Lathe advise

[JamesnTN]

I looking at a south bend 17" lathe to do my own work. I know it's a bit large but what are your thoughts of this lathe?

 

[shortgrass]

Will you be chambering through the headstock? If so, what's the measured distance of this one? Will you use the tail stock to chamber, or a Bald Eagle type holder? Do you have manual lathe experience? I'm the only other "old guy" in the shop, besides the owner, that can easily step from a CNC to any manual machine. I 'drive' a 20" swing X 96" bed Summit at the shop quit often. It is much to large to be thinking of doing any precision barrel work on. My chambering lathe is a 13 x 40. That 17" South Bend looks to be a 'Hoss', but is it too much to be a good gunsmithing lathe?

 

[Tim Singleton]

I know I'm way out of my depth here to a large degree.
I would think it all depends on how you plan to do your chambering.
If through the headstock and planning to indicate the muzzle end then as you know isn't an option. A lot of guys still feel between centers is the way to go idk.
But a lot of guys figure a way to work around.

I just recently found a pretty decent heavy 10 that I think will meet my needs and the way I plan to do my chambers.

Jackie Schmidt and others chamber on large machines. So it's defiantly possible to do great work with it.
Just will be if it meets your needs for how you plan to do your work

 

[bibsmachine]

Well it is about time someone that is starting out for the first time to do his own work is thinking of buying a real lathe to do some gun work with. There is not a thing wrong with that lathe to do gunsmithing work. It is better to buy a machine like this right off the bat instead of wasting good money on a 1000 pound Chinese POS!
I have been doing barrel jobs on a 15x50 3500 pound lathe for 18 years. There is other ways to chamber barrels instead of doing them through the head stock that will produce benchrest accurate chambers. Just check this lathe out and make sure it is not completely worn out and make sure all the feeds and gear changes work,all the spindle speeds work without any loud noises. And it will do every thing you will ever want to do.
Loren.

 

[riflewoman]

It's a bit large but not overly so. As with large machines, tooling gets more expensive. But on the upside heavier jobs can be performed and they always seem to come in when your friends know you have a lathe. Just make sure it hasn't been abused or worn out and go fer it.

 

[JamesnTN]

Thanks for the replies. You guys have mentioned that I'm not going to be able to chamber a barrel thru the headstock..... Can I ask why not? I can understand if the headstock is 40" deep or so but I can't imagine this one being too deep for the barrel to go thru the head and out the back.

Here are the specs of this lathe.


8'6" Bed , 78" Between Centers
2 9/16 Spindle Bore
2 Speed 3 Phase 7 1/2 HP Motor
D1-8 Cam Lock - 10" 3 Jaw Chuck, 12" 4 Jaw Independent Chuck, Lathe Dog Drive Plate
Taper Attachment
Steady Rest
Micrometer Carriage Stop
Approximate overall dimensions 117 ¼ " Long x 39" Wide x 53" High
Approximate weight 3,800 lbs. Will load on your trailer

 

[riflewoman]

Need to know the length of the spindle. There was another thread with a long spindle lathes where some ideas were discussed on keeping the barrel true in such a spindle.

Just a caution. The SB Turnado was an import line that is no longer made. Parts are an issue but that is true with any machine tool older than 5 years or so anyway.

 

[Tim Singleton]

I know you shoot long range and I'm sure use 28-30 inch barrels. So it may not be an issue for you if the headstock is short enough for your use.

For some it wouldn't work. My barrels are 21-22 inches long

But again a lot of guys find a way to work around a long headstock that the barrel will not come all the way through.

I did a lot of research on the different chambering methods before I bought. I found the lathe that would fit how I want to chamber. Just a thought on how to approach the search

I sure don't want to start a chambering what method is best debate. You can make it work for you one way or the other. You may just have to get a little creative if you chamber thru the headstock and its to long for the barrel to come out but it can be done

 

[bibsmachine]

James measure from the chuck jaws to the left end of the spindle and see how long it is, that will tell you how long the barrel will need to be to extend on each end of the spindle. But if it is a little long it wont matter that much there is a way to still do barrels through the spindle. You can make a extension to go on the left end of the spindle. And that is just one way there are many ways to get the job done. You can also make a short cat head for the chuck side of the spindle that will make the distance a little shorter. If that lathe is in good shape and you can get it for a good price go for it.

 

[JamesnTN]

The lathe is five hours away, so I'll ask the guy to measure the depth of the headstock so I'll know what I'm working with. I understand I won't be able to use it for short barrels as mentioned I'm just hoping I can get it to chamber a min. 26" barrel if so I'll drive down and check it out. Asking price currently is at 4800.00 with only the 3jaw and 4 jaw chuck. There is no tool post or other tooling except what I posted. I'll also keep looking for a quality built heavy lathe to do barrel work that'll be more usable even for short barrels. It's been a while since I've delt with the older lathes as to know what really is a worthy piece of equipment. I've used Clausing Leblonde Southbend a sharp and some others I can't recall at the moment

 

[Dusty Stevens]

A 13" south bend will do about a 22" barrel. I bet you couldnt chamber a 30" barrel thru that headstock. But dont let that stop you- thru the headstock is not the only way. Its preferred by new age cats but truth is most of the top gunsmiths chamber between centers more often than not

 

[bibsmachine]

James if that lathe is in good shape it would be a good buy at $4800.00 with the 3 and 4 jaw chucks,steady rest and micrometer bed stop. The tool post is no big deal you can get a wedge type tool post and 5 tool holders for $500.00 or less

 

[EWaugh]

James, Go for it. I don’t think it’s too big for barrel work, if you use a spider jig in that 4 jaw chuck. I’m using a 15” Leblond with a spider with no problems. You had better have a good plan to off load the machine and move into your shop. When I brought mine home, I had to buy a chain host just to off load, make some skates to move it into final position, and bought a couple used 12” levels to set it up. It all adds up quickly so maybe consider offering $3,500.00, to start and see where that takes you.

 

[clowdis]

This is just my opinion and opinions vary. The lathe is the money maker in my shop. I am a proponent of chambering barrels through the headstock and I don't see much way you can do anything short of a Palma barrel through the headstock of this one. While I am in favor of buying American, etc. I don't do it if it's going to hurt my methods of doing my work. Buying American doesn't help much if you go broke doing it. The 17" lathe is a good production type lathe and the quality is probably better than an import, but some of the imported lathes are pretty good purchases for the money. It depends on how much gunsmithing you're going to do. I'm full time and have been using an import for about 10 years without any regrets, but again I don't do barrels all day long, maybe 2 or 3 a week. There are also jobs like making screws and other small work that you need to consider. You want to take a look at threading speed too. I thread at 45rpm and that's about the right speed for me. How much room do you have in your shop and what is your budget? So many things to consider. Don't buy on price alone.

 

[akajun]

That is one hell of a machine. I believe it is an actual american made southbend, one of the last. That lathe is not too big to do rifle work, even through the headstock. IN fact, being large it probably has a really slow low speed that would be an advantage for threading. Being large also means it has MASS and RIGIDITY!. You can hog metal off then take a fine cut of less than a thou easily, once you learn to work with the machine.
I see it comes with a steady, so you can chamber that way easily, or if you want to chamber through the headstock, buy a tru bore alignment system or build a cathead /action truing fixture and indicate the barrels in with grizzly rods. I chamber barrels of any length with my cathead which is mounted to a backplate permanently.
THe taper attachment will help if you ever want to profile a barrel, just build a pnematic finger follower rest.
Buy you a phase 2 wedge toolpost and a butload of holders, cxa size should work.

 

[msalm]

http://www.straightshotgunsmithing.com/page25

Here's one way to chamber through the headstock.

 

[NickB1075]

Just my opinion. I think you should evaluate exactly what you need. I just bought a SB HEAVY 10 this past spring and it is more than enough for what I am doing at this point. I have a huge amount to learn and am very new to running a lathe. So take my opinions for what they are worth. That machine would just not work for me. Just the phase converter for that size motor would be a big chunk of money. I don't know how your set up, 3 phase may not be an issue. But for me it was a significant aspect when I was searching for my lathe.

I am also a big fan of the theory behind chambering through the head stock. I know there are other ways to do it but I choose to pursue and get tooling for that style.

I will say this since I have had my lathe I have been approached to do some jobs that I would have liked to try for the experience. But had to turn them down do to my smaller lathe.

The machine does look clean and fairly well equipped for $4800. Don't forget to factor in rigging cost for the move. For my HEAVY 10 that was about a case of beer.

Keeps us informed and good luck.

Nick

 

[JamesnTN]

Well I e decided to go with this lathe. It seems to be what I need to do my own work. Although I'm in it more than the 17" lathe I was looking at. The lathe came highly recommended by a well known smith and shooter. I'm going to add the DRO and variable speed drive and also the coolant system and collet setup.

http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM1340T.html

Next I'm looking at this to do some small odd ball jobs and repairs and would like some input from you guys on this lathe mill combo...


http://www.boltontools.net/Lathe/lathe-mill-drill-combo/10-x-22-high-precision-variable-speed-combo-lathe.

 

[riflewoman]

The mill spindle is MT2. There aren't many accessories with that taper and MT tools can stick in a spindle. They are also prone to vibrate loose so they still need a drawbar. In a lot of ways these combo machines aren't that user friendly either. OK to learn on but most move past pretty quickly.

 

[Ggmac]

The lathe you decided on is good , it's the same one Grizzly has and has parts for . I've been using it for a while now. I would like to have the 17" you were looking at .
PS Grizzlys comes with most of the extras you need to purchase separate .

BUT use the older Clausen when needed .