Old Teacher Guy
New member
WTK (wanted to know about and/or buy) a good used metal lathe. Also advice on what to buy for a small shop that does mostly model making and some gun work.
Lathe search...knowledge too
- Thread starter Old Teacher Guy
- Start date
jimvannoy
Well-known member
Can't beat an old Craftsman/Atlas.
Sure you can with a hammer, a stick, a rock, or half a dozen other lathe manufactures I can think about in 2 seconds, and probably 10-12 if I try a little longer. The Atlas wasn't the biggest POS but it is not anywhere near the top of the heap. Oh yeah SB isn't in the best list either
Although I would take a SB before I would an Atlas
William, Smiling, after hurling the incidenary device on the hornet's nest, makes his rapid retreat....
rsanter
Well-known member
general purpose and gun work are not really the same thing.
what level of precision do toy want??
some of the old industrial ones are great for general shop use and will be cheap enough to buy. they will not be good enough for high precision work unless you are a top gun machinist.
I have an old pratt and whitney that was a great machine and is heavy duty. serves me well but has some wear in it that I have learned to compensate for in most projects. the cost to rebuild is far in excess of the machines worth once rebuilt
I also have a craftsman/atlas that has done good for me, but I would have to say that it is a good homeowner or low comercial grade machine (and I got mine with almost no use to it)
cost is equal to desired precision.
bob
what level of precision do toy want??
some of the old industrial ones are great for general shop use and will be cheap enough to buy. they will not be good enough for high precision work unless you are a top gun machinist.
I have an old pratt and whitney that was a great machine and is heavy duty. serves me well but has some wear in it that I have learned to compensate for in most projects. the cost to rebuild is far in excess of the machines worth once rebuilt
I also have a craftsman/atlas that has done good for me, but I would have to say that it is a good homeowner or low comercial grade machine (and I got mine with almost no use to it)
cost is equal to desired precision.
bob
Uncle Buck
Banned
I would look for one of the following brands (keeping in mind that the lowly Atlas in great condition will be a better buy than a clapped out South Bend or any other once upon a time clapped out quality machine) condition is everything in used machinery, assuming you can find a machine well tooled and in decent shape I would look for one of the following brands preferably equipped with quick change gears (admittedly a personal preference) also the more heavily tooled at the time of purchase the better.
1) South Bend (Usually the name recognition alone drives higher prices; in good shape a very desirable machine that you usually pay a bit more to get)
2) Clausing (A fine machine with a strong following, also well supported)
3) Monarch (must have plenty of room likely phase conversion and
basic tooling, in decent shape a real fine machine)
4) Logan/Montgomery Ward (A more substantial machine than the Atlas/Craftsman that is actually still supported by the son of the founder!)
5) Sheldon (A name not known to many younger guys but a quality older brand that generally does not fetch as much due to lack of name recognition.
6) LeBlond ( I can only speak to the fact that the name is well known and generally known as a quality machine)
7) Atlas/Craftsman (when found in pristine shape not nearly as bad as some would lead you to believe; but they are a considerably lighter machine than the others on my list. Still a decent machine if you are not ham fisted and do not push the machine beyond it's limitations. additionally if you have strong monetary limitations a good entry level machine that should hold it's value with an abundance of parts both new and used readily available. A real weakness to these machines is the pot metal gears)
Some of it depends on how patient you are, what you can find close enough to drag home, how much you can afford, how well tooled and above everything else is condition! I always suggest taking a night class as a refresher at the local vo-tech before buying, doing this will help you figure out exactly what you need such as swing, distance between centers, minimum size of the thru hole at the headstock that you can live with not to mention you will know at least one guy that might have more knowledge of what is clapped out and wearing a shiny ebay paint job and what is actually a high quality machine that is still in it's work clothes with paint chips, stains etc. and how to sort out the two that might actually go with you to look at a prospective purchase. I hope this gives you some good ideas. BTW, check out this link. http://www.lathes.co.uk/index.html
1) South Bend (Usually the name recognition alone drives higher prices; in good shape a very desirable machine that you usually pay a bit more to get)
2) Clausing (A fine machine with a strong following, also well supported)
3) Monarch (must have plenty of room likely phase conversion and
basic tooling, in decent shape a real fine machine)
4) Logan/Montgomery Ward (A more substantial machine than the Atlas/Craftsman that is actually still supported by the son of the founder!)
5) Sheldon (A name not known to many younger guys but a quality older brand that generally does not fetch as much due to lack of name recognition.
6) LeBlond ( I can only speak to the fact that the name is well known and generally known as a quality machine)
7) Atlas/Craftsman (when found in pristine shape not nearly as bad as some would lead you to believe; but they are a considerably lighter machine than the others on my list. Still a decent machine if you are not ham fisted and do not push the machine beyond it's limitations. additionally if you have strong monetary limitations a good entry level machine that should hold it's value with an abundance of parts both new and used readily available. A real weakness to these machines is the pot metal gears)
Some of it depends on how patient you are, what you can find close enough to drag home, how much you can afford, how well tooled and above everything else is condition! I always suggest taking a night class as a refresher at the local vo-tech before buying, doing this will help you figure out exactly what you need such as swing, distance between centers, minimum size of the thru hole at the headstock that you can live with not to mention you will know at least one guy that might have more knowledge of what is clapped out and wearing a shiny ebay paint job and what is actually a high quality machine that is still in it's work clothes with paint chips, stains etc. and how to sort out the two that might actually go with you to look at a prospective purchase. I hope this gives you some good ideas. BTW, check out this link. http://www.lathes.co.uk/index.html
Last edited:
Uncle Buck
Banned
bump.........
Uncle Buck
Banned
bump, gotta more input than what I gave!
Sack
Well-known member
You may want to request this thread get moved to the tool discussion forum as the classified section won't get your thread viewed nearly as much.
That said, I have a Clausing Colchester 13x36 in great shape with a 3 jaw, 4 jaw and collet chuck as well as plenty of other tooling for it here in NJ. I hate to get rid of it but I don't have enough time to use it so could use the space for things that would get more use.
That said, I have a Clausing Colchester 13x36 in great shape with a 3 jaw, 4 jaw and collet chuck as well as plenty of other tooling for it here in NJ. I hate to get rid of it but I don't have enough time to use it so could use the space for things that would get more use.
MXtras
Well-known member
What size lathe are we talking here? What's you budget?
I think that just as a good pair of shoes does not make one a faster runner, having a premium lathe does not make one sufficiently skilled to produce quality work. The operator has more to do with precision than the machine provided the machine is at least moderately true, straight and square.
I also think that the bed size makes a big difference in selecting a lathe. I did not care for the smaller LeBlond lathes (14X40) but their larger lathes are the cat's meow. For the smaller lathes, Voest-Alpine coould not be beat in my opinion.
Lagun makes a pretty decent machine, too but my favorite lathe is Voest.
Scott
I think that just as a good pair of shoes does not make one a faster runner, having a premium lathe does not make one sufficiently skilled to produce quality work. The operator has more to do with precision than the machine provided the machine is at least moderately true, straight and square.
I also think that the bed size makes a big difference in selecting a lathe. I did not care for the smaller LeBlond lathes (14X40) but their larger lathes are the cat's meow. For the smaller lathes, Voest-Alpine coould not be beat in my opinion.
Lagun makes a pretty decent machine, too but my favorite lathe is Voest.
Scott
Kevin54
MEMBER EMERITUS
I've always ran LeBlond and Clausings. Of all the Lathes the LeBlonds seem to be the ones that we have had the least problems with. I run one at work that is 20+ years old and other than just the typical preventive maintenance, this lathe has never had a problem. Every once in a while you will see a used LeBlond up for sale. A lot of machine shops are now going for CNC equipment so the manual machines can be picked up for a good price.
Kevin
Kevin
rsanter
Well-known member
while a goodmachine does not make you a better machinist, a good machinist can get better results from an old machine than a bad machinist can get from a new machine.
older well used lathes can have wear in the bed near the head of the machine as this portion gets used the most. if you have this 'dip' in the bed due to wear than when you do work on the machine you will have a hard time getting accurate work done when the carrage is in this area.
correcting this is very expensive to do although a good machinist can cheat a bit to remove some of this error.
like I said in an earlier post. 'how much precision do you want??'
bob
older well used lathes can have wear in the bed near the head of the machine as this portion gets used the most. if you have this 'dip' in the bed due to wear than when you do work on the machine you will have a hard time getting accurate work done when the carrage is in this area.
correcting this is very expensive to do although a good machinist can cheat a bit to remove some of this error.
like I said in an earlier post. 'how much precision do you want??'
bob
Vincet
Well-known member
Slim-Pickins'
Banned
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2008
- Messages
- 40
South Bend ... may not be "the best" but spare parts are plentiful and certainly easier to find.
brianpgriset
Well-known member
I've used three different lathes extensively so I can give you some input on those. I used an old South Bend, a LeBlond/Regal Servo-Shift, and a Cincinnati Hydra-Shift. The SB stinks! It only has 8 speeds and you have to move a belt and a set of gears to get to the higher speed set... a real pain. One important thing to consider is the speed range of the machine you get and what materials you'll be turning. Lots of the old Clausing/Colchester lathes only will go upto, say, 800rpm which is well below what you might want sometimes, although you can get around this.
Honestly, I'd say look out for either of the two models I mentioned. They both worked very well and are easy operate.
Honestly, I'd say look out for either of the two models I mentioned. They both worked very well and are easy operate.
greenghost
Member
Model making try sherline.com
Steinmetz
Well-known member
Unless it's the Atlas that had pot-metal gears and plastic gibs. Eccch.