What Lathe?

[Artie]

Guys, Ive had a very sad awakening. Up until now my lathe requirements have been handled very well by my 30 year old Japanese beasty. Its quite large and to be quite truthful I would have to go and measure the bed and swing if you asked.

I joined this forum out of mild curiousity, just interest in what you guys were doing (I mean its all mechanical right?) but my to date interest lay in full sized engineering and producing parts for my race car....

My how times change!

Im totally engrossed in whats going on here and in the willingness to show and share and assist.

I have scale plans for a paddle steamer that still operates here in Aus today (P.S. Pevensey out of Port Echuca). Its scaled about 1.5 meters (approx 5') and I was intending to power it electrically... poo to that!

Recently a gentleman displayed his twin cylinder build on this forum and I now have the plans for that particular engine.. gee it fits....

My (long winded) point is to do the work I intend doing.. my lathe is far too big for some of it....

What are you guys using? Whats good? Whats not? Bad stuff could be PM'ed if you dont wish to publically voice your opinion... bearing in mind Im quite experienced on larger stuff, but NIL experience on smaller units...

Thanks in advance and apologies if this issue has been aired in posts previously..

Artie

 

[Tin Falcon]

Slow down Artie who told you you need a smaller lathe???

I have a 9" South Bend with a 4 1/2 foot bed not a tiny lathe made a few of these with it.

George Lurhrs Makes incredible models, some incredibly small he has a very well equipped shop but i do not see any tiny lathes he has full sized machine tools.
look here at his shop photos.
http://www.limws.org/Thumbnail-folders/GeorgeLuhrs/GeorgeLuhrs.html
not that a sherline, taig unimat, or the like would not be a handy addition to ones shop it is not necessarily needed for model work.
Tin

 

[joe d]

Artie

My understanding of this is that you can do small stuff on a big lathe, but not the other way around... :big:

Presumably, with a decent range of collets you could do pretty much anything, you could even go to the extreme of holding a small chuck in the big chuck for fine work. (I come at this from the other extreme, I've got a Taig lathe, so I pretty quickly run out of room...)

Cheer, Joe

 

[rake60]

Artie that is a can of worms waiting to be opened.

What to hell, I'll open it...

It's based on your hobby budget.
A best high end choice would be a used South Bend or Myford 9 X 20.
For a good one you will be paying a good price.

If the hobby budget isn't a sky's the limit, a new Sieg 9 X 20 lathe fits
the bill perfectly. They do come with flaws that are easily corrected.

It's kind of a trade off in terms.

Rick

 

[zeeprogrammer]

I'm really new at this...and shouldn't comment at all...but my suspicion is that most people would tell you that you're good to go. So go. ;D

 

[vlmarshall]

I agree with Zeep-The-Beerless; you HAVE a lathe, go with it! ;D Some of us are stuck using lathes at work.

 

[Artie]

Tin and Joe, I appreciate that small stuff can be done on a large lathe, but to my way of thinking, small accurate stuff can be done easier on a smaller lathe.

Strangely I have no inclination to find a small mill. I guess its the same thing, so yes I am agreeing with you and therefore there is no urgency to find a smaller lathe and I will most probably persist with Nakjimo Imamoto as it is a nice piece of gear.

I suppose I hadnt thought of the fact that a lot of my tooling simply wont fit into the tool post of a smaller unit. These are the reasons I asked the question..

I think worms have every right to be out of their respective cans... I also appreciate that there is no right or wrong in this discussion... we all have our own opinions and for each and every one of us they are 'right'... for us..... Rick Myford is a name that comes up on here often and I am assuming its a British beast? Its not something i have encountered here in Aus but in truth I havent looked either....

Thanks guys..

 

[Tin Falcon]

Artie:
I do also have a little import 7 x 10. the late great Rudy Kouhoupt had a 9" South bend as well as sherline equipment. Seig makes all sizes from tiny to very large.
All lathes have there plus side and minuses. I have heard guys say how great or how much they dislike many different brands. Including southbend and monarch.
I am sure you will get various opinions and look back at other threads to see what you can find.
Somtimes an extra lathe is handy for a quick job and you do not have to break down a setup.
Tin

 

[1Kenny]

Hi Artie,

Here goes, I once had a lathe that had a 24" chuck and 6' center to center. I could not chuck or drill anything very small as when the jaws on the chuck were tight together there was a large space in the center. The drill chuck on the tail stock had the same problem. The fix was, I found a 4" chuck and put it in the big chuck. Got a small drill chuck and put it in the big drill chuck on the tail stock. Small parts were easy after that and it was a thrifty fix.

Kenny

 

[shred]

FWIW, I made this little Jenny Wren engine (1/8" bore live steam) with a 12" swing lathe and brazed carbide tooling. Unless you're talking several feet on the lathe chuck you should be ok to make little parts.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=5552.0

 

[doc1955]

Wow thanks for posting that link. Some of those machines brought back some memories.
Like the twin spindle Bridgeport tracer or the old burgmaster turret drill. I think the first machine I ever ran was a twin to that turret drill!
I loved the trip down memory lane!
And I agree you don't need a small lathe to do small parts just sharp tools and to have them set absolutely on spindle center line.
Thanks again for the link!

Slow down Artie who told you you need a smaller lathe???

I have a 9" South Bend with a 4 1/2 foot bed not a tiny lathe made a few of these with it.

George Lurhrs Makes incredible models, some incredibly small he has a very well equipped shop but i do not see any tiny lathes he has full sized machine tools.
look here at his shop photos.
http://www.limws.org/Thumbnail-folders/GeorgeLuhrs/GeorgeLuhrs.html
not that a sherline, taig unimat, or the like would not be a handy addition to ones shop it is not necessarily needed for model work.
Tin

 

[Shopguy]

Artie have a look at this link. Inspiration to us all.

www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/ahmed.htm

Regards

Ernie J