What is the best bang for the buck lathe/milling machine?
I worked in a machine shop for a couple of summers when I was in high school and love fabricating stuff and want to get a lathe with-and milling machine just to mess around with and make some bits. I have learned that one of the most expensive mistakes you can make is starting with an under-sized, powered, whatever and then needing to upgrade.
That being said, what is the best bang for the buck lathe. If it is a combo unit, 2 in one or three in one even better. Something to make those parts we all love and need.
Thanks for your input!
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Thanks for the good info. Keep it comming. What are the big differences in the harbor freight and the shop master? What is the difference in price?
Thanks
check out this site. a lot of good info on the harbor freight 44142 3-in-1. It fits your budget range, is a decent sized machine and has a number of features not found on smaller units. r-8 mill head, separate lathe and mill motors, multiple power feeds, etc.
http://bambam.gmu.edu/shop/page33.html
This was my second choice if I had not gotten the Shopmaster
My price range is 1k to 2k possably 2500. The best machine for that price. Most projects would be small but would require milling as well as the lathe. Probably most things would be 2″ with one or two in the 12″ to 14″ size.
Can you find used machines out there or are they mostly beat to hell?
Thanks!
i spent a lot of time reading up on the 3-in-1s before I bought mine. Seems most are good lathes with a milling feature added. A major criteria will be the size of the milling projects you want to be able to do. many of the mill heads are mounted close to the spindle requiring removal of the lathe chuck for projects anywhere near the machine’s advertised capacity. The position and rigidity of the mill head is one of the main reasons I went with the Shopmaster. To get some good suggestions from others you may want to elaborate on your criteria a little more; ie space for tools, budget, size of expected projects.
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for that kind of money you can get two separate machines. The combos are a pita! And so very little very well. Suffer from lack of rigid, (very important in the mill), Won’t repeat index from drilling to milling, and take way too long to set up between different jobs 👿 . Not to mention when you need both types of machines on a job, several times in the project. Way too much trouble! Two lower cost machines do a better and easier to opperate between jobs. And will allow you to get a small square colum mill what will index your drilling and milling. A hell of a lot easier!
Mike