Hi,
Still haven't bought my lathe to turn into a rose engine, but am about to.
There is on ebay a JET metal lathe. I always associated them with acceptable though not high-end wood lathes, and also other woodworking equipment. Not so much with metal, but then, I've just used the monarchs and clausings available on campus and am not acquainted with the greater market.
Are they fairly good? I need impeccable tolerances, no slop-- especially when I bring up the nerve to try a watch dial; but my cuts will be hair-deep and very slow, so I don't need a heavy or a heavy-duty machine.
Second part: how do you index a chuck on a metal lathe? Are there attachements that go between the chuck and the headstock spindle, so you can index it? I tried searching enco but wasn't finding the right thing, at least, though maybe they have it. What would it be called, if not a "lathe indexing head?" If nothing is available commercially, I could probably figure out something; but it would be convenient if they were already manufactured :-)
thanks! -Bernard Arnest