Lathe for a hobbyist?

[DShortt]

I use a SouthBend Heavy10 and it works fine for what I need.

If I was trying to make a living at it that would be a bad joke at best. Too labor intensive. But I'm in the garage playin' around because I'd rather do that than sit in front of the idiot box and get inundated with the debauchery that passes for entertainment now days.

I prefer most anything to that.

 

[ronsatspokane]

I use a SouthBend Heavy10 and it works fine for what I need.

If I was trying to make a living at it that would be a bad joke at best. Too labor intensive. But I'm in the garage playin' around because I'd rather do that than sit in front of the idiot box and get inundated with the debauchery that passes for entertainment now days.

I prefer most anything to that.

Yeah, I wonder how many tinkerers are playing in their shops and lamenting the fact that they are missing fine entertainment like Rupaul's Drag Race... I'm guessing it's a round number... As in zero.

 

[DShortt]

Yeah, I wonder how many tinkerers are playing in their shops and lamenting the fact that they are missing fine entertainment like Rupaul's Drag Race... I'm guessing it's a round number... As in zero.

Not familiar with anything on TV. I've literally not watched a TV in over 15 years.

I can't say that I missed anything worth worrying about based on what I've heard about it.

 

[ronsatspokane]

Not familiar with anything on TV. I've literally not watched a TV in over 15 years.

I can't say that I missed anything worth worrying about based on what I've heard about it.

You have not missed anything.

 

[Intheshop]

860-964-6549

It's a machine dealer in Baton Rouge. Give him a call,think he has several used lathes that would work for you. Good luck with your project.

 

[JSH]

For a guy who wanted to play with gunsmith type stuff on a very hobby type level ( re barreling old actions for personal use and just general metal work) what current production lathe would be a decent choice ? 4000-5000 and down price wise ? Seemed like grizzly would be the best place to start

You might consider an upgrade of some kind of shop if your going to put this in the same carport you spoke of with the drill press.

 

[Larry Koch]

Get a lathe made in Taiwan, not China. There is a huge difference in quality, Buy once cry once.

 

[ebb]

I got an ugly , but not worn-out Millport 14-40 for $650. They used a coolant in it the ruined the paint and its not very good looking. But accurate. It did noy have a 4 jaw chuck and I traded a Clausing lathe the was missing a bunch of parts for a good south bend 4 jaw. I have a homemade steady rest that a friend gave me but I would like the one that came with the machine. I chambered several rifles years ago, and they all had economy barrels but still shoot well. Teele1 has one and has killed deer with it on several occasions. they were both 260 Remingtons and would shoot a 1 inch group at 200yds. Now that I am retired you would think I would have more time to do these sorts of things but actually less time.

 

[Wolfdog91]

860-964-6549

It's a machine dealer in Baton Rouge. Give him a call,think he has several used lathes that would work for you. Good luck with your project.

Thank you for the info !

 

[jdh47]

Good luck on your adventure.

 

[Wolfdog91]

You might consider an upgrade of some kind of shop if your going to put this in the same carport you spoke of with the drill press.

Yeah I have kinda a shop type deal behind my house I wanna turn into a work show type of deal since it has a concrete pad and all. Need to run power too it again along with re doing it

 

[Rsadams]

THIS -a thousand times this. Learn how to run a lathe safely and properly and it will pay dividends forever.
These machines do NOT forgive mistakes.
After some instruction and 'stick time' you will have a much better idea of what you want, or if you even want it.

I applaud your decision making process, Sir.

Frank

This is great advice.... We owned a motor in machine shop and I have personally seen people get hurt.... My wife's family owned a shop also and she lost an uncle when a piece of steel got loose on a lathe...... He had decades if experience.... These machines don't forgive and you will loose fingers or worse in the blink of an eye , which if you're not careful you can loose also....

 

[majohnson]

There is always the HLV-H it what I use. I would stay away from the Grizzly. Unless the Emco is total worn out its a better machine.

 

[wkdickinson]

For hobby work don't over look some of the older machines out there. I have a SB9A with a 48" bed from the 1940's, that was given to me by a friend's widow. It apparently came out of a tool room or someplace that it didn't get a lot of use because it has very little wear. It's slow and a bit cumbersome because the headstock bore is only .75". But I've done some barrel work "between-centers", chambering and lots of just general projects. I was fortunate, it came with lots of tooling.

 

[Steel Mover]

WD, you live on a farm, like I do, in the country, as I recall. We do not have three phase, so we are stuck with straight 220 pretty much, unless you buy a rotary phase converter. I built a new shop building. With a used J head 1970 Bridgeport that was used in a very clean, injection mould building shop when they went to a CNC, but settled on the Grizzly Gunsmith lathe with the stand, DRO, light and coolant system. Installed a caliper on the Bridgeport. The Grizzly can be setup and adjusted to give decent service, and for the $ it is hard to beat, It is not heavy enough to do a barrel blank contour in big cuts, so the one I did took near 1/2 day at the lathe, enough time to say, no more barrel blank contours. Weight of the machines means a lot in cutting steel. The Bridgeport is a cast iron heavy beast.

Had a buddy that bought one of those mill lathe combo jobs, his comment about how it worked was that it is was not heavy enough to do anything but light mill or light lathe jobs and everything had to be light cuts.

If you look at used lathes, look at the ways in front of the head stock, it is the real wear area, and a wear slope or worn out hole requires a full length regrind or weld to 0 the lathe ways.

 

[ronsatspokane]

WD, you live on a farm, like I do, in the country, as I recall. We do not have three phase, so we are stuck with straight 220 pretty much, unless you buy a rotary phase converter. I built a new shop building. With a used J head 1970 Bridgeport that was used in a very clean, injection mould building shop when they went to a CNC, but settled on the Grizzly Gunsmith lathe with the stand, DRO, light and coolant system. Installed a caliper on the Bridgeport. The Grizzly can be setup and adjusted to give decent service, and for the $ it is hard to beat, It is not heavy enough to do a barrel blank contour in big cuts, so the one I did took near 1/2 day at the lathe, enough time to say, no more barrel blank contours. Weight of the machines means a lot in cutting steel. The Bridgeport is a cast iron heavy beast.

Had a buddy that bought one of those mill lathe combo jobs, his comment about how it worked was that it is was not heavy enough to do anything but light mill or light lathe jobs and everything had to be light cuts.

If you look at used lathes, look at the ways in front of the head stock, it is the real wear area, and a wear slope or worn out hole requires a full length regrind or weld to 0 the lathe ways.

Just an FYI, rotary phase converters are no longer needed and you don't need to limit yourself to single phase equipment. VFD's (Variable Frequency Devices) are relatively cheap these days (like $150 and up depending on motor horsepower) and they provide true 3 three phase power. They dump both legs of the 220 on to a DC bus and then split that into true three phase AC. They provide an incredible number of features on top of just 2 to 3 phase conversion. Things like breaking functions, frequency output (which allows you to control the speed of the motor via a dial in addition to any other speed controls on the device being driven), configurable ramp up and down and many other features. They are pretty amazing devices. I paid a little over $250 for the one I use to drive my 3 phase mill.

 

[Burnt Powder]

How much? Is EMCO Chinese?

I’ve had it a long time, 20 years maybe. It was $2,200.00 and yes it is Chinese. I looked for a lathe for a long time before I bought it. Most all of the used ones I found had the ways worn badly the first 18” from the headstock and started at 5G’s and that without chucks and tooling. I looked at several new domestic and English machines and they were WAY, WAY out of my budget. No more than I use it it’s unlikely that I will wear it out.
I’m completely satisfied with it and it’s accuracy. I wouldn’t want to run it in production or a tool room but it is great for what I need it for.

 

[RCE1]

As much as I'd love to get a new Taiwanese 14x40, I was fortunate to inherit a lovingly maintained 5914 with every conceivable chuck (like 7) and a ton of tooling. I had to adapt if to VFD as it was being used with a home brew rotary converter, but that sold with a different tool so I had to figure out something else. I'll admit, the rotary solution never appealed to me. I like the VFD, although I'd change the way it was mounted, now that I know a bit more.

 

[majohnson]

These are amazing lathes, probably one of the most copied larger lathes made. They will hold toolroom tolerances, if they are in good condition. Enough weight to dampen vibration, and properly harden V and flat ways.

Moriseiki Engine Lathe 17

www.machineryconsultants.com

 

[USMCDOC]

I’ve had it a long time, 20 years maybe. It was $2,200.00 and yes it is Chinese. I looked for a lathe for a long time before I bought it. Most all of the used ones I found had the ways worn badly the first 18” from the headstock and started at 5G’s and that without chucks and tooling. I looked at several new domestic and English machines and they were WAY, WAY out of my budget. No more than I use it it’s unlikely that I will wear it out.
I’m completely satisfied with it and it’s accuracy. I wouldn’t want to run it in production or a tool room but it is great for what I need it for.

What are you talking about, Urban was asking me about my lathe and mine isn’t from chyna , don’t go getting them confuse. Now you might have a “Enco” which ain’t no EMCO , EMCO lathes were made in Austria.