Lathe Dimentions Question

[wla421]

OK folks...Going to show my ignorance here...

What is the basic information about lathe dimentions?

9x18 6x10 4x8 (just examples) What exactly is that refering to?

I measured my little Rotwerk lathe to see and nothing really comes in mind..

Center of chuck to bedways? Overall Diameter of chuck OR part to be turned??

Length.......from end of chuck to as far out as the tailstock will go?

Reason......I am looking at replaceing my lathe, and this time, I would like to be better informed...

George

 

[Deanofid]

Hi George;

Since a great deal of folks on this board are in the US, you often see those measurements in inches.
Also, here, we measure a lathe by the largest diameter piece it will spin. The length is the distance
between the headstock center and tailstock center, in most cases. So, if the size of the lathe is
referred to as 9 x 18, it means the largest piece of metal it will spin is 9" in diameter, and the longest
piece it will hold between centers is 18".

Some countries measure the material capacity as the distance from the spindle center to the lathe ways.
In that case the same lathe called a 9 x 18 in the USA would be called a 4½ x 18 in other locations around
the globe.

Then, if it's a metric country, it would be converted to millimeters.

It can be confusing.

Dean

 

[ksouers]

Hello George.
The answer somewhat depends on where in the world you are standing.
In the US the first number is the largest DIAMETER you can turn over the bed, however in the UK the number is often the RADIUS you can turn over the bed, not the cross slide. In both countries the second number is the distance between centers, basically the distance between the spindle center and the tailstock center at the extreme end of the bed.

I don't know about other parts of the world, but think most follow the US example.

In almost all cases the numbers will not be exact and many cases not even honest. It depends on the manufacturer or seller, they may exaggerate numbers to make the machine seem bigger. Some others just go for the closest whole number, say call it a 7x12 when you can really turn maybe 7.25 or so. On many of the Chinese machines the length is often the full length of bed from the headstock, not the distance between centers, again to make it seem bigger than it really is.

The best thing to do is measure your current machine, then if you can get your hands on an example you want to buy measure it the same way and compare.

Edit: Looks like Dean got here first

 

[student123]

George,

When I started to wrestle with understanding lathes , I found:

http://www.lathes.co.uk

useful (although on a quick look I couldnt see a reference to a Rotwerk).


Mike

 

[Tin Falcon]

many sellers have a spec sheet or manual to download or look at. again may not be exact numbers.
Tin

 

[wla421]

Fella's,

Thanks for the answers...

Clears up a lot.

I am I guess lucky, I live near Wurzburg, Bavaria....and near me Bambug is a Optimum Distributor. I have a new catalog from them as well. So actually going and looking at them is not such a problem.

I have also been "kinda" looking at a Bernardo lathe.

Now.......

Does anyone know, of a medium sized lathe with automatic, long & cross feeds??

The ones that I have looked at, are quite large, and would be a awful bear to get to my basement....(as was my mill).

Thanks again for the info.

George

 

[cidrontmg]

Ceriani David 203 Precision Parallel Lathe, £2950.00 from ChesterUK, but of course Ceriani has German importers. Italian.
Wabeco has many models, but I think they don´t have auto cross feed (not sure). Prices from 3.271,20€ to 6.107,40€. German.
Myford Super 7, from £6803.25 to £10695.09. British.
All the above are "bench" lathes (although they can be had fitted to a stand). But in principle, they can be moved relatively easily (same as a grand piano, +/-).
Optimum/Quantum are Chinese, although built to German specs and quality control. Only the motors are German. Good machines all the same.

 

[wla421]

After a lot of looking and reading and comparing.... I think that I am going to go with the Bernardo.

Here's a link to the one that I am looking at, and it does have auto long and crossfeeds.

http://cgi.ebay.de/5033-Drehmaschin...tem&pt=Industriemaschinen&hash=item483a15db61

What is the collective opinion of this machine?

Thanks to all

George