Hi guys. I havent been on this forum in some time, but i figured i might get some practical answers from some people on here who might have experience in this subject.

Im looking to buy a small metal lathe for my shop. Mostly for turning down small parts, making bushings, etc.

Id like to keep it under $1000.00.

the more capabilities the better really. It would be nice to having threading, knurling, etc. etc.

Now the real question i have is ... do i buy a newer China made machine, or a 50-60 year old american made machine.

The china machine would be newer and possibly have more features, but the older american machine(how we buy all our equipment... currently have bridgeport mill, doall bandsaws, old miller TIGs etc.) which would be a better build quality but, might not be as accurate do to its age and wear and could also be harder to get parts for depending on the brand.

Ive read about this a lot, and even thought about possibly financing a bigger machine, but i think right now id rather just drop some cash on a machine and make some chips debt free, haha.


Any input from any DIY machinists in here. Personal experience is of course prefered.


thanks in advance...

-Brian W.

 

Personally I'd look for an older machine that comes with scales for a DRO (even better if it comes with a DRO). My biggest complaint with the older lathes we have in our shop is the slack in the lead screws. We have one where if you're feeding in the cross slide and want to back up, it's 4.5 revolutions of the wheel before it starts backing up.

Chinese stuff is OK - YAM, Seiki, Okuma, etc... Again, with a good DRO, you can still do a lot with one of these. Just check the ways for wear / corrosion. Make sure the carriage and tail stock are solid and you can't wiggle them on the bed. Typically a clean machine has been well taken care of. I can't stand to see a good lathe buried in chips and caked up with oil and dirt.

You should be able to find something for $1K.

 

Stay away from the Chinese junk. Bearings and material are garbage. You will not get the accuracy or durability out of them. Plus getting parts for them will not be easy either. You are lucky to live up north. There are always older machines for sale up in that area. You can find good stuff if you look. I would raise your price to 2K. That will get you a much better machine. Depending on the machine you can get half nut replacements to remove the slack from the lead screw. A DRO isn't mandatory to make nice parts. People made many nice parts well before DROs were available. But they are nice and can speed up the productivity.

 

Haha Okum and Seiki are Japanese, not Chinese. BIG DIFFERENCE. Japanese make the best machine tools, chinese, well are much like chinese anything. Your best bet is to find an older american machine that has been well maintained. The newer chinese ones are worn out with daily use in just a few years.

 

thanks for the input guys, and please keep it coming.

Im looking at a used JET 9x20 (china) machine that has decent reviews. Id love to get a southbend, old atlas/ craftsman, or something of that nature really, but i just dont have the funds for a nice one. Perhaps financing is something i should look in to.

DRO is not needed per say, but from the little experience i have on my bridgeport id love to get a DRO setup on that machine. It would def. make life easier! And also i could adapt a DRO to any machine if i really wanted to.

 

I know this dont help but there is a guy that sales older industrial machinery here in dallas for good prices. If i remember right it is american built stuff. i asked about some lathes he said around 1200 dollars. he had about 15 of them they were all differnat sizes. If you are interested in buying from him i can get his number. Just send me a PM

 

Do not buy the jet 9x20 it has a plastic gear in the drive and really is not that great for turning metal.

 

wow, really? ive seen a lot of people using them to turn town metal as thats what they are "made" for.

 

I'd be interested in his name.

 

brian, dont skimp on the lathe, your probably gonna need to spend about 2500 to get anything worth while. look for an old hardinge or similar. imagine if your big do-all was a jet or craftsman.... same thing. not worth the headache later down the line, plus a nice lathe never loses value.

 

don't waste your time with a "hobby lathe" that you can plug into the wall and run. for a decent lathe you need to get something that is 3 phase power.

for what you want to do, it shouldn't really matter where it is built as long is it an industrial lathe. a lot of machine tools are build outside north america and are just as good as anything you can get that is built here and often much cheaper.

i have a small lathe that i got from a company that didn't need it any more for far less than what it is actually worth. it isn't perfect, but there was nothing wrong with it that i couldn't fix myself, it is just spending the time to fix the small little things that need fixing.

any industrial, or hobby lathe for that matter, should be able to cut threads. i've had both and i've cut threads on both. you can turn stuff down on an industrial lathe in a fraction of the time you can with a hobby lathe. for knurling, you will need a knurling tool. it isn't a function of the lathe, it is just a tool you use with a lathe.

if you find a lathe with a digital read out (DRO) for less than $1k you are either getting a killer deal, or a piece of junk. most quality digital readouts are atleast $1000 by themselves. i don't feel it is necassary to have on on a lathe as much as it is nice to have. they are far more useful to have on a mill imo.

if you can, wait for the right deal to come along on a used lathe. you need to know what you are looking for though, check the backlash on both feeds, make sure all gears are working and all other features work properly. you should check around for any local auctions. you can get some really good deals at auction. i've bought a number of items at auction for a fraction of what they are new.

 

Don't waste your time with that guy, 7tools7 is his ebay id. He's really proud of his stuff. He doesn't have anything worthwhile for $1200, that's for sure. I got my bridgeport from him and I paid too much for it considering the condition of the ways. I didn't know much about them when I bought it. I kept an eye on the lathes he has and they're all pretty high. I ran across a great deal on craigslist. Just have to keep an eye out.

 

Do what tony1 said and look on craigslist. I know I have seen some craigslist NJ over the last few weeks. I have bought plenty of stuff on craigslist and the main thing is know what you want and what your buying! The other thing is you usually don't get involved with having to ship as with ebay. If your set on something really small I have a guy in south jersey that has a small little combo type machine he wants 700 for. It is in really good condition. I think he still has it. I bought some other things from him. Big stuff though like an 8' brake and stuff. It all depends on what your needs are. I have 4 lathes 1530 and also a 1550 clausing coldchester a small turret lathe and a 06 haas CNC. Years ago I had an atlas that I bought new. I sold it to a friend that uses it still all the time. Not a clausing but it made thousands of parts. A logan is also a good old machine. The nice thing about the newer machines is many will do metric threads . Not the end of the world because oyu can usually find a std thread that is close enough that it will work. Worst case find something and post it for comment. 1000 isn't going to go real far in getting something really good.

 

There are lots of used lathes around.A new lathe in that price range is going to be very limited and gutless.Some friends have bought them and they take forever to do anything,even in aluminum.Get on an auction mailing list.If you have room,some of the bigger ones go for little more than scrap value.

 

The Problem is, you should've worked with a lathe before to know whats a good piece of equipment. I've bought a spanish lathe (almost new) for our company only to find out that it has no slipclutch for the feed..

Older lathes sometimes have awkward speed selection and gearboxes. Thats better on newer ones. A DRO is cool sometimes, you can retrofit one anytime with a cordless drill, a punch marker, a hammer and some time..

Marc

 

thanks guys. Ive decided to just wait it out. Trust me... im the Craigslist master. I have an old ATLAS 10x36 lined up for about $1000.00 that looks like it will do everything i need. Since they hold their value so well, i figure i can learn on it and just sell it for the same amount i have in it or a small loss down the road. IF not that Atlas, ill look for an older southbend, leblond, or hardinge lathe. Ill sell some more junk around here and try to up the budget too.

Tony, I got my bridgeport and it turns out the ways arent in the best of shape, but it doesnt effect any of the jobs we do really. I still think i got a good deal on it at $1400 loaded with tooling, rotary table, big vise, and some other extras. I did the same thing though and bought without knowing much about them.

we have a local place www.normanmachinetool.com that is literally like 3 miles away, but they are very pricey on the used stuff, i only get small parts from them. We are not limited by space here really at all, but i dont want a machine that is 20x80 when i really probably only need like a 10x36 tops. But we buy all old american machines. Like John was saying our 36" Do-All band saw is more than we need, and HUGE, but its so awesome and reliable and the 36" throat really opens up your capabilities.

As for having experience, this is how i learn. I learned how to TIG weld like 5-6 years ago by buying a TIG... i still have that machine today and cause its a big old miller, its still going strong and will prolly last as long as i do, haha... and its a early 70s machine!

So with all that said, ill probably stick to buying big ol' american machines.


What kinda lathes are you guys using and what are you paying for them?

 

I've got a Weisser Heilbronn Junior Lathe, very good machine with exceptional good feed rate selection and this Spanish Metosa made POS.. Maybe we'll get a CNC Lathe soon.

The Machines are used day to day in our production.

Marc

 

lol your insane, Okuma is a top of the line machine builder.

 

So a couple weeks ago we ended up getting a lathe. Its a 1954 Logan 9x24". It works pretty well i suppose. Has some play here and there and some wear, but for what we are going to use it for i think its going to be awesome! Havent had a chance to really make anything on it. It came with some tooling, knurling, holders, etc. which is nice.

here she is in her new home:

 

If you don't have one already get yourself a rotary table for the mill and us it to rough out the larger parts and then just finish them in the lathe. Used one of them back in the 70's and it is a good machine but limited power and hole thru the spindle. If you don't have to weld it allot of parts can be made using 12L14 which is a free machining steel and widely used in the machining industry. Can be gotten from mcmaster carr . Works well for many apps but I would not use it for any welded item. No tube inserts or the like. You will almost think your machining aluminum. It also chips very well instead of making ribbons which are very dangerous.

 

meh for under a grand you can get a decent import lathe. I can hold a thou or better with mine, just takes a bit of time. I love old machines, but i would rather work with my lathe then some old worn out sb, atlas, logan....etc...

 

i would say that has more to do with the type of insert being used, or how a tool is ground

 

the way i see it i have bought an old american machine that i know works and has SOME wear, but isnt "worn out" that i could always have the ways reground and rebuilt to brand new if i wanted in the future. I chose this over a new smaller capacity china lathe becuase i love the heavy old american made equipment... it is hands down the best in most all aspects(newer stuff is a different story).

Legendboy you talk about how youd rather work with your lathe over a sb, atlas, logan, etc. but dont say what kind of lathe you have. also i dont see why we couldnt hold a thousanth with the machine we just purchased either. But again, id love to hear some input or recommendations from someone with experience even though ive already made my purchase...


oh and we have a rotary table for our bridgeport. Again myself and the other fella here are very new to machining and between that and being busy we havent had much time to play with our newly acquired tools. all in due time though.....

 

Congrats B, shop has come a long way.

 

i bought a rockwell delta.i think its early 70s vintage.its a great running lath.turns very true.it has variable speed.back gear.lots of feed rates.its a 10x30 220 3 phase.i paid 2200 for it and it had been completely gone through buy the guy i bought it from.i have used jets and this lath is so much better.i very happy that i went old American iron.