Lathe recommendations

[AllanR21]

I'm thinking about buying a lathe to do my own chambering.

Any recommendations are appreciated

 

[glo]

Since you didn't say what you are going to chamber, here is my sujestion. http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-X-40-Gunsmith-s-Gearhead-Lathe/G0709

If you can give the community some more info and how much work you will be doing. That will help.

 

[Preacher]

There was one on this site, that would do a great job.... and it had a nice price to boot...

 

[AllanR21]

Sorry, I'd be doing 308, 6br and who knows from there

Preacher, where on the site did you see the lathe listed?

Thanks.

 

[jscandale]

Don't know what your price range is, but I can give a great recommendation on this one since its what I use.
http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2011/Main/530

JS

 

[LR_Shooter]

sorry to jump this thread, but what are the requirements for lathe to cut chamber from the blank? is it 4 or 3 jaw chuck, or ability to offset tailstock in case taper is needed, or overall travel of the carriage?

 

[shortgrass]

Threading would be the only thing I can think of (some older lathes lack a threading dial), metric would be a plus. And, spindle bore if you're planning on chambering thru the headstock. I've cut chambers on a Southbend 10X and on the large side, a Monarch 16" x 60" (used a pusher). You don't need a long bed unless you won't be mounting the barrel thru the headstock or tooling uo to thread shotgun barrels for choke tubes. 12" to 14" swing are the most usable for gunsmithing work. Allows you to do some other work. Those Chinese will work and are cheaply priced, but we all complain about "everythings made in China!".

 

[hogpatrol]

sorry to jump this thread, but what are the requirements for lathe to cut chamber from the blank? is it 4 or 3 jaw chuck, or ability to offset tailstock in case taper is needed, or overall travel of the carriage?

I like this book for clearing up alot of those questions.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/295571/the-complete-illustrated-guide-to-precision-rifle-barrel-fitting-book-by-john-l-hinnant

 

[Rustystud]

Allen:

Do you have any experience with a Lathe? If not I would suggest you get a Machinist/Gunsmith to mentor you. I would also recomend a couple NRA short courses in Basic machining, then Intermediate machining, and Advanced machining. They are offered at a number of Junior colleges accross the country. Trinidad State Junior College is within your stricking distance. Keith Gibson Department head and Machining Instructor is a great instructor and you would get your moneys worth. A lathe is a major expense but tooling and measuring insturments are a whole another expense. Then you need to develope the expertise to use them.
Nat Lambeth

 

[wapiti25]

Yes, you will need a lot of expensive tooling. You should look at the bore size of the head stock so a barrel will go thru. The 1.4XX" inches is min. If you don't already know how to run a lathe take some classes BEFORE you buy.

 

[cncmill]

I recently purchased a M1112 Shop Fox Gunsmith lathe. It worked great for chambering my barrel. It is identical to Grizzly's G4003G Gunsmith lathe. It is made by the same place. It was also cheaper than the Grizzly.

http://www.woodstockint.com/SHOP-FOX-Gunsmith-Lathe-with-Stand/M1112/

 

[LR_Shooter]

does anyone know how much Hardinge HLV-H and can it do this job?

 

[hogpatrol]

does anyone know how much Hardinge HLV-H and can it do this job?

$5000 & up for an old, used lathe, another $1000 for tooling and yes it can do the job, dependent on the bed and barrel length.

 

[LR_Shooter]

seriously, for machine which is like 30 years old? then they must be very good compare to the ones from china. I think Turn-Pro

or Victor

which do look similar to Hardinge might be less expensive ...

 

[shortgrass]

Used lathes start @ $1000, sometimes less. Depends on make, model, year, and attachments. Check with the used machine tool dealers. Ya' don't have to have a brand new machine to do good work. I think the most user friendly lathe in the shop, when I went to gun smith school, was a 13 x 48 belt drive Southbend that had a "war production" tag on it. I was hoping it would be sold and replaced w/new so I could bid on it at the state sale. No such luck! The other students gravitated to the 'newer' machines thinking they were 'better'. Machine tools are kinda' like rifles, the accuracy depends on the person driving! If you're going to own a machine, sooner or later you'll be making a repair or two. So don't be afraid of a used one that needs some minor repair. Just do a bit of research to make sure you can get some parts before you buy. Any piece of machinery will need to be leveled and need some time to 'settle in', new or used. I know a couple of guys who have bought used machines and made a few simple repairs and ended up with a good, usable chambering machine. And, I'm with "RustyStud", if ya' don't have machine tool knowledge/experience, get some qualified instruction!

 

[GerryM]

Used lathes are on Ebay. Ask a lot of questions now that you have the answers.
American Iron is sill the best quality . The problem is getting it delivered and installed .
Right now shipping is very high. Check Craigs list in your local area too.
There has to be a lath that will do the job for you close by.
Checking Ebay will give you a feel for what price to pay.

 

[watercam]

I have always found it to be the skill of the machinist more than the machine. There are several ways to chamber accurately that I am aware of. I know that for me, who might chamber ten barrels in my shooting career, it is not cost efficient to buy the machinery/tooling/shop space instead of having a professional do it right the first time. Plus, they need the work and we need the pros there when we really need them!
My $.02. Go MTGuns!

 

[jscandale]

Allen:

A lathe is a major expense but tooling and measuring insturments are a whole another expense.
Nat Lambeth

Yeah, what he said. The machine is the cheap part. I'll bet I have more wrapped up in tooling, machine tools, and fixtures than I actually do in the expense of the machine itself. That's ok though, they will last for the rest of my life and my son's as well if he cares to do this one day. Otherwise, some day, it will all be sold for pennies on the dollar by my kids once I am planted. :-[

JS

 

[dennisinaz]

I am on my third machine. I have "upgraded" as it became convenient or possible. A lot of guys will tell you that you have to have old American iron. If you can find something that is in really good shape, then great but most likely all you will find are "projects". (depending on where you live)

My uncle has been looking for a machine to upgrade. I check Craigslist weekly and we can go months without anything turning up within 100 miles or so. Found a pretty nice Jet last week (1440) and thought we had it bought. Now the seller is trying to back out so don't know if we will get it or not. My uncle is willing to spend up to $9000 on a lathe but in Phoenix area, they are just not to be had!

Went and looked at a 16x40 Victor yesterday. It was a hunk of junk. They had painted over all the oil ports and even the feed rods and lead screws!

We are looking until the end of the year and then buying a new Grizzly if we can't find anything.

I found a Nardini a while back and haven't seen anything like it since. Missed a Weiler Condor just before that and let a Grazziano Sag slip through my fingers. You can buy an entry level lathe, learn how to use it and wait for that nice piece of American iron to turn up.

One thing that I decided after my first two machines, and the main reason I won't use a SB is that I can't stand the open gear box style lathes. (two levers out front with the spring-loaded pins in them to select speeds). Everybody that is selling new lathes has both styles and the oil bath gear box machines are much quieter and easier to use. They are more expensive too! With the dearth of good, used small lathes on the market, it would seem that unloading your "student" lathe should be pretty easy once you have located your dream lathe.

 

[AllanR21]

Wow! Thanks to everyone who chimed in. I agree, the most important thing is to learn how to use them properly. Thanks for the suggestions on where to learn because I didn't know where to start.

I'm keeping my eyes open on eBay and Craig's list for now and will look into the classes first. I really would like to learn how to do this. I'm a perfectionist and there is nothing like knowing how to do things on your own, the right way. I agree that there are many great gunsmiths out there who will do a great job but I just think, when your doing it for yourself, you'll always take the extra step to make it perfect.

I'll let everyone know where I end up on this.

Allan