Used lathe pre-buy

[chaisewhiz]

Hi, all. Looking to buy my first lathe and a used Little Machine Shop 7550 popped up near me. The seller listed it for $2700 but I've asked if they would accept $1800 for it and they agreed. I'm hoping to go and look at it in a few days. As someone who's never run a lathe before (but I've watched lots of YouTube videos ) what kinds of things should I check? I can probably source a dial test indicator to check the spindle runout. Anything else?

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Hi, all. Looking to buy my first lathe and a used Little Machine Shop 7550 popped up near me. The seller listed it for $2700 but I've asked if they would accept $1800 for it and they agreed. I'm hoping to go and look at it in a few days. As someone who's never run a lathe before (but I've watched lots of YouTube videos ) what kinds of things should I check? I can probably source a dial test indicator to check the spindle runout. Anything else?

You might want to look at this, https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-1022v-pm-1030v/ For not much more it a 10"swing 22" between center new with a 3 year warrantee.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Hi, all. Looking to buy my first lathe and a used Little Machine Shop 7550 popped up near me. The seller listed it for $2700 but I've asked if they would accept $1800 for it and they agreed. I'm hoping to go and look at it in a few days. As someone who's never run a lathe before (but I've watched lots of YouTube videos ) what kinds of things should I check? I can probably source a dial test indicator to check the spindle runout. Anything else?

If you can put power to it make certain the carriage and cross slide feeds are smooth without any clunky noises. Make certain you are getting all the change gears and chucks.

 

[chaisewhiz]

You might want to look at this (link to PM-1022 removed) For not much more it a 10"swing 22" between center new with a 3 year warrantee.

I have looked at PMs. A lot. But to get a DRO equipped 1022 with a stand, plus shipping and tax is $4415. I'd actually love a PM-1130 as I really want that larger spindle bore but I don't know if I'm going to seriously stick with this hobby. $1800 is a much more palatable number in my brain to, "risk." I've read enough threads on here to see people fall down the rabbit hole of starting with something small and winding up looking at 1340s!

If you can put power to it make certain the carriage and cross slide feeds are smooth without any clunky noises. Make certain you are getting all the change gears and chucks.

Good thoughts. Thanks.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

I have looked at PMs. A lot. But to get a DRO equipped 1022 with a stand, plus shipping and tax is $4415. I'd actually love a PM-1130 as I really want that larger spindle bore but I don't know if I'm going to seriously stick with this hobby. $1800 is a much more palatable number in my brain to, "risk." I've read enough threads on here to see people fall down the rabbit hole of starting with something small and winding up looking at 1340s!

Good thoughts. Thanks.

I understand, I have the PM1236 and I intended to buy a 1030 originally, I am glad I went to the 1236, it turned out to be perfect for what I wanted it for.

 

[RJSakowski]

What is your anticipated use of this lathe? The 7550 has an .8" through hole in the spindle and an 8.5" swing which puts it squarely in the mini lathe catagory. You may not ever need a larger swing but the .8" bore is definitely limiting. The advantage of a larger bore is you can use longer stock with the excess extending through the spindle instead of cutting off smaller chunks with more waste.

From the description on the LMS website, it only comes with a 3 jaw chuck, no 4 jaw or faceplate. It also has a metric lead screw which means no thread dial which means leaving the half nuts engaged for the entire threading process. This makes threading to a shoulder more challenging.

Note: I have no personal experience with this lathe and my statements are solely based on the LMS literature. Others may have a different assessment.

 

[chaisewhiz]

What is your anticipated use of this lathe? The 7550 has an .8" through hole in the spindle and an 8.5" swing which puts it squarely in the mini lathe catagory. You may not ever need a larger swing but the .8" bore is definitely limiting. The advantage of a larger bore is you can use longer stock with the excess extending through the spindle instead of cutting off smaller chunks with more waste.

From the description on the LMS website, it only comes with a 3 jaw chuck, no 4 jaw or faceplate. It also has a metric lead screw which means no thread dial which means leaving the half nuts engaged for the entire threading process. This makes threading to a shoulder more challenging.

Note: I have no personal experience with this lathe and my statements are solely based on the LMS literature. Others may have a different assessment.

I started down this path with a 3d printer without much of a known use case for it but I've found that I enjoy doing the cad work and making useful things for around the house/gym. In fact, the only use I've identified so far for a lathe is making small parts to use in my gym. I've seen some model engine builds on YouTube that look kind of fun, too. But really, it's to learn how to turn parts. I might not ever make anything of much use and I'm ok with that. Call it Zen and the Art of Making Chips.

 

[matthewsx]

I'd say go look at the machine but don't commit to buying it. Patience is your best friend when it comes to buying machinery and you're in a pretty decent part of the country for used machine deals.

How much space do you have?

If you can spare the room consider looking for a 12x36 machine, in my opinion that's the sweet spot for hobby lathes. I went through quite a few different machines before I found my Samson (Tida) but now that I have it I'm pretty happy with the size and capability. For reference I paid $800 for mine a few years ago. Regardless of what you get, there will be a learning curve so don't expect that buying new, or newish, will keep you from having to spend a lot of time getting stuff setup right.

I know everybody says to buy the biggest and best you can afford. There is an upper limit for most hobby users, and many do good work with some pretty small machines. But, once you've used a tool with a decent amount of mass you'll hesitate to go smaller.

As others have said, if you do decide to buy this machine get as many accessories as you can. Just go into it with a fair bit of skepticism. Why was the seller so eager to drop the price almost $1000? Is he upgrading because he's tired of the limitations of this machine? There will be other deals that come up and if you're ready at the right time you'll do well.

John

 

[Dhal22]

I have looked at PMs. A lot. But to get a DRO equipped 1022 with a stand, plus shipping and tax is $4415. I'd actually love a PM-1130 as I really want that larger spindle bore but I don't know if I'm going to seriously stick with this hobby. $1800 is a much more palatable number in my brain to, "risk." I've read enough threads on here to see people fall down the rabbit hole of starting with something small and winding up looking at 1340s!

Good thoughts. Thanks.

I ended up with a 1440………….

 

[cooper1203]

Maybe im a little bitter as i have had to do a lot of repair work to the atlas i got (still an on going thing) Some things are no ones fault persay as its wear and tare. At least 4 things though charitably could be put down to a failing memory. Do you know the background of the person your buying it from. does he have any skill if i were you i would take some metal with you and ask him to demonstrate the machine if he has any skills.

In my case i bought it from a friend of a friend that looked my friend in the eye and shock my hand promising there was nothing wrong with it. I wish i had done the most basic of checks like removing the tool post (the t-slot had a corner broken out) get him to show me the power feed (the bracket that held the drive gears was broken) Check the backlash in everything at several points not where the carriage was at the end of its mechanical travel because the rack and been cut short .

all this to say as someone else has pointed out there is a reason the person is selling it and even more of a reason the guy has dropped 1000 dollars off the price.