New member from Nevada

[Mr Mike]

Whenever I look at things to spend money on, the internet can be your friend. I type into search for example "Model 12 Rocket engine is a piece of junk" and then look through the replies. You can substitute rough language in place of "piece of junk" works equally as well. I did it on this lathe and saw nothing. The next step is to go to You Tube and type "CQ9332A", and there you go, lots of videos to watch.

I'm right there with you sir... the Internet is our friend. I research the heck out of stuff, Iv'e found people tend to exaggerate even the tiniest of issue due to add revenues - over looking that, if there are dozens and dozens of complaints then there may be justification of a product being labeled junk.

Of the video I see, most are either reviews or complaints with a tiny fraction of them buyers that are happy, and since one can't rely on brand names anymore either - word of mouth person to person is still a solid way to get Information.
Even on this forum there is no info written about the Bolton tools lathe CQ9332A that I can find, but anything I might find here would carry allot more weight then You-tube for me, I fully believe if Keith Rucker said the Bolton tools CQ9332A was his pick as a great beginners lathe, in just 2 days it would be on back order..

I'm definitely going to keep digging up all I can on that lathe, I was just crossing fingers someone here knows something about it.

 

[brino]

Hey Mr. Mike,

By searching: "Bolton CQ9332A site:www.hobby-machinist.com" (without the quotes) (1)

I get the following hits:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/need-info-for-first-lathe.25421/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/bolton-lathes.19840/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/qctp-for-a-bolton-cq9332a.51094/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/need-some-help-picking-a-new-lathe.48920/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/what-about-bolton-and-prm-lathes.44018/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/bolton-hardware-machine-experience.15028/

I do NOT guarantee any of the above will answer your questions, but provide it as more research for you.

Good Luck with your quest, and please keep us informed on your research and decisions.

-brino

(1) I always search at https://duckduckgo.com/ it passes your search text to google and presents the google results back, but it anonymizes your search. It irks me that google tracks everything and everyone. Some see them as a tech company, I see them as slimy, intrusive ad mongers.

 

[Mr Mike]

Hey Mr. Mike,

By searching: "Bolton CQ9332A site:www.hobby-machinist.com" (without the quotes) (1)

I get the following hits:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/need-info-for-first-lathe.25421/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/bolton-lathes.19840/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/qctp-for-a-bolton-cq9332a.51094/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/need-some-help-picking-a-new-lathe.48920/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/what-about-bolton-and-prm-lathes.44018/
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/bolton-hardware-machine-experience.15028/

I do NOT guarantee any of the above will answer your questions, but provide it as more research for you.

Good Luck with your quest, and please keep us informed on your research and decisions.

-brino

(1) I always search at https://duckduckgo.com/ it passes your search text to google and presents the google results back, but it anonymizes your search. It irks me that google is tries to track every thing and everyone. Some see them as a tech company, I see them as slimy, intrusive ad mongers.

Hi Brino.. Thanks for the links I read them all, along with more digging around the web and videos...
I called Bolten Tools today, To talk about the machine CQ9332A which fits my idea of a starter machine, Long story - I'm less happy about the tool... Ill explain later. I also sent off an email to PM.

I can see getting a first lathe within a month or two is just not in the cards for me, Iv'e been hitting CL every day, looking through web sites to compare machines, and the devil is in the details cause the more I learn the worse this gets.

So glad I bought the HF 7 x 10 over the weekend so I'd have something to fiddle, nice to take a break from all the searching.. Ill have tapered bearings on it soon enough.

 

[Mr Mike]

I got the chance to go to a racing shop today, they build custom race trucks, they had a HF 9 X 20 lathe for sale, 300.00 on craigs list... so I bought it.
But even better... they had real lathes in there shop and gave me a tour - and boy oh boy going from looking at photos all the time and actually seeing them in person is night and day..
I was like a little kid in a candy shop.. they had a Hardinge Toolroom lathe Unsure the size and South Bend belt driven 9 x 22 lathe - with the motor just behind it that purred like a kitten.. I bought the HF 9 x 20 but its a child's toy compared to the Hardinge and south bend - the moral of the story is it was a fun paid learning experience for me at the race shop..

Stated sizes you see in CL postings and manufactures websites such as 9" X 20" 0r 9" X 22" and so on are not good indicators to wrap your mind around when looking at photos of a lathes, Its somewhat misleading to your minds eye,
The Harbor Freight 9" x 20" and the South bend 9" X 22" have absolutely nothing in common, they cant even be put in the same category. My 7" x 10" HF lathe has way more in common with the 9" x 20" - its really like a little brother to it.

I can easily see now why the south bend and Logan lathes along with others are so popular among hobbyists, 1. because they are abundant still and 2. because their metal marvels that are built like tanks.

Everyone has an opinion, and now Ive confirmed what I believe to be the honest truth when Lathe shopping, Do not just look at all the pretty photos and all the cool do hickeys you see on new cheap lathes ( less then $3000.00 ) like DRO "Digital Readouts", " RPM read outs", " Powered cross feeds ". Cause its pretty common and or can be added to older lathes too. Im not saying to count out new lathes as an option, just don't assume old lathes are inferior. The Hardinge I got to see and play with today was impressive and has all the bells and whistle - independent veriable speed at the Chuck and cross feeds and so much much much more.. It didn't take up much more space then the South Bend but was much more massive, and not joking.. it makes the 9" x 20" I just got - look like it came from the 99 cent store.

I had a Great time today, learned a bunch and meet some really nice people.. No I don't regret buying the HF 9" x 20" - I need it for the moment...

I'm still working on my HF 7 x 10 and I need to turn a blank down to 61.5 mm so I don't damage the outer race of the new bearing when I press it in position, I could have just used the old bearing that came out, but what fun would that be..