Purchasing a small lathe in Canada

(Sorry for the repost, my news server never carried the original message)

Hello all,

I'm looking into purchasing a small metal working lathe for hobby use. Something around 8 to 10" swing over bed by 15 to 20" between centres (seems like a good size for a small machine).

I can easily get my hands on a Craftex brand lathe distributed by BusyBee tools (anybody have an opinion on them?), but I'm having a hard time finding other retailers that offer similar sized and priced machines in Canada. Shipping from retailers in the US seems too expensive (not including customs).

Would anybody have any good retailers and or brands to recommend that are easily available in Canada?

Thanks very much! Jon

Where are you located? If in Vancouver try KMS Tools in Coquitlam, Sharpe Machine Tools in North Vancouver , Fraser Machinery in Surrey , Thomas Skinner & Sons in Richmond , OTP Machine Tools in Vancouver , Friesen Electric in Abbotsford or Buffalo Machinery in Burnaby and of course as you mentioned Busy Bee in Coquitlam.

Pete

Try getting a qoute from Overland freight , I have used them before and they were the best price and excellent service ....1 1/2 days from Calgary to Surrey for a 200# anvil the cost was $75 to my door last year.

Pete

Canada, eh? That's a nice little place. Are there any postal codes where you live?

Hey JonJon,

OK. Now I have to appologize for my smart lip, about the postal code. Sorry.

You don';t exactly live in the behive of the metalworking indusrty there, but you're only 3 hours or so to Toronto. And there is a pretty good group of hobby metalworkers up your way too. Give me a day or so to get you a contact, and then see what they suggest. Maybe something on the used market.

Take care.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario. ( N0P 1C0 ) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

And if you find one you like in the USA, get it shipped to a friend in a US border town nnear you, then bring it across yourself. Easy to do, and lots of reasons this is a good idea, and there is just PST/GST no duty, .

I have found it cheaper to buy Asian machines in Canada rather than the US. The American prices, by the time exchange is figured into it, comes to more than the Canadian cost for the same machine. I think the US must have higher import tariffs on Asian machinery than Canada does. Try KBC Tools in Windsor or Toronto. Their stuff isn't bad but the service has been poor in the past. Maybe they've fixed it up now.

Dan

Jon,

I bought the Craftex 10x18 lathe a couple years ago as my first lathe. It is not a bad machine but could do with some minor improvments in the change gear area. Also the documentation is not translated into English very well. They could also have been a bit more detailed in the documentation. Other than that, I'd sure recommend it as a first lathe, but if you've got lots of money... go with an American made lathe, ie: South Bend or equiv. In my humble opinion, there is just nothing better than South Bend :)

BK

: >(Sorry for the repost, my news server never carried the original : >message) : >

: >Hello all, : >

: > I'm looking into purchasing a small metal working lathe for hobby : >use. Something around 8 to 10" swing over bed by 15 to 20" between : >centres (seems like a good size for a small machine). : >

: > I can easily get my hands on a Craftex brand lathe distributed by : >BusyBee tools (anybody have an opinion on them?), but I'm having a hard : >time finding other retailers that offer similar sized and priced : >machines in Canada. : >

: >

: >Thanks very much! : >Jon

: Jon,

: I bought the Craftex 10x18 lathe a couple years ago as my first : lathe. It is not a bad machine but could do with some minor : improvments in the change gear area. Also the documentation is not : translated into English very well. : They could also have been a bit more detailed in the documentation. : Other than that, I'd sure recommend it as a first lathe, but if you've : got lots of money... go with an American made lathe, ie: South Bend or : equiv. : In my humble opinion, there is just nothing better than South Bend :)

: BK

Im rather fond of my 3 Hardinges.

Different tastes I suppose.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

is there any old factories near you or production facilities or how bout any auctions sometimes you can pick up older equipment that they just don't build anymore but is so heavy built it will literally last forever,a guy I was talking at a car show last year , we got on the subject of old equipment and he told me that he picked up a lathe 25 years ago at a military surplus auction an old lathe that was 20 years old then but said he can just about turn out all the parts that would need replacing on the lathe ahead of time and saved money and time when they are still good and get good measurements and he would make improvements where possible and the thing is he told me was he was there with a friend and wasn't planning on buying anything but anyway sometimes it is best to look around and take your time looking be patient and put the word out hey even advertise in a paper sometimes you get a good line that way and check your local sale papers and the free papers as well you wont believe what you can find in there and check out estate sales also and see what they have in the listings theres always a place to look and sometimes think about what kind of ppl uses that kind of machine might even put you on the right track too for something reasonable and of very good quality so good luck

Gunner I would love to get my hands on a hardinge roolroom lathe. I have spent time on them in several shops as well as the Taiwanese copy which was not too bad. I even got the Hardinge tour back in 85. It was a great factory tour and then a CNC programing course on site. I hope the rest of the town is in better shape than it was back then. In 85 Elmira NY had basically only two employers, Hardinge and a federal prison. We drove by a closed GE foundry, LaFrance firetruck factory and a Corning glass works. The only thing missing was the tumbleweeds rolling down main street :-( A buddy told me about a retired Prof at a local university that bought a new Hardinge and Bridgeport to play with in his golden years :-) I would have gone with a Deckel myself :-)

The C> >

I repair a lot of Feelers and Goodways (they both come from the same factory..the Chinese Red Dragoon Noodle and Machine Tool Collective)

and are not bad. Fit and finish is about 80% of the Hardinges they are copied from, though some materials used are inferior. Most Feelers have the feed clutches go out inside of 3 or 4 yrs of steady use. Or sooner.

Sharp and Brother badge the same lathes and specify a better finish. Still tend to slightly inferior materials in some places..but ..shrug.

Id not turn down any of them if the price was right. I was just blessed by (insert Deity of your choice) and managed to get mine for damned little..mostly trade outs in labor. Same with the big 15x48 Clausing 1501. The Gorton MasterMill was a basket case I rebuilt from the concrete up. Shrug

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

..... if you want an antique. Otherwise, there are lots of better machines available. A Colchester for example.

PDW

The South Bend name is not a holy Icon. In fact, its actually not a very good lathe all things considered. Peter is very correct..a Colchester is 10x the lathe.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

I own a Feeler and am quite attached to it. Are the clutch parts readily available if/when I need them? The only problem I've had with the lathe is loose connections to the feed motor commutator. A new motor was $600 - I spent a few hours under a microscope resoldering the connections and it's held up for a few years so far. I get the feeling that this may be a weak spot as well because when I called about the motor the guy knew almost immediately what the price was. Or maybe he just knew he could make 300% selling *any* little DC motor for $600 .

Most Feeler parts are readily available, though they may not be solely from Feeler. The machines tend to be rebadged with many company names so there are a considerable number of them out there that are identical in all but name plate.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner