help with the change gears. For a start you can learn on the 3 jaw but there are lots of uses for the 4 jaw when you get to that stage. Above all, have fun learning.

 

[matthewsx]

Thank you all for the help and opinions, I finally got my hands on a machine at a relatively great price. A Bolton Tools BPD290VG, its a combo machine with full DRO, power feeds, threading, a 1.5" spinel bore, and variable speed to name a few of the top features i was looking for. Still very new in this sort of work so it will be perfect for starting I think. It retails for about 5.3k with the stands and I got it for 3200 locally, brand new though it had been sitting for 2 years (another story), with the stands as well although the owner did not have the 4 jaw or the change gears which sucks. As expected Bolton Tools' ability to supply any specific parts is literally none. Meaning, they will give parts to those under warranty for free, but won't sell parts to those not under warranty. Anyways, it will certainly provide me plenty of machining use and experience over the next few years before whenever I may grow out of it and get the dream machine. Thanks again everyone,

Matt

Glad you didn't have to pay full boat, let us know how it works out.

John

 

[mksj]

W/O change gears, you will not be able to thread and have very limited feeds (3). I do not follow that Bolton would not sell you the change gears, it has nothing to do with the warranty. Alternate would be that the design of this model seems to be similar/same to the Weiss WM290V or VF or identical to WBL290F and a few other "290" models so you could measure the shaft sizes and gear stacks and see if they are interchangeable with another brand. If you cannot get change gears, then it may be of very limited use.

Weiss Lathes

 

[matthewsx]

Bolton (toolots) is like that, even the things they say are available might not be. I ordered something from them once and it never showed up. When I finally called and got through to someone she said they didn't have it and refunded my money.

Agree that finding a set of change gears should probably be job #1.

John