New lathe due diligence.
- Thread starter Shrek
- Start date
I'll learn on this one and if I like working with it as much as I think I will I'll buy a bigger machine. I'm into this for around a $1000. I bought a few othe items so it's hard to say exactly. Bucket of tools , steady and follower rests and a three jaw scroll chuck. I'll have to find an independent 4 jaw.
shortgrass
Silver $$ Contributor
If you buy a cheap chuck you'll get a cheap chuck. That's no place to skimp, IMO. There's no substitute for a quality made chuck mounted on a back plate that's 'trued' to the machine. Skimping on chucks is like skimping on tools or holders. Cheaply made stuff is no 'joy' to work with (but, it was cheap!). You can cast aside all the 'tricks' and gimmicks that some promote if you've got quality made and mounted 'work holding' to begin with. My Buck Tru-Set (Set-true?) and Pratt Burnard 4 Jaw are 'worth their weight' , to me. Chucks are one thing many seem to ignor.
I agree 100% he was just on a budget and i was offering some advice for someone that its just starting to learn how to use a lathe. A Buck Set-true is more than he paid for the whole lathe. Hahaha not that it isnt worth it, a good repeatable accurate chuck is a must have if your doing stuff like gunsmithing.
I'll hunt around and find a quality chuck. I'm not at all sure what all I've bought just yet. I wish I could pick it up tomorrow but they're not available until Sunday afternoon. I've got a ton of work at the beginning of the week so getting it into the garage by Sunday night is as far ahead as I can handle at the moment. I know it needs new belts for sure. The flat belt is coming apart and the v belt to the motor is pretty rough too. Ways "look" good but what do I kwow. I couldn't find the serial number so I don't know if they are hardened but it don't think they are. I couldn't detect any play in the bearings and the gears looked good. Ran it for a minute and nothing screamed but there was a lot of vibration coming from the motor area. I'm hoping that was the belt and alignment. It shifted and the gears I could see looked ok. I so wish it were here right now so I could really go through and take stock of it. Thanks for the advice all of you have contributed.
shortgrass
Silver $$ Contributor
That Buck is worth it even if you're doing work other than gunsmithing! In my world, tools have to pay for themselves and make profit, too. Any barrel work or truing i do is done in the Pratt Burnard four jaw. A cheap 4 jaw is a 'pain', you know where! Buying machine tools and tooling them to do good work is NOT a cheap proposition! Using cheap or worn out just makes it harder to 'learn' ( or make money). And, learning on your own is like treading water wearing a lead jacket. Best way to develope bad habbits I can think of.......
Dang! I just looked at the prices of chuck$$$$$$
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
Ebay
I have a 6 jaw buck chuck that is great, I bought a independent 4 jaw made by Gator, it has 2 piece jaws that are great for making your own soft jaws. The fellow that started gator used to work for a different high end chuck company, took all his designs with him and started gator. For the quality, the price was outstanding. I must say, I like my $380 gator chuck better than my $1500 buck chuck.
It took me 3 shipments of grizzly gunsmith lathes to get one that worked. In the end the 3rd one was just as much of a headache as the previous 2. Sent it back and bought a Nardini 14x40, added the tru bore system to the bison 6 jaw. That lathe runs perfect off a VFD.
Night and day difference in the quality of machines. The nardini was $1500 more than the 0709 with DRO.
Night and day difference in the quality of machines. The nardini was $1500 more than the 0709 with DRO.
shortgrass
Silver $$ Contributor
Ya', just because a lathe gets bought doensn't mean you're done reaching for the wallet. It just means you've started! i think the current crop of imported "gunsmithing lathes" are probably equiped with chucks of the lowest cost/quality available that most buyers will except. "YA! It came with 2 new chucks and everything!". Like anything else, you have to know what you're buying.
There's a Pratt and Burnard 4 jaw for a Logan on eBay now I might make an offer on. I don't think finding quality equipment is going to be too bad. I figure I'll need several hundred dollars worth of measuring tools and mounts and maybe a fancy tool holder. By the time I've got everything and learned how to use it all I'll be ready to buy it all again knowing what I want and need. A lot of hopefully not too expensive mistakes in my future.
This scares me as I'm in the market for a lathe next year. I was going to go with a Grizzly or Precision Matthews as I don't have the knowledge or desire to refurbish an older lathe. I'm all about buying American (or European), but I don't know of an American option in this sector (my knowledge is limited). For a personal, limited use machine for somebody starting out, it seems the Asian machines offer a turnkey package.
Does anyone know if the Taiwanese lathes are materially better than the Chinese lathes? I know Taiwanese hand tools are generally light years ahead of Chinese stuff.
Quality new Taiwanese lathes are light years ahead of of Chinese in both quality and price. Old American iron is a bargain if you are slightly mechanically inclined. I know where there is a really nice LeBlond Regal servo shift 15"x42 for $3500 but I couldn't afford it nor fit it in the space I have.
If hu want something shipped to your door and set up turn key for cheap then something has to give. It's going to be the quality and durability.
If hu want something shipped to your door and set up turn key for cheap then something has to give. It's going to be the quality and durability.
I'm with you. Arizona is another state that wasn't a center for manufacturing in the 50's-80's, so we don't see a lot of quality old iron pop up.
It will do to learn on. After you get it home buy a couple of gallons of WD-40 and a BIG pack of paper towels then go to town cleaning it.
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.