Newbie Help - Your thoughts on a lathe

[Effigy]

As I am Lathe-less at the moment, I'm making that my first priority.

I've had conflicting advice so far - some say 'Buy a good old British lathe - it will last you for years' others say 'Get one of the modern multi speed lathes'

My thoughts (and I'm pretty clueless, I have to admit) is that being a complete novice (and I mean complete novice - I had to look up 'lathe' in the dictionary to know how to spell it ), I wouldn't know a 'good old British lathe' from a pile of horse..... It could be a gem sitting there under all that gunk, but knowing how the real world works, it will probably be a cast iron money pit.

So I'm inclined to do what everyone else does - complain about the Chinese, then go buy one of their products.

As I understand it, practically all the lathes for sale here in the UK basically come from the Sieg factory or the Weis one. If that's the case then I might as well go for the deal-of-the-day and get the best offer going.

I'm steering towards a Warco WM180 lathe (details here: http://www.warco.co.uk/metal-lathes-metalworking-lathe-machine/15-wm-180-variable-speed-lathe.html )
It seems to come with a whole host of extras, most of which I haven't a clue as to their use, but it sure looks impressive

So, what do you guys who know what you are talking about think?

 

[deverett]

Frank

As you are in the UK, there will be a model engineering society not too far from you. Find one and go and visit them and ask the members what machines they use.

Questions you need to ask yourself are (among others): What is your budget for the machine? You will then spend possibly quite a bit more on tooling it and getting measuring equipment. What do you want to build? Bear in mind that once you become hooked, your aspirations may well be towards something larger and while small items can be made on a big lathe, big items cannot be turned on a small lathe. Space may also come into what size lathe you get. Kitchen table or whole garage space to fill?

Being in the UK, a large proportion of models is live steam orientated.

Any of the British box movers of Far Eastern machinery will be happy to take your money. These days, the imports are much better than they were just a few years ago. I don't have experience with them so hesitate to decry or praise them. If going for a second hand lathe, you would be well advised to have an experienced user with you, but there are bargains to be had out there if you know what you are looking for.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[enfieldbullet]

looks like a good little lathe.

your decision of buying new will probably save money. i buy old and it takes a lot of time to get them running.

buy new = make chips soon. and then you can always sell it and buy a new one if you're not pleased, or tweak it to death. i know i could probably make those chinese lathes impressive with some scraping and new bearings.

everyone has different needs for a lathe. if it cuts threads, which threads, size, precision are key points.

 

[rodw]

Having bought used and new, I would stick with a new lathe. In my experience, if you buy used, there is always something missing or something that needs a lot of work to get right. On my second lathe, I bought new and whilst I have spent a fair bit getting it the way I wanted, it was all on Improvements like QCTP, coolant, DRO, stand etc. Also, I am in the buy the biggest lathe you can fit in your shed/shop team. Some say buy the biggest you can afford, but in my case space limited this, getting up to a 13" latne is just amazing even if it is smaller than the one I really wanted!

As far as mills go, I bought a Seig SX3 and really could not recommend anything smaller. From experience, do not buy a combo lathe/mill or a mill with a round column. Dovetail columns rule!

As far as tooling, I have spent a lot more on mill tooling than lathe stuff. The best accessories I have built for my lathe have been a stand, carriage stop, a dial Indicator mount and a bearing mounted on a pice of hex rod to use as an alignment tool.

 

[lohring]

The advantage of a new lathe is that it should be ready to run and accurate out of the box. If not there are guarantees. The disadvantage is you need to buy a lot of tooling that will cost as much or more than the lathe itself. The advantage of a used machine is that it should come with a lot of tooling. Some will be beat up but it's a place to start. With used equipment you need to have a good idea of what to look for. See http://www.mermac.com/advicenew.html for some good advice.

I only buy used machinery. I have a Supermax (Bridgeport clone) mill, South Bend 9", and Monarch lathes. I have had very good luck so far, but the Monarch 10ee I just purchased had been rewired several times. As a result, the complex spindle drive operated erratically. Fortunately there's a lot of good advice available on the internet and the solution was simple. All machines were reasonably accurate with enough life left for hobby use. The tooling was exceptionally worth while. Be patient and check with other model engineers for advice and items they have for sale.

Lohring Miller