Lathe revisited
- Thread starter JamesnTN
- Start date
How are you getting to $10k? I'm seeing $5,900 plus shipping. What are the upgrades?
billlarson
"Hold Into The Wind"
JIM.......... DID YOU KNOW A LATHE IS A MACHINE THAT CAN REPRODUCE ITSELF...?? That said..... make your own rear spider...... however don`t be without a steadyrest and a follower rest would be handy...
If you are a good mechanic..... your learning curve will be steep and we all keep learning forever..... the remembering is the hard part...... take a lot of notes and b.prints...
bill
Id be all over that clausing, unless its clapped out, it is the best deal going. At that price you can get it and a tru bore alignment chuck and still be money ahead.
THe Leblond is overpriced for what it is
The brimingham, if it was $2000 it would be a deal, its a grizzly/jet/pm clone
the southbend looks like a "krylon Rebuild", ie they painted it and thats it. A used SB that size is about 2500$
10k for a pM? way overpriced. FOr that money, if I had to get a new machine, I would get a sharp, or the Grizzly 0509.
by the way you can make a fixture to chamber short barrels in a long headstock, I do it all the time. Use an action truing fixture or a tru bore alignment system. Dont let a long headstock scare you away from a good machine.
THe Leblond is overpriced for what it is
The brimingham, if it was $2000 it would be a deal, its a grizzly/jet/pm clone
the southbend looks like a "krylon Rebuild", ie they painted it and thats it. A used SB that size is about 2500$
10k for a pM? way overpriced. FOr that money, if I had to get a new machine, I would get a sharp, or the Grizzly 0509.
by the way you can make a fixture to chamber short barrels in a long headstock, I do it all the time. Use an action truing fixture or a tru bore alignment system. Dont let a long headstock scare you away from a good machine.
I'm adding the digital read out, a coolant system, taper attachment, quick change tool post delivery costs with a life gate truck.
So far it's actually at closer to 8500.00 delivered with a 3 phase and VFD and the other items listed above.
I've not ruled out any used lathe just seems right now buying new I'm near headache free of any bad break downs or rebuilds. I'm still 6-8 weeks out of buying so nothing has been set in stone.
jkohler
Silver $$ Contributor
your heads going to explode from from all the options of new vs used. Then there's the small fortune your about to spend in tooling just to get going. Also you'll decide you better get a mill to go with the lathe. O ya there lots more tooling to buy But in the end its all worth it.
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
My 1440 jet bought new is the only one ive ever had problems with. Got worked on til i got tired of calling repairmen to hang out in my shop and throw parts at it. My 2 60's model southbends havent had a wrench turned on em in repair. Good ole american iron is dependable and used lathes have the bugs worked out of em. I know all the lathes ive been around in machine shops that make money get repaired if something isnt right. They cant afford not to. Now if it was in a failing business that may be different.
I've been toying with the idea of buying a lathe myself. Are older Monarch 10ee lathe parts available and are they reasonable to work on and rebuildable ? What issues should I run away from and what is fixable and should be considered in general ? I almost went and bought a 1990 model 13x40 south bend yesterday and thankfully it has been sold today but I've got the bug.
hoz53
Gold $$ Contributor
with the desire to buy my own lathe and one day do my own barrel work, I have come across these lathes and like all of your opinions on each I'm listing.
I have been thinking of getting a lath
First is a LeBlonde 15-54 at 7250.00
I had been wanting to get a lathe for awhile and had talked myself into a grizz or PM when a South Bend 13" tool room lathe came available close to me. I bought it with only a picture to go by as I knew I could part it out and get more than I paid. The SB was/is fithly and needs complete teardown just to clean it up also other issues and the ways are worn near the headstock like usual. Its a project and I will enjoy it. Its got a taper attachment and will be a nice lathe when I'm done, whenever that is. In the meantime though I think I'll get a PM or Grizz to have something to work with. What the heck I need at least two lathes anyway. To me bottom line-- If you want one lathe and you're just doing barrel work, and you dont want to be a machine rebuilder or spend alot of time looking the imports are a good deal. If I was going into business with it I'd probably get a sharp. I think Griz's parts availability and service are better than PM and they will be around for future parts dont know if PM will be. But I sure like that skinnier headstock. decisions decisions I'll say one thing the crossslide/compound on the 13" SB make these imports crossslide/compounds look like tinker toys.
Next is a Birmingham 14-40 at 2650.00
Next is a Clausing 13-40 at 3950.00
Next is a south Bend 13-32 at 4900.00 and it's been reconditioned.
Or a brand new Precison Matthews PM1340 with all the works for around 10k
http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM1340T.html
Thanks for any and all input.
with the desire to buy my own lathe and one day do my own barrel work, I have come across these lathes and like all of your opinions on each I'm listing.
First is a LeBlonde 15-54 at 7250.00
Next is a Birmingham 14-40 at 2650.00
Next is a Clausing 13-40 at 3950.00
Next is a south Bend 13-32 at 4900.00 and it's been reconditioned.
Or a brand new Precison Matthews PM1340 with all the works for around 10k
http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM1340T.html
Thanks for any and all input.
10EE lathes were an outstanding "tool room" lathe. They haven't been made in years (decades?) so parts are a bit iffy. Electrics can be modernized and probably should be, but that isn't the liability. The big issue with most 10EE latest is that most are short between centers. Which makes them less attractive as you can't put a barrel between centers. So you need to find a long bed 10EE and they aren't nearly as common. The best lathe for general gun work IMO is a Harrison M350. There are lots of near copies of this lathe available like the Grizzly. YMMV.
Parts are still plentiful for them. But repairing and modernizing drive systems can be a staggering cost. Finding a 30" bed 10EE is very hard. The Clausing 14x40 we have at work would be an awesome gun lathe, short head stock, big enough through hole, and very accurate machine. I'm transitioning to CNC gear and looking for a Mazak or Okuma maybe a Hurco that I can handle at least 20"
Monarch still make a few new 10EE's each year. They do more business rebuilding and repairing them.
There are a couple of 30" machines on ebay now.
The headstocks are a little long for gunsmithing.
Hal
I really don't know anything about lathes but I'm starting to learn. As I think I understand the head is a tube on the 10ee and you can chamber and thread a longer barrel with it through the head correct ? 1.35" diameter through the head I think. What am I missing ? My thinking is buy the machine and ruin scrap and break chit until I get it figured out. It can't be all that hard because I know some people who do this kind of work and I'm pretty sure I'm at least as mentally and physically capable as they are.
Btw , it is an old 20" 10ee I think I saw but it looked rough. I just finished reading a thread on practical machinist about rebuilding a 10ee and I'm positive it's way out of my league.
Btw , it is an old 20" 10ee I think I saw but it looked rough. I just finished reading a thread on practical machinist about rebuilding a 10ee and I'm positive it's way out of my league.
And I understand more now that I've read some more. 24" headstock means it is very hard to measure the muzzle end on anything shorter than say a 26" barrel to line up the bore. Sooo a 40"+ between centers if I want to chamber longer barrels. I need to start a thread of my own. Sorry OP. Looking forward to your follow up with what you end up with.
Yes you either want a short enough head stock that your barrel can be out both sides of the head stock or a bed long enough to work between centers. My Monarch AA has a 38" head stock and a 48" bed so I work between centers.
Yeah I have seen a few 30" 10EE's recently but I am going to make the CNC jump instead.
The last I heard you were going to sell your SB Heavy 10, this was shortly after you bought it.
I have had a PM 1340GT for going on three years now, bought it with the VFD and DRO installed. It a wonderful machine for fitting and chambering barrels. I made a shrink fit spider for the outboard of the spindle that comes out of the cover so everything stays covered. I would have PM keep the chucks and upgrade right out of the gate, other than the chucks and tool post I wouldn't change a thing on it, the only thing I regret is wasting years looking at used worn out scrap iron.
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