Enco Lathe on CL

[scottguehne]

Just looking to see what anybody has to say about this particular lathe.

ENCO 9"X20" Bench Lathe With Tooling and Cabinet Stand

4" 3-Jaw Chuck - 5" 4-Jaw Chuck - Steady Rest
Follow Rest - Metric Change Gears - 7" Faceplate
2 MT Dead Center - Treading Dial - Quick change tool post with adapters
110v house electric
E-mail for photos

Cash & Carry, Thanks

I don't have ANY experience with lathes, and I know just a little about them, but not much. I'm a believer that as far as chinease stuff goes, enco isn't that bad, maybe I'm wrong though. If anybody could, inform a bit on this particular lathe, and make possible alternative suggestions.
Thanks fellas.

Oh yeah, the guy is asking $650, but I don't think I'll give him that, assuming I would buy it at all. I am however very tempted.

 

[Mickey_D]

The 9x20 series lathe don't have the best reputation. They are pretty flexible and chatter with any serious kind of cut unless you really know what you are doing. In that price range you can find a decent Logan, South Bend, or even a decent but bigger import. That lathe is a 9x20 and weighs about 250 pounds, my 10x20 weighs about 3300, but it is a real lathe. Check out the archives over at homeshopmachinist.net or ask question or a dozen and you can get some pretty good advise and maybe even a lead on a good machine.

 

[A_Pmech]

Hi Scott,

I don't mean to be a killjoy, but I think you'd find a lathe like that very frustrating to operate. I have no experience with that machine, but from the photos alone I can tell it isn't very well built. Using a machine of that type is like trying to drive a car with loose steering. No matter how hard you try, you're all over the road!

As Mickey touched on, the golden rule of machine tools is rigidity. If the machine is not rigid it will not cut smoothly or produce accurate work. Rigidity comes with good design and LOTS of Cast Iron.

For an inexpensive lightweight machine, I would look at a Clausing 4900 series machine, as shown here:

http://www.lathes.co.uk/clausing/page4.html

The 4900 is simple and relatively accurate. They were designed as a school machine, so there are a lot of them out there. I have run one and found it to be most satisfactory within it's range. Parts are still available from Clausing.

Personally, I would avoid Chinese machine tools completely. Some will perform as-advertised. However, in most cases they're more troublesome, less accurate and not very enjoyable to operate as a consequence. Because of the current economy, there exists a massive glut of machine tools on the market. There's no sense in buying anything less than the best, because they're all cheap right now.

 

[scottguehne]

Hey thanks for the advice. I'm quickly rethinking the lathe. Although I was not set on it or anything. Thanks for the well written explanation of your opinions PMECH. I'll check out that Clausing. I did enjoy how you relate the use of a crappy machine to driving a car, I laughed a bit at that one.

 

[Stick Figure]

i lucked into an eMco lathe for a really good price, and it does quite a bit for what it is. I have heard that the eNco are not as good as the eMco stuff, but i've never used the eNco. As far as components it looks like it comes with a good amount of hardware.

what are you planning on doing with the lathe?

 

[FoMoCoPower]

FYI,i believe that there is a good USA-Made Enco and a later foreign made Enco. Pretty sure the later ones have a bad rep.

 

[oldtools]

Who make the best small to medium size lathe (and mill). I am also looking to get both.

 

[american lockpicker]

Is the Proxxon mini Lathe any good?

http://www.emachinetool.com/new/catalog/single.cfm?ProductID=717