Metal Lathes...worth owning?

Is a metal lathe worth owning? I keep looking at old South Bends and Atlas's

i use my lathe 10 times more than my milling machine. i have an ENCO 10x40 i think...it was $800 used ten years ago. i dont think i could do a project without it.

look like this jet...(and its hot-linked bitches)

I teach high school metalwork, and I use the lathes and the welders the most. A mill is nice, but the few times I use it don't justify the cost.

I picked up a brand new lathe recently for $1000CDN. It's a 10/28, gear-driven head. It doesn't have the easy-to-change lead screw levers, but the few times I need a specific speed (like threading), I can change the freaking gears if need be.

Yeah, it's off-shore, but what isn't today?

Complete with all the tooling.

South Bends are fine, but many are getting old. I'd caution against buying one from a school district, they usually flog them because the can't or won't repair it anymore. Make sure if you buy used, you get all the tooling. Tooling gets expensive.

There's a reason I have my own - it won't get continually abused by kids.

I've got a 1937 South Bend 9C and it's great, I use it more than my mill-drill.

Be prepared to do some teardown and cleanup when you buy an old lathe, do some searching on the interweb for stuff to watch for when buying older machinery, it helps a lot.

Shawn

any thoughts on those mini lathes from hf?

barnca wrote: any thoughts on those mini lathes from hf?

One of my friends who runs a professional machine shop has one and has used it a lot.

SkinnyG, what are the specs on that rig and where do you get it for $1k w/ all the tooling and stand!?

I was oogling the Grizzly catalog and what you have there looks to be about an 11x26" gear head - maybe 1HP single phase... that is $1495 with 2 chuck, 2 dead centers, 4 way post & gears and no tooling or cabinet stand.

96DXCivic wrote:

barnca wrote: any thoughts on those mini lathes from hf?

One of my friends who runs a professional machine shop has one and has used it a lot.

Probably to hold the front door open

Well he doesn't use it to make parts that need to be exact.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: SkinnyG, what are the specs on that rig and where do you get it for $1k w/ all the tooling and stand!?

A local fellow who was selling machines decided to no longer sell machines, and I got one of the last ones he was unloading. An opportunity I could not say "no" to. Retail was $2200. I paid an extra $100 and got a 3-phase motor to go with it. Just need to get a VFD.

Definitely! I have a South Bend 9A with the quick change gear box and a 54" bed. Used fairly regularly. I also have a HF Mini Mill. Both are used equally, but get the lathe first. Mine was $400 on the stand with some tooling. You wold be amazed how many projects get easier/possible with machine tools.

If you buy used or Chinese be prepared to take the whole thing apart and do a through cleaning. Used machines are loaded with swarf and gooey old oil. Chinese machines are usually greased and probably have casting sand still stuck in places. The South Bend was so nasty when I got it I ended up taking it to the car wash and blasting it.

Go for it, everyone I know who has one (which personally is only 2 people) basically say that since theyve owned one, they couldnt imagine not having one. I want one too, but I plan on building my own.

Toyman01 wrote: If you buy used or Chinese be prepared to take the whole thing apart and do a through cleaning. Used machines are loaded with swarf and gooey old oil. Chinese machines are usually greased and probably have casting sand still stuck in places. The South Bend was so nasty when I got it I ended up taking it to the car wash and blasting it.

I was going to get one of the bigger Chinese lathes until I read this:

http://www.yarchive.net/metal/chinese_lathe.html

I just want to machine some parts for projects, not take on a separate project altogether!

I bought a Logan lathe, a 12 X 24 purchased about 12 years ago and have used it to on many projects. Some of which I would not have attempted without access to a lathe. Logan was made in Chicago where I live near and while they are now out of business there is a small outfit in northern Illinois that still sells replacement parts or will make what you need.

A lathe and a mig welder are the two things I miss most now that I don't have access to them.

I have found that the old lathes are way better then most of the new E36 M3 that has come out. We have a bunch of '50s lathes of various makes in our shop at school and they work amazing. On an unrelated note, I think the best deals as far as machines go is Kerney-Tucker mills.

Knurled wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: If you buy used or Chinese be prepared to take the whole thing apart and do a through cleaning. Used machines are loaded with swarf and gooey old oil. Chinese machines are usually greased and probably have casting sand still stuck in places. The South Bend was so nasty when I got it I ended up taking it to the car wash and blasting it.

I was going to get one of the bigger Chinese lathes until I read this: http://www.yarchive.net/metal/chinese_lathe.html I just want to machine some parts for projects, not take on a separate project altogether!

Ihat article was written 11 years ago. The new chinese stuff is much better than stuff from 10 years ago.

An engine lathe is the handiest tool you will ever get. I have a 6" Atlas-Clausing (Craftsman) and I have used it for everything from fixing the toilet to making Mercedes parts, not to mention the Locost.

SkinnyG, you scored big time there. I'd a given a grand in Cazunies for that in a minute.