Lathe Question,

[carlsbad]

speaking of step pulley lathes. I believe the Jet in question is a step pulley model. --Jerry

 

[butchlambert]

speaking of step pulley lathes. I believe the Jet in question is a step pulley model. --Jerry

Could be, but having belts does not make a belt changing step pulley machine.

 

[DaveTooley]

My Haas is belt drive. Seems to work. I started out on a Jet 12X36, step pulley lathe. This lathe is belt drive but no step pulleys, too many levers to throw on the head stock.

 

[carlsbad]

Dave, Found the manuals. Those levers are for the feed and threading drive adjustment. And a back gear. Indeed it is a step pully. Looks like it would be pretty enjoyable to operate. I believe they only call the step pully lathes "belt drive" Otherwise, they call them "engine lathes" or "geared head" or "variable speed". Technically engine lathes should have a clutch but I see the term misused all the time to refer to geared head lathes. --Jerry

 

[Rtheurer]

I wonder why they call it a GH 1640 R then? GH being Gear head I thought? Weird marketing scam I guess. ?

Russel

 

[carlsbad]

Sorry Russel, the belt drive lathe is the BDB-1340-A that skeetlee offered above. The original lathe is indeed a Geared Head lathe. 1640 is pretty big. Almost certainly 3ph. Skeetlee's lathe might be a better first lathe. --Jerry

 

[Rtheurer]

LOL.. we are all mixed up.. LOL. thank you sir.

 

[SBS]

Russ, if this has been a school lathe since new, it likely has little wear on the ways, screws and half nuts; unlike a lot of the used lathes out there that were heavily used in machine shops. Might have a few nicks here and there from learning students, but unlikely to have heavy wear from constant production use. An 1 1/2 hole thru the headstock is plenty for barrel work and will handle a 5C collet system. A long headstock is not a hindrance unless you are working with shorter barrels. You do get more noise and vibration with a geared head lathe, but they are very sturdy. Metric threading is nice to have and not available with a lot of the older U.S. made lathes.

 

[shortgrass]

You get more noise from a geared head lathe. So what! As long as it's not noise that's telling you something's wrong under the hood.... Never noticed any added vibration from a geared head. A geared head lathe is usually heavier, anyway. Might be a problem with the new, light weight 'hobby' lathes, I haven't much experience with them. But the back gear on a belt driven new light weight 'hobby' lathe could induce added vibration in the machine. Depends on the design and construction of the tool. I did a lot of chambering on a late '60s SB Heavy 10 and used it in back gear and never had any vibration problems from it. And it's a pretty light weight tool. Gunsmithing doesn't require a 'big' machine as you're not pushing max feeds/speeds most of the time, anyway. That Jet 16x40 that's pictured should be a reasonably 'smooth' running machine. Tail stock and chucks probably a bit heavy, but other than that........

 

[carlsbad]

shortgrass,
I like quiet cars and quiet lathes. I play music in the shop. My new geared head lathe is the quietest geared head I have ever owned. I like it. Indeed, that is a luxury. Noise doesn't hurt anything but your ears.

And if I were choosing one or the other as my only lathe, I'd definitely go with the heavy 16".

I think I saw that it is a 5000 lb lathe. Sure should be nice. Might be hard to load into a storage container. Might be a real challenge for a newby to get set up. He will certainly not find as many internet articles on it as most people don't use this size lathe until after they have owned other lathes and become proficient.

--Jerry

 

[GrocMax]

Here's a forum from Wholesale Tool that has manuals for a lot of the rebranded Taiwanese/Chinese lathes-

http://wttool.mywowbb.com/forum13/

I would imagine that some of the newer ones are copies of copies of somebody else's lathe and not all those parts are compatible.

 

[shortgrass]

Jerry, I make things, too. I spent 3 1/2hrs. this morning 'driving' a 20" x 84". 12 3 phase horses. Turn the OD of a 8 1/2" chunk of 4350 NQT, face it and then drill a 1 5/8" hole through the 5 1/2" length, on shot. Center drill and drill. Drill on the tool post so I can use the power carriage feed. The 1 5/8 hole takes 5 minutes and 20 seconds from start to finish. You can hear it carrying the load. Can you hear the thing with the motor running, even when there's not a tool engaged? YA! 'Cause it's a production lathe. Would I want to have it for my gunsmithing lathe? Nope! It's just a little too large for that. I'm glad for the 'overhead' when I have to take the 3 jaw off and put the 4 jaw on. Glad you've got music to listen to.

 

[carlsbad]

My machine is smaller but I use an MT3 holder to power drill rough holes in large stock. Much better than the tailstock.

Do you wear hearing protection? I used to with my old lathe at certain speeds.

My desire for the small belt drive lathe is for small work, mostly in collets. Maybe just nostalgia as I did a lot of fine work on that $400 lathe that was my first.

But I'm really trying to address the needs of the OP rather than a professional like you.

 

[Rtheurer]

Lucky for me I have access to some pretty smart fellas for set up. As far as moving it, I am not too worried as I have moved a lot of heavy crap my whole life. I would like to think I am pretty good at it actually. Maybe not the end all or know it all but I don't think I will have a Problem.
Getting a Boiler and boiler plates in and out of Commercial building usually in a Basement builds a LOT of character...LOL

I want to thank you all again. Very Honest answers. Got my fingers crossed I get it.

 

[shortgrass]

You probably don't want the advice of a guy with 42yrs of job shop machining experience and a diploma from MCCs' 2 yr gunsmithing program, but here goes. That 16" swing floor lathe is too much machine for someone with no machining experience, smart helpers or not. Most want to chamber through the head stock, which means sliding the tail stock back and forth many times (about every .050" cut) to clear the cuttings and re-oil. The tail stock on a 16" swing lathe weighs a bit, you probably won't be sliding it with one hand. Also, the head stock is long, and only the longest barrels could be supported with an outboard spider (I'm thinking 28" finished length, but I could be wrong). This can be worked around, but it won't be simple or easy for a novice. A beginner would be much better served with the lathe Skeetlee has for sale, even though it's offered for more $$$$$. Its' outboard side is easily adapted for a spider. Barrels as short as 22" could probably be T,C, & C on it through the head stock (shorter barrels if you'd build an inboard spider). The tail stock would not be overly heavy for chambering. A 13 x 40 is an ideal sized lathe for about any gunsmithing task. Small enough to chamber with easily for a novice user, large enough for about any gunsmithing tool you will want to make. The rigidity and power of the larger lathe won't make up for the lack of a skilled operator.

 

[TRA]

I wonder why they call it a GH 1640 R then? GH being Gear head I thought? Weird marketing scam I guess. ?

Russel

Geared head lathes are usually belt driven from the motor to the gear head. Even most belt drive lathes like the Clausing also have gears in the headstock.You have to go back quite a way to find any step pulley lathes and most were line shaft lathes and some revisions later. I have a 10" logan that is flat belt/step pulley, but it's old and way too small to do much serious work.

I hope you bid enough to land that Jet. Unless it's been trashed out it should have a lot of life left in it. I know up north a 1000.00 lathe like that one won't last a New York minute.

 

[SLB]

Can you move it yourself and can you get 3 phase or figure your adapter cost into the bid . That is a nice set up , the headstock is a bit long . If it's gonna be your first lathe , it may be cheaper to purchase one from grizzly or enco . They (Chinese and Taiwan) have come a long way in the last 10 yrs . Plus you get to order parts easy . Just my $.02
A new 12x36 is aprx $2000 so I'd start at $1000 and stop at $1800 , that's cause I've set up a few new 12x36 Grizzlys and have grown fond of them , especially the ease at getting tooling and parts .

Have you got a link to these new 12x36 lathes at $2,000? Best price I've seen.

 

[Ggmac]

I don't know how to link but harbor freight 12-36 , grizzly 12-36 , msc 12-36 I have other recent adverts , I just need to find them . All the mentioned are the same with dif paint . Parts interchange and are easier to order from Grizzlys.

I just tried to check and your correct , all the current prices are near doubled the CHRISTMAS flyer prices !

 

[boltman223]

Jerry, I make things, too. I spent 3 1/2hrs. this morning 'driving' a 20" x 84". 12 3 phase horses. Turn the OD of a 8 1/2" chunk of 4350 NQT, face it and then drill a 1 5/8" hole through the 5 1/2" length, on shot. Center drill and drill. Drill on the tool post so I can use the power carriage feed. The 1 5/8 hole takes 5 minutes and 20 seconds from start to finish. You can hear it carrying the load. Can you hear the thing with the motor running, even when there's not a tool engaged? YA! 'Cause it's a production lathe. Would I want to have it for my gunsmithing lathe? Nope! It's just a little too large for that. I'm glad for the 'overhead' when I have to take the 3 jaw off and put the 4 jaw on. Glad you've got music to listen to.

Sweeeet! What make of lathe was it?