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Gunsmith Lathe with DRO

My Acra/Hardinge tool room lathe is a dream to chamber on. With electronic threading and the retractable compound, I can thread a tenon faster than I can type this. The digital is good for .0001 on both length and diameter. The headstock is short enough to indicate both ends of most barrels. It is short. I use my other lathe when I need to. Not cheap. But good.
 
DaveTooley said:
Mine had Timken bearings. Nothing ceramic about them just good bearings. I had a friend who had 14X40 I used before I got my Clausing and I'm pretty sure it didn't have Timken bearings in it.
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My 14x40 has a badge/emblem on the headstock touting Timken's.

jkohler said:
Clausing Harrison m300 looks like it would be a nice machine for barrel work. View attachment 1369361
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That would be my #1 choice. Hard to find good ones. Bill Myers had one that I got to play with a little bit and between that and talking with him it seemed to be the perfect gunsmith lathe. Pete Pieper in Texas has one and reportedly mby two of them. The green ones were make in the UK and the white ones changed over to production in asia. Some said china, some said Taiwan. I've forgotten exactly what I found after searching and calls to Clausing. Other than buying new it was very hard to find a good one so I gave up.
 
WSnyder said:
My 14x40 has a badge/emblem on the headstock touting Timken's.


That would be my #1 choice. Hard to find good ones. Bill Myers had one that I got to play with a little bit and between that and talking with him it seemed to be the perfect gunsmith lathe. Pete Pieper in Texas has one and reportedly mby two of them. The green ones were make in the UK and the white ones changed over to production in asia. Some said china, some said Taiwan. I've forgotten exactly what I found after searching and calls to Clausing. Other than buying new it was very hard to find a good one so I gave up.
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There is a serial number on the right hand side of the bed at the rear.you can find out the year of manufacture with that number.mine came out of a college and had done very little work.
 
Romi used to make a great 13x40 manual lathe that a few gunsmiths had. They weren't imported for very long. I had forgotten about them. If you came across one of these in good condition they'd probably be a good bet. Very similar construction (if not exact) to the Nardini's and I often wondered if Nardini didn't subcontract them. DoAll sold their branded version of the Romi as well.

www.ebay.com

ROMI 13-5 13" x 40" Bridgeport Metal Lathe Quick Change Tool Post WVS | eBay

78"x32"x49". Coolant pump. 40" Between Centers.
www.ebay.com

www.ebay.com

DoAll 13 Romi 13 x 40 Lathe | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for DoAll 13 Romi 13 x 40 Lathe at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
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I think if I upgrade I'm going to be forced to buy something new. I'm just a one-man company and I don't have any friends in the industry to help me if the thing needs to be upgraded or anything needs to be fixed. So I will probably opt for something that's current production that would be easy to get parts for and relatively straightforward to get serviced. Also I would like to get something that may not require any service for several years. Kind of like buying a new car for your wife because she doesn't know how to take care of it so it's easier to just get a new one.
 
mikecockcroft said:
My DoAll by Romi. I believe it’s a M300 clone? Made in 1990 in Brazil I believe. I’ve seen a Bridgeport also that looks exactly like mine but blue/grey color
View attachment 1369571
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Definitely it's own design and not an M300. Romi and Nardini are both out of Brazil. The manual Romi's share way too many identical to near identical features of the Nardini's to not be related somehow which is why I wondered if Nardini didn't sub contract them to Romi.

Alex Wheeler said:
I guess the question would be what is your current lathe lacking that you want to correct? I have an M300 and have owned a few others. Most of my record barrels came off a old Sheldon that was pretty worn. You cant fix bearings, but you can work around everything else.
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Good question! My Rockwell does perfectly well and the gunsmith that owned it prior to me chambered many barrels on it that earned many rimfire hall of fame points :) That said when he acquired an M300 he sold the Rockwell so???
 
shortgrass said:
Jet makes and markets some pretty good lathes. They are often overlooked and ignored for "gunsmithing".
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Well if you look at the grizzly “gunsmithing lathe” and see what im missing is the huge spindle bore, the factory outboard spider and that goofy ratchet required tailstock
 
Dusty Stevens said:
I have a jet 1440. Nice machine
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Woah! 23+ grand for a 14-40. I have a Taiwanese made 14-40 gear lathe with a Sabre name on it and an Easson DRO but it is essentially the same lathe imported under other names (like Grizzly). I think I paid 5 grand for it new about 8 years ago. Chambered another barrel last week. That barrel is shooting some loads into 1/4 MOA. Seems to me that an older used well built lathe would be the way to go these days.

P.S. for those who are not production shops that is.
 
ronsatspokane said:
Woah! 23+ grand for a 14-40. I have a Taiwanese made 14-40 gear lathe with a Sabre name on it and an Easson DRO but it is essentially the same lathe imported under other names (like Grizzly). I think I paid 5 grand for it new about 8 years ago. Chambered another barrel last week. That barrel is shooting some loads into 1/4 MOA. Seems to me that an older used well built lathe would be the way to go these days.

P.S. for those who are not production shops that is.
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Mine wasnt nowhere near that. Thats highway robbery prices. Mine doesnt have a dro and its almond color. Bought it in 2001 for around 5k shipped with every accessory. Bought it from enco i believe. It is a taiwan machine. For this kind of money id get american made for sure
 
The best lathe I've ever used is a DSG.dean smith and grace 17T toolroom lathe.the Rolls Royce of lathes.a big lump 2.5 tones but increadble precision.used it for everything years gone by.lead screws for other lathes,chamberd a few barrels between centres.the the hand wheels are increadble,can't describe it until you turn one.
 
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