Who's got lathes?

[larry_g]

All you guys with the rubber feet under your machines; I know most are not very heavy but, the rubber is not a good surface to level a machine on.

I have three lathes getting them level is important, having them stay level on squishy rubber has to be difficult?

Steve

Machinery mounts are designed for the job, http://www.barrycontrols.com/products/product.cfm?cid=2&fid=8 , They are the correct product for use under heavy machines. We used literally hundreds of them on production machines for electronics assembly.

On edit, looking back what I linked to is what Dcmus has under his machine shown above

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Steve from Socal]

The rubber mounts may be designed to support the weight and, given the proper machine configuration they work fine. My concern is; on many manual lathes the bed is semi flexible and an elastic element like rubber feet can allow unwanted movement.

A machine with kinematic mounts like my 10EE could use these because the bed support is manufactured into the base. A small lathe without a full heavy cast base is not rigid enough to support itself in that fashion.

Specialty machinery is designed, built and, installed to meet a particular set of parameters. An OEM can design a machine with a frame that is as rigid or flexible as called for, the old line machinery companies generally suggest supporting lathes on hard surfaces.

While using the rubber feet is fine for many applications, I feel manual lathes particularly ones with low aspect ratio bed length to cross sections should be rigidly supported.

JMHO,

Steve

 

[alan camby]

I can't see my feet being much of a issue. 40,000lbs (8×5000) rating on a machine that is probably 1000lbs.
Mine are some kind of reinforced nylon with a misalignment ball that allows the foot to set flat on the floor. Each mount has two holes that could be anchored but I have not anchored mine. Seem like very high quality mounts. They came from mcmaster-carr. I added the option of a non-skid rubber base. The rubber is extremely thin and is not a vibration reducing mount, just to help non skid.

 

[Steve from Socal]

Very nice Monarchs.. They both (large one in foreground, 10EE to the right) look to be in immaculate shape.. Are they fairly new?

What is the lathe behind the bigger one in the foreground, another Monarch?

I ditto the comment about machines being level, and that rubber (especially any rubber that absorbs oil and deteriorates) can be a problem because the weight distribution of a lathe is not perfect across the bed/base..

Dennis

The lathe in the back of the picture is a Monarch as well, they are all in great shape mechanically. The Series 62 in the back needs paint. None of them are very "new the 10EE is a 1976, the 13EE is a 1956 and the 62 is a 1960. They range in size from 20x120" on the Series 62, 15.5X54 for the 13EE and, 12.5X20(I have a 30" bed to install) on the 10EE. The 10EE is an inch/metric lathe.

Steve

 

[Justanoldguy]

I'd love to see some photos of your 1947 Myford lathe.

In 1946 my dad bought a new Myford-Drummond M-type lathe:

I'll sort some for you.
Not the prettiest thing as it needs some tidying up.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Machinery mounts are designed for the job, http://www.barrycontrols.com/products/product.cfm?cid=2&fid=8 , They are the correct product for use under heavy machines. We used literally hundreds of them on production machines for electronics assembly.

On edit, looking back what I linked to is what Dcmus has under his machine shown above

lg
no neat sig line

Agree..properly selected machine mounts are good. My comment related to my experience seeing many manual machines on solid surfaces.. I have mine on concrete and luckily they sit flat without need to shim/support.

Dennis

 

[dcmus]

Agree..properly selected machine mounts are good. My comment related to my experience seeing many manual machines on solid surfaces.. I have mine on concrete and luckily they sit flat without need to shim/support.

Dennis

I definitely don't want to argue as I'm so not qualified. I leveled my lathe with a machinist's level and so far it's been fine. I spent a considerable amount of time on machinist Web site's but still have LOTS to learn

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

I definitely don't want to argue as I'm so not qualified. I leveled my lathe with a machinist's level and so far it's been fine. I spent a considerable amount of time on machinist Web site's but still have LOTS to learn

Yes.. I understand.. Thanks.. I'm not immensely qualified either.. I've only done as you've described..and certainly not in the last 5 years.

As an interesting aside, my SBL 10K can be leveled by adjustments between the bed and the bench. Is the bench (top) level? Not sure.. didn't check; or at least didn't check with a machinist level... I did make sure it was sat solidly on the concrete and lucky for me (with a carpenter's level) didn't require shimming. I'm sure its not perfect in either case (level of the bed/lathe and bench). So far, its not effected my use of the machine..


Cheers.. Dennis

 

[Scar55]

I bought my hardinge afew years back. A buddy hooked me from a shop he was working in that upgraded. I paid $500 and it came with a decent amount of tooling. I picked up the mill a few months ago. It came with a bunch of tooling also.

 

[MushCreek]

I just picked up a Summit 11 X 32 in decent shape. Seems pretty good for a small lathe- it weighs a ton with an all cast base. I'm a toolmaker by trade, and plan to set up a small shop as time and money permit. Still looking for that great deal on a mill.

 

[Tempest 455]

South Bend. Use it for all kinds of stuff.

 

[600SL]

The rubber mounts may be designed to support the weight and, given the proper machine configuration they work fine. My concern is; on many manual lathes the bed is semi flexible and an elastic element like rubber feet can allow unwanted movement.

A machine with kinematic mounts like my 10EE could use these because the bed support is manufactured into the base. A small lathe without a full heavy cast base is not rigid enough to support itself in that fashion.

Specialty machinery is designed, built and, installed to meet a particular set of parameters. An OEM can design a machine with a frame that is as rigid or flexible as called for, the old line machinery companies generally suggest supporting lathes on hard surfaces.

While using the rubber feet is fine for many applications, I feel manual lathes particularly ones with low aspect ratio bed length to cross sections should be rigidly supported.

JMHO,

Steve

Absolutely

For me its not only level. My 11" Logan is mounted on legs that can spread and flex the bed. They work fine when restrained. But I wouldn't want to restrain on rubber. When I finally go to mount this thing I will be looking to zero that arc with a dial indicator.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

I bought my hardinge afew years back. A buddy hooked me from a shop he was working in that upgraded. I paid $500 and it came with a decent amount of tooling. I picked up the mill a few months ago. It came with a bunch of tooling also.

Nice lathe.. In high school we had a manual one without the feed mechanisms, etc. We used is mostly for finish operations and polishing..

 

[therickster]

My 1989 pbd 1336 jet lathe Craig's list purchase from older gentle mans shop. I still
Would like to find a mill for my shop.

 

[Nelson58]

Nice looking lathe. I like the heavy steel table you have it on.

Is your shop in the basement or a separate building? I noticed the composite board on the walls.

 

[Trey T]

Anyone in Houston can turn a few things for me? If so, PM me

 

[zmotorsports]

My 1989 pbd 1336 jet lathe Craig's list purchase from older gentle mans shop. I still
Would like to find a mill for my shop.

We have pretty much the same lathe at work, PBD1236. I have used it a LOT in the 26+ years I have worked here. Pretty descent lathe other that some of my co-workers don't treat it with respect and it has a few issues now.

Mike.

 

[therickster]

The shop is in my pole barn 1/2" osb walls.I used 2x6 24"OC between the poles with 6" rolled insulation.
The shop side is 17'x30' I'm in the process of finishing off the rest of the 30'x39' area. I was able to get
a 2 post car hoist a few months ago. It sure beats laying on the ground. I really wanted an American lathe
but they are hard to find around here.

 

[mikemechanic]

I have a Taig lathe I play around with. Not much but it is a good learning tool and have made some things I use around the garage.

 

[dcmus]

I have an generic 12x36, Shop Fox and by coincidence ended up with their 9 x 49 mill. At my skill level, grin, I'm highly satisfied.

 

[larry_g]

I have a couple of Sheldon lathes. One 10" and one 13". Both have the same spindle nose so interchangeability of chucks is possible. I find that I use the 13" most of the time as the mass of the machine makes it a smoother running machine.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Trey T]

^which is a bigger swing? I hope to have a metal lathe some day w/ a bigger garage like a 3-car garage.

 

[larry_g]

^which is a bigger swing? I hope to have a metal lathe some day w/ a bigger garage like a 3-car garage.

The green one is the larger 13" swing. Look closely at the depth (top to bottom) of the lathe bed. You will see that the 13" has substantially more to it making it the more stable of the two.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Ric in Richmond]

Shop my little brother works in has a "tiny" lathe.



Oh wait that is the small one.

This is the big one.

 

[Cyberbear]

My first lathe was a 1945 Craftsman 6" engine lathe with full tooling which I added to over the years, paid $100.00. Lathe #2 was a Southbend 16" I got for delivering a larger lathe to a lamp company who gave me their 1943 lathe for doing the job using my flatbed truck.I also have five various wood turning lathes from 6" to 20" swings, which by far are the most enjoyable for my interests.

 

[RiverDave]

This is my Mori that I have in my garage. Swings 17 over the ways and it is a gap bed.. I've never had to pull the gap though. Most the stuff I make is smaller then that.



Garage is kind of a mess right now so I will put up pics of the rest of the stuff later.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Steve from Socal]

Ric in Richmond,

How is that relevant to this thread? Not much utility with anything less than a gigawatt turbine shaft.

Steve

 

[RiverDave]

How come everyone else's pictures are massive, and my picture is this little tiny thing.. LOL.. I'm feeling a little underwhelmed.

RD

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Shop my little brother works in has a "tiny" lathe.

****image removed to save space

Oh wait that is the small one.

This is the big one.

****images removed to save space

Now.. on another thread there was a discussion about leaving the chuck key in (safety related). I'm wondering what sort of earthquake / Richter scale result would occur on these behemoths if that occurred......

 

[John in OH]

Shop my little brother works in has a "tiny" lathe.

Ya gotta love the American flag under the ALSTROM sign!!!

 

[Ric in Richmond]

GE is trying to buy them but the EU is freaking....so there is hope that it will be American owned soon.

 

[arielnh56]

I have a Shoptask 17-20 3-in-1 machine I bought new about 16 years ago, mainly for making motorcycle bits. I did a lot of research at the time as to which was the best 3-in-1 and it came out ahead then, and is CNC upgradable (which I never afforded). It is not the caliber of a "real" lathe, mill or drill (threading, for instance is a PITA), but for one-off this and that it has served me well.

Shoptask (now Shopmaster) claim that they originated the 3-in-1 concept and then the chinese ripped off their designs http://shopmasterusa.com/content/15-history-3-in-1-machine-cnc . They now only make a fairly large and high end machine. Enco, Smithy and Grizzly seem to have similar stuff. I'd be wary of buying any machine tool used, especially these cheaper-to-start-with units unless it is coming from someone you know looked after it. If they've messed up the ways or the lead screws its likely more expensive to fix that it is worth.
The 3-in-1 is optimal if you are tight on space. Mine is about 24" x 40".
For one-offs, with a bit of care, it's a great tool.

 

[zmotorsports]

I have a Shoptask 17-20 3-in-1 machine I bought new about 16 years ago, mainly for making motorcycle bits. I did a lot of research at the time as to which was the best 3-in-1 and it came out ahead then, and is CNC upgradable (which I never afforded). It is not the caliber of a "real" lathe, mill or drill (threading, for instance is a PITA), but for one-off this and that it has served me well.

Shoptask (now Shopmaster) claim that they originated the 3-in-1 concept and then the chinese ripped off their designs http://shopmasterusa.com/content/15-history-3-in-1-machine-cnc . They now only make a fairly large and high end machine. Enco, Smithy and Grizzly seem to have similar stuff. I'd be wary of buying any machine tool used, especially these cheaper-to-start-with units unless it is coming from someone you know looked after it. If they've messed up the ways or the lead screws its likely more expensive to fix that it is worth.
The 3-in-1 is optimal if you are tight on space. Mine is about 24" x 40".
For one-offs, with a bit of care, it's a great tool.

Sounds awfully familiar. I too purchased a 3-in-1 machine back in the late 90's to build one-off parts for motorcycles, sand rails, snowmobiles and all of our race/show toys. I too had the larger machine, a Smithy though, the 39" bed machine, and I agree that with some care and thinking a lot of great work can be done on a 3-in-1 machine.

Then one thing lead to another and I started doing more machining jobs for clients where I outgrew the combo machine and I needed to upgrade recently.

Mike.

 

[Nelson58]

Great lathe pics!

Keep em coming.

 

[peterwick]

I have 3 lathes, my favorite by far is this monster VDF. I found it for sale ($600) locally when looking for a 14x40. I ruined my trailers 7000 lb suspension, but it was worth it. I added the DRO, a taper attachment, and VFD 1 phase input 5 HP. It has metric and imperial threads up to 14 inch pitch - yup 14 inch pitch! Also has all pipe pitches. I think it is just post WWII, primo German engineering and manufacturing.

I have had an Atlas 12x36 since I was 17, I'm on my third one now! I also have a 12 x 48 Rockwell wood lathe from a school that shut down the shop.

I have made hundreds of parts, and even more repairs! Screwed up threads, to actual parts from scratch to save a machine. I also used it to twist iron square bar for railings I built!

I said I would never move it once I unloaded it from my trailer, but now I have a new shop out in the back. I need a crane to load it on the upgraded trailer (now 14K gooseneck). Hope my car lift will pick it up off the trailer!

 

[Thruxton]

I'd love to see some photos of your 1947 Myford lathe.

In 1946 my dad bought a new Myford-Drummond M-type lathe:

Too small for your use but I have a lot of fun with it- a 1950's era English piece - Myford Super 7 - shown in action making instrument bezels for my 1986 Porsche 928.
View media item 11559View media item 12681

I copied my old post from the first page of this thread in case you might want to see pics of another Myford.

 

[beakie]

Myfords...

bought this one just over a year ago.

met local guy who has refurb'd his 2, would do mine if I helped out.

before



after getting it home





never used a lathe before this, learned a bit while refurb'ing it, learning more now and then when I can.

 

[Nelson58]

Great rehab job. Wish I had someone local to walk me through my SB rehab.

 

[bill pedersen]

I've got a Sharp 13x40 lathe that I bought a few years ago and really like it.
View media item 52258

 

[zmotorsports]

I've got a Sharp 13x40 lathe that I bought a few years ago and really like it.
View media item 52258

That Sharp is nice. Sharp makes a great machine.

Mike.