Why no small high-quality lathes?

george wilson said:
What threading wierdnesses are there on the PM 11" lathe? I cannot access the owner's manual,and wonder why they just show the cover?? And,when you try to see the 18 x 60" lathe,it shows a 16 x 60" instead.
Click to expand...

I read someone's review that explained the threading issue here: Need advise on lathe for $2000 or less.

Plus I noticed that you cannot, for example, cut an 11.5 TPI thread. That is the standard for US garden hose. Not that I expect to cut that many garden hose threads, but I noticed it because I just made an adaptor for a friend's HVLP that uses garden-hose thread. My 9x20 Jet had no problem with it. I couldn't have made it with the PM.

I have read many reviews of the PM 11". Some good, some bad. Not sure how to net it out. But I've seen enough bad comments that I'm suspicious. I'd rather have a lathe with fewer negative reviews.

Besides, it has a 56" long footprint, which is above my space limit. Quite a bit longer than other 11x machines. The Grizzly 11x26, for example, is 5" shorter.

Thanks, Keith
 
keithd said:
I want a new lathe, not a used lathe or old-style lathe. I'm willing to pay in the range of $3,500 for a 9x and $5,000 for an 11x, i.e., two to three times the price of standard Chinese lathes from Grizzly/Enco/Jet ...

Does no such thing exist, or have I just not found it? I find it hard to believe there is no market for such a machine.

Any pointers to a new, small, high-quality, full-featured lathe would be appreciated. Or even confirmation that none exist would help.

Thanks, Keith
Click to expand...

I don't know whether one exists or not, but I suspect that there's little market for a $4K-$5K non-Chinese/Taiwanese 11x when perfectly serviceable machines from those countries are readily available at much lower prices. The machines supplied by PM/Grizzly/Enco WT etc. are much higher quality than those supplied by Harbor Freight for instance.


M
 
Check out some of the Prazi and Wabeco machines.

http://www.ismg4tools.com/products.html

They're not going to be cheap, or easy to get, but they are out there.

You might also look for Japanese machines. Not many out there I would think, but would be good. Even now, S. Korea builds some clones of
old Japanese names and are pretty decent, for a fair price. Overall, though, not that much to choose from in small lathes of high quality
other than very small, like watchmakers lathes.
 
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Keith
Are you happy with your jet? Could whatever reason it needs to be replaced be overcome with repair/refurbishment at reasonable cost?
How old/worn is it?

Cheers Phil
 
If you live in the Bay Area, you should consider Wabeco. There is a very reputable dealer in Gilroy:
http://www.mdaprecision.com/

I was in the same situation as you (though I see many more nice looking used machines on Craigslist now than I did when I was shopping), and bought a new Wabeco D3000E from MDA about 6 years ago. It wasn't cheap (over $3k) but the thing that pushed me over the edge was that I could drive to Gilroy, look at my new machine, and take it home (or not). No shipping and no uncertainty about what condition a freighted tool will arrive in. There is also A Wabeco board on Yahoo hosted by MDA. MDA is great, but I should also say that just sold my D3000E (for about half what I paid for it) after finding a nice Maximat V10P in Oakland.
 
2000 rpm
Geared head, Threading, D1-3 camlock,
Foot brake

This ones on ebay now. Way too much $$ in that condition IMO but maybe they will deal. Make it fit. You wont regret it.

Clausing Colchester 11" x 30" Engine Lathe

http://bit.ly/Tc4GzI
 
The Craigslist lathe is a 10x24" lathe,just like the first DECENT lathe I had,a Taiwan made Jet. Taiwan is the key word. The Jet would leave beautiful finishes on steel,and had an oil filled apron. I wonder where the follower rest is. It has the steady rest. At $1100.00 I think it is a good buy being made in Taiwan. I don't care for mainland Chinese lathes. Taiwan has been at it longer,and I understand they had good advisors to get them going. I don't think the Chinese had the same guidance.

I often regret selling my Jet,but didn't have the space. I liked the great range of threads it would cut. My present 16" doesn't have a range approaching the 10" Jet,though I have found extra gears and can make them if necessary by doubling or halving the range on the QC box. Likely the 3 jaw chuck that came with the used 10" lathe above started out .003" concentricity. No telling how close it is now. Long ago I got Bison chucks that are .001" accuracy.
 
wolframore said:
I haven't seen one in person but South Bend is making lathes... http://www.southbendlathe.com/products/lathes/SB1001

How about this or something from their line up??? It looks pretty nice and well put together. The manual states that the country of origin is China. Wow there are some cool features on this.
Click to expand...

Yes, a South Bend lathe would be great, since I already have an SB1027 9x48 vertical mill.

Unfortunately the SB 8K is a little too small and the 10K is a little too big. If they had one in between my problem would be solved.

Thanks, Keith
 
Cheeseking said:
2000 rpm
Geared head, Threading, D1-3 camlock,
Foot brake

This ones on ebay now. Way too much $$ in that condition IMO but maybe they will deal. Make it fit. You wont regret it.

Clausing Colchester 11" x 30" Engine Lathe

http://bit.ly/Tc4GzI
Click to expand...

That looks great. But it also looks too big. They don't provide footprint specs but it looks to big. Making it fit isn't an option. The space I have is the space I have and growing it is not an option. Unfortunately.

The other problem is that I'm in California and the lathe is in Ohio. Buying a used lathe sight unseen at long distance is not a desirable situation. I would certainly check it out if it were closer.

Thanks, Keith
 
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