is this a decent lathe?
http://www.angelfire.com/ego/stevenmanzer/CraftsmanLathe.html
i was at gun shop today talkin to the boys there i mentioned i was looking to buy a metal lathe to start learning how to make shit for my airguns and such
the owners son said comeout back with me and on the bench was one very similar to this if not the same one
condition was very good he had a box of bit for it as well all kinds of tooling and stuff his dad got it at a home sale a few years ago and hadnt used it yet he was going to get me a price on it and let me know
so is it a decent starter lathe and how much would one go for used?
it looks to have around an 18 inch center to center length for turning and looked like around 4.5-5 inches from center of spindle to the working platform so we figured a 10×18 size
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Viewing 14 replies - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
As far as Chinise goes there are some good lathes out there BUT I dont think you will see 100 year old Chinise lathes still doing great work like the old American and English iron out there, they just arent as solid.
For us broke bastords like me I bought this one from Harbor Freight years ago and its still is working great and makes some nice cuts. The price has gone up alot since I bought it. I think with my discount coupon I paid around 380.00. You can have them ship it to the closest Harbor Freight and not have to pay shipping. Oh, and the machine is actually an 8 X 14 machine and all the gears and handles and junk are metal not plastic like they are in the pic.
http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-x-12-inch-precision-benchtop-lathe-44859.html
Its identical to the Lathemaster lathe of the same size but you get a few more parts with the Lathemaster. There are a bunch of reviews out there on the Lathemaster and they are all good. They say its built better than the 9X20 machines.
http://www.lathemaster.com/LATHEMASTER8x14Lathe.htm
If I had the space and money I would buy old Iron everytime.
crowpopper
I have been using a Atlas lathe for years with good results!
the lathe you pictured was made by Atlas for Sears, to determine size measure from center of spindle to the bed and the overall length of the bed end to end
(not between centers like they do now)
In my shop I have two Atlas lathes,a 10×24 and a 12×54 along with a Atlas drillpress, a Southbend shaper, a clausing 8520 vertical mill, a Gorton vertical mill (bridgeport on steriods) and last but not least an ATLAS horizontal mill
let me know if you have any questions about lathe I’ll try to help if I can
sawdustgiles
Oldgoat, you’d be surprised. I don’t remember the prices, but some guys were posting on the 9×20 list that they’d got some using Harbor Freight coupons and stuff and got the pricing down to $460? something like that. And this is for a brand new machine. Unbelievable. I still say that your best bet is in a used american machine, 1950’s or so vintage. The prices are actually more expensive the closer you get to a 12″ or 13″ swing. These are the machines everyone wants, small enough to fit in your garage and big enough for most hobby projects. But I’ve seen parts from 9×20 machines and boy, pretty damn good for a no frills machine that cost less than my tool post.
I have heard people with the smithy combo machines say they are good enough, but personally I think they are a waste of time. The only time I’d consider one is if I still lived in an apartment the size of a doghouse, which I used to. the drill press occupied half my kitchen at that time. But you will find that machine use means time. you spend much more time SETTING UP your work and calculating and measuring, than you do actually working using the machine. That means that unless space constraints absolutely prohibit you, ALWAYS, ALWAYS choose dedicated machines. It takes too damn long to break down one setup and go to the other. If you have a project that requires a milling op and then going back to the lathe to finish, you’re screwed. Some ops, you CAN’T break down until all the ops are done otherwise you can’t be assured of precise indexing back to the start point. I just had a problem like that, had to wait until tooling arrived before I could move the project off my mill because I didn’t want to do the setup again and risk being off a few thousands. I know good machinists who have a couple of each machine, just to get around this particular problem. buy dedicated machines, with all tooling, not just mills or lathes.
walt
Hey Walt.
Is it possible to get a Chinese lathe for around $500 that will turn out good work? I would use it for airgun parts. I know that the tooling would cost me more than $500.
What is your opinion of the lathe/mill combos like the Smithy?
Nothing wrong with a small hole in the headstock. Get a good steady rest and you’ll be fine, or you can work between centers. Takes longer to do certain things or requires setting up a little differently, but it’ll work if you teach yourself the basics. Lots of people are getting by with the 8 and 9×20 chinese lathes and doing great work. The atlas is a good machine and capable of good accuracy. Good luck with that.
walt
Nice lathe. Has taper timken bearing headstock so can run at higher rpm for longer with out burning a bearing like a south bend,I have had both. Also much cheaper to rebuild with flat ways. Parts available from Clausing.
The through hole on that lathe is listed at 25/32 (just a little over 3/4). That is a little small for making airgun stuff in my opinion. If you want to thread a new tube for a crosman 22xx series it won’t fit in the head and that will be a problem. If you want to turn down a 1″ pieces to be a mod for an airforce it won’t fit in the head and that could be a problem.
I have a PM1236 and it has an 1.5″ spindle bore. That, to this point, has been big enough to turn what ever I have wanted. It is also big enough to thread barrels while still on a rifle.
Martin D. White
Works for me!
lol
im waiting on the old man to give me a price yet
if i do get it
ur going to be a test subject as i dont have anything airforce anymore
Boy, it sure would be nice to walk around the corner and have you make something for me!!! 😀
Crow I just bought a South Bend lathe, I was talked into it by some of the older guys on a South Bend lathe forum I go on, the Craftsman and Atlas are of the same I beileve I am not sure on the South Bend they all have similar looks my South Bend looks very similar to the pictures you posted of the Craftsman Lathe. One thing like the others have and will post is tolling get all you can when you buy one, some come with allot and some come with not much at all, tolling is not cheap! I had tooling from when I worked as a machinist so that helped. Go on a search for the lathe or lathes you happen to look at there are always forums just like TAG and Yellow out there ask questions on the forums you will learn a bunch on a particular lathe that is what I did before I bought mine!
Here is my shop Crow and lathe and table I built for the lathe!
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16348&highlight=oring+top+hat+cushion
Hey Crowpopper,
I’d get someone who knows lathes to look at it with you. If there is excessive runout in the headstock bearings, the cost to fix will be more than the lathe is worth. Also, make SURE it has the quick-change gears like on the bottom left of the headstock. You will not want to be changing gears manually. It’s the small block with the holes on a diagonal and the handles sticking out.
I certainly wouldn’t buy any machine tool without seeing it run. Unless you get it for next to nothing.
But if it does run and cut, it would certainly get you started.
Be advised, lathe tools are very specific to their intended use and you will need to spend a bunch to get it well tooled.
Jim
it has the info writen below it 12×36 ……..
depends on the price if its worth it . they are not a great lathe from my experience ,its like a south bend but not, which they go for $600-1200with tools.
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Thanks Shadoh. I am not too concerned about it lasting 100 years. I don’t think you will see a 100 year old me turning out very many good parts! 😆