Whats the best reasonbly oriced gunsmith lathe?

[Dud]

I'm not sure why you need $14,000 worth of lathe to do gunsmith stuff.

I know I could find a used machine that would do fine for $2,000 or less.

You might want to buy a bunch of tooling and a DRO on top of that, maybe put new bearings in the headstock or get a VFD but that's still probably less than $7,000.

I don't think anyone is going to be impressed by a new PM lathe or turned off by an old Clausing or even a good Taiwan lathe from the 80s.

A decent machinist will be able to produce the same quality work on any of them.

Are you a new gunsmith that thinks you are going to hit the ground running with lots of barreling jobs and muzzle threads?

I think you will be disappointed if that is your plan.

Spending big on machines is a thing established businesses do when they have already booked enough work to pay for it.

A business in that position usually knows exactly what they need and wouldn't have to ask this question.

 

[Bamban]

Thanks for all the replys. The one offshore lathe we are looking at is the PM14-40 but they wont install a readout at least according to my friend. I called LeBlond and the 14-40 they had with what we wanted was just a shade under 25000.00 which is a quite a bit more then we wanted to spend.

The non catalog 5HP Variable Speed 1440 lathe I am getting from Precision Matthews is on board the slow boat from Taiwan. Once in PA, PM will install the DRO before shipping it to TX.

The lathe is the product of Liang Dei, the same manufacturer who supplies the Eisen line.

 

[gunnermhr]

I'm not sure why you need $14,000 worth of lathe to do gunsmith stuff.

I know I could find a used machine that would do fine for $2,000 or less.

You might want to buy a bunch of tooling and a DRO on top of that, maybe put new bearings in the headstock or get a VFD but that's still probably less than $7,000.

I don't think anyone is going to be impressed by a new PM lathe or turned off by an old Clausing or even a good Taiwan lathe from the 80s.

A decent machinist will be able to produce the same quality work on any of them.

Are you a new gunsmith that thinks you are going to hit the ground running with lots of barreling jobs and muzzle threads?

I think you will be disappointed if that is your plan.

Spending big on machines is a thing established businesses do when they have already booked enough work to pay for it.

A business in that position usually knows exactly what they need and wouldn't have to ask this question.

I'm not sure why anyone would be unsatisfied with a PM1440 or a PM1340. Sounds like something coming from a guy that doesnt own one. While I somewhat agree with your other comments this simply is an unjustified statement

 

[butchlambert]

When threading, how many use their DRO to tell you when to disengage your half nut?

 

[Bamban]

When threading, how many use their DRO to tell you when to disengage your half nut?

On my Taiwanese made 1236, I use the ARO (Analog Readout), aka TravADial. On the old belt drive Jet 1024 I use a proximity sensor and thread at 400 RPM. Do not disengage the half nuts on the latter. Both have been upgraded with 2 HP 3P and VFD. No DRO on either one, no plans for it.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I do like a dro on the mill, but do not have one on the lathe and dont mind it at all.

 

[butchlambert]

On my Taiwanese made 1236, I use the ARO (Analog Readout), aka TravADial. On the old belt drive Jet 1024 I use a proximity sensor and thread at 400 RPM. Do not disengage the half nuts on the latter. Both have been upgraded with 2 HP 3P and VFD. No DRO on either one, no plans for it.

Nez, Buddy, I know what you have and I agree. I agree with Alex as I have DROs on both my Bridgeports and like Nez I use a TravADial on my lathe. But what do we know?

 

[AccelR8]

When threading, how many use their DRO to tell you when to disengage your half nut?

I don't have a DRO on my lathe. When threading, if possible I will have a relief cut about .060-.065” wide and a few thousandths past minimum thread diameter. I just watch and when my bit passes into the relief, I disengage. When I cannot have a relief, I will simultaneously, and quickly, crank out my cross feed one revolution and disengage the half nut when I see the end of the thread right at the bit. This requires a lot of attention and also a low RPM. I will often put a black magic marker line on the work to help call out the end of the thread cut.

I always thread at a relatively low RPM. In back gear my lowest speed is 28 RPM and I have actually threaded at that speed, although usually I use about 100 or so I guess. Not sure of the actual speed, just what feels right. I would rather work slow and not make a mistake, than try to work faster.

A number of years ago I converted the lathe to a VFD and I don't think I've used back gear since, other than to lock the spindle.

In lieu of a DRO, I have been using dial indicators when needed. I would love to have DRO but it hasn't been one of my highest priorities as far as tooling goes.

 

[butchlambert]

TravADial or indicators are best for threading. A fast blinking DRO ain't the answer when threading.

 

[Walt Krafft]

My Hardinge clone has electronic threading. Set a stop and it cuts to the stop. Compound has a lever to move on the angle. So easy to thread my wife can do it. I can thread at a lot higher speed. Usually around 600 rpm. It has digital readouts on x and z. Once you use one with a digital you will never want to be without. Just as it is on a mill.

 

[butchlambert]

My Hardinge clone has electronic threading. Set a stop and it cuts to the stop. Compound has a lever to move on the angle. So easy to thread my wife can do it. I can thread at a lot higher speed. Usually around 600 rpm. It has digital readouts on x and z. Once you use one with a digital you will never want to be without. Just as it is on a mill.

Walt, a DRO is fine on the X&Y axis, but not suitable for threading. I have threaded on my Uncle Bill's HLV-H and yes my Great Grand Daughter could thread on it.
Forgot to mention, my 10EE Monarch has ELSR and you can thread at any speed with it.

 

[Dud]

I'm not sure why anyone would be unsatisfied with a PM1440 or a PM1340. Sounds like something coming from a guy that doesnt own one. While I somewhat agree with your other comments this simply is an unjustified statement

When I said I don't think anyone is going to be impressed by a new PM, I meant a customer. I'm sure it's a fine lathe but anyone who knows machining knows it's more about the operator than a shiny new machine. A customer who doesn't know that would probably be impressed by the cheapest China lathe if it was clean and had a nice paint job.

 

[paperpuncher]

When threading, how many use their DRO to tell you when to disengage your half nut?

I have used it it works ok I count the numbers down in my head like 90,80,70,60 ect to establish a rhythm while watching the readout and back the tool off then hit the reverse when I hit my number. Honestly I prefer to set a dial ind up and use that I try to set it so it makes a complete revolution and I catch it when it gets to 0

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I use a magnetic indicator mount with a wore out indicator on it. I set it up to make one complete rev then stop at the top on zero

 

[mikeeg02]

I use a magnetic indicator mount with a wore out indicator on it. I set it up to make one complete rev then stop at the top on zero

That works very well.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

That works very well.

 

[ronsatspokane]

I have a DRO on both axis's but don't use it during threading. Use the manual dial on the compound for depth and use a plunge dial indicator loaded and counting down to zero for when to back out and pull the half nut. That takes a bit of practice to get the timing perfect.