Lathe for long term satisfaction

[stuarth44]

Like David B says, a better quality 12" lathe will serve for a long time - that is a very useful size. There is no such thing as a "perfect" machine. As your capabilities and needs grow, just get more machines. There is plenty of debate on the subject, but it takes 3 or 4 thoughtfully selected lathes to make a capable little fleet. So if you are set on the 12" size - then get a decent one and it will be a great start to that fleet. It will certainly have short comings - fine, that's the excuse to get another lathe.

Stuart makes a great point that cast off industrial machines can be very good. That has been the source for most of my machines - tired, needing some repair, but good bones to work with. However, my first machine (15" lathe) I purchased straight from a dealer, paying top dollar. That was 39 years ago - looking back, that was a great way to get into the hobby. My second lathe is an 11" machine, also a very handy size. I'd get another lathe, except one has not really come my way - and plenty of other machines have (all as projects).

Chipper, if I were younger, I'd import a Cazenueve from France, so well priced, the French answer to Dean Smith and Grace, the most astonishing thing I observed with my ole gal, is she never rusts, must be a lot of nickel or whatever in the steel, there are many later and shorter models available too search tours cazenueve a vendre

 

[Asm109]

After reading the subject, my first, second and third thought was Hardinge HLV-H.

 

[stuarth44]

After reading the subject, my first, second and third thought was Hardinge HLV-H.

very expensive, had never heard of em, older ones look super duper

 

[Weldingrod1]

Yeah, a Hardinge is sweet (I have a TL-10). BUT, tend to be spendy ;-)

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[Dabbler]

We all can only describe our own experience and what we have observed in our friends and at work.

I started with a 12X37 with a screw on chuck system, and it did me proud for 35 years. Then I began to get itchy 'feet' so to speak, so ti was followed by a 14X40, and now a 15X60. Each was more money, and retooling can become costly.

The majority of my friends have ended up with 16 or 14 inch lathes.

So why upgrade? It comes down down to doing stuff with the machine that is suited to the jobs you do. I find myself flinging bigger pieces of iron, needing to machine more chips away, and wanting better finish and less chatter on parting and on form tools.

I'm not making watch parts, but even then all I have to do is put a 3" chuck into my 12.5" 4 Jaw chuck, and have at it.

 

[tq60]

We have had many atlas, craftsman and others over the years, when one is short on funds you get what you can find for low price.

Made money on each, most came with more tooling than they left with.

You learn things this way but if you have more funds than time or no desire for project then PM seems to be supported well.

Avoid Chinese and pay more for Taiwan.

However, old American Iron can be a better buy

Our 15x54 lodge and Shipley with about $3000 worth of tooling was $2500 delivered many years ago.



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[matthewsx]

Hello and welcome,

I currently own two lathes and have owned three others if you count the 3 & 1 machine I bought long ago.

As had been said, we all only have our own experience to go on but you will notice a pattern here. My personal opinion not knowing what you will want to make in the future or how much money you are prepared to spend....

12 x 36 is the smallest I'd recommend if you don't want to upgrade in the future.

US, British, or Taiwan built

Don't be in a hurry, good machines will come along and if you have patience and cash available you can get one.

There's lots of great threads on here about almost every kind of lathe you can imagine, read them and learn.

Download South Bend's "how to run a lathe" and read it before you buy anything.

Ask around your friends, never know someone may have something that their long dead uncle left and they want to get rid of it.

Real industrial machines are built much better than modern hobby tools, if you have the space go big.

Feel free to post pictures, questions, or whatever on this site. You will get solid opinions on whatever you ask and nobody will tell you it's not worth their time.

PM is well regarded here and few will say they went wrong with them. But, if you have time and patience used lathes do come up and are often a MUCH better deal than buying new from any dealer.

This is the center of your shop and MUST be able to do what you ask of it, that's why people want to know what you plan on making. Buying the wrong thing will lead to frustration and even the best built tool can be the wrong one if it doesn't do what you require.

Good advice is definitely available here but knowing what you're asking is the first step towards getting it.

Cheers,

John

 

[Aaron_W]

As far as longevity goes, as long as the lathe is maintained most people are more likely to out grow a lathe than to wear it out.

Even the mini-lathes can easily give a life time of service as long as they are not abused. It is not uncommon to find perfectly functional import lathes from China and Taiwan that are 30-40 years old (the 1980s is when they really started to show up in the USA) with the 2nd or 3rd owner, and older USA or UK/European made lathes as much as 100 years old being used by their 4th or 5th owner.

When you talk about longevity the best way to figure out what will last is to figure out what size and features you will need. That is very hard to do just starting out. A 10" or 12" lathe is all a lot of people will ever need, but for some they eventually end up going to a 14", 15", 16" or larger lathe.

For those who don't really know what they need, I always think starting off spending less for a smaller or used lathe makes sense. The skills transfer, so rather than spending $4000-5000+ on a new maybe big enough lathe, think about buying a lathe for $1000-2000 to learn with. If it meets your needs, awesome you saved a couple thousand dollars. If after a year or two you find it comes up short, great, now you have a much better idea what you need. Buying used, unless you make a bad purchase you can almost always at least recover the purchase price selling down the road after you get the lathe you really needed.