What brand US lathe to buy

You forgot to say where you're located. "What's out there" has everything to do with your geographical location, unless you happen to own Yellow Freight.

Grant

GMasterman wrote:

My location does not really matter because I am primaly asking about parts. I am in south Louisiana, though. Before I buy another old American lathe, I need to know that I can afford parts for it. Parts are so damned expensive for my Sheldon that I may have to junk it rather than repair. I priced the worm gear that feeds the carriage and rides on the feedscrew-over $400 and a 4 week delivery date. Not something I can make. For that reason I am considering a Grizley, Jet or something along that line instead of an American machine. Seems that most of the American iron is less than 36" centers, which I sometime need. My Sheldon has been a good lathe but it is nearing the point that I have to decide if it is worth the money to repair

OK, I misunderstood your question. I think *all* lathe parts are expensive. I have a Cincinnati 15x48" lathe on which everything works, but if anything breaks I'll be hosed. Cincinnati quotes prices like they were machining replacements one by one from solid diamond imported from Uranus.

There do seem to be a lot of South Bend parts around on ebay, though.

Grant

GMasterman wrote:

There are many south bend parts but I do wonder as to the condition of some of them. It is getting harder to find older machines that don't need work. The cost of a few key parts puts you near or at the cost of a new import. Even the little 9" South bend lathes are pricey for parts, and that is perhaps the most common lathe out there. I hate to say it but some of the better imports are looking good. I bought and sold a Takisawi that was a VERY nice machine but I am sure parts for that machine were very high.

I've had pretty good luck with Clausing tools. The 5900 series seem to have been made in pretty good quantity and date from somewhere in the 60's to perhaps the early 70's so they are not too old and Clausing still has at least some parts support. I believe that most (if not all) oif them had flame-hardened ways which tends to minimize wear there.

The 5914 seems to have been a popular model. It's a 12x36 lathe with variable speed, L-00 spindle, and came standard with a clutch & brake. The variable speed pulleys on these are problematic, however, and replacement of the motor pulley is very expensive. Catch the problem in time and you can give it new life with a $25 sleeve.

I have a 5914 and have been generally quite pleased with it for hobby work.

Go for a used Atlas in good (make that pristine) condition. They come up from time to time on eBay, and if you have need them repair parts are readily available.

I purchased a 12"x24" Atlas on eBay about a year ago, after considering an imported 9" Chinese product for some time. After a year, I am so very glad that I chose as I did.

The lathe went for a little over $1,200 on eBay from a well known seller outside of Chicago, and it took me another $200 or so to have it delivered to me in the Boston area, still, it's easily worth that cost to me. Since that time I've had no difficulty in purchasing a used milling adapter, steady rest, a 3AT collet set and drawbar, 4-jaw chuck, and other needed accessories.

The big trick is not to be in a hurry. I watched eBay listings for almost 2 years before bidding on a machine like this, and as fortune would have it, left less than $50 on the table in bidding. Machines like this come up perhaps only once or twice each year on eBay, so if you're in a hurry, the Chinese machines are your only choice. As for me, I'm patient and not wealthy. I can't afford to sink $900 in something that may turn out to be a boat anchor!

I just wanted to share this with you.

Harry C.

I have to admit that I recently had a heavy duty 14x40" import lathe, Taiwanese made, pass through my hands. It had a cast iron, *not* sheet metal base, and it weighed at least 3500 pounds. It was a nice machine. The guy who bought it is real happy. However, the company that bought it new paid like $18k for it about 10 years ago, it isn't one of the el cheapo models.

I sometimes think about the Nardini lathes made in Brazil. A guy I respect once told me they are real nice lathes.

You can always buy Myford, and pay for it ..

If I could get a clean big-bore 14x40" Taiwanese import turnkey setup from a reputable seller who used it himself, with tooling, *maybe*.

Grant

If you keep at it, you can also find pretty good deals on South Bends. It does take some searching to get something a bit nicer than the clapped-out wrecks and not so nice as the sweet fully-tooled units. I think Logans can be had in a similar fashion.

I'm in the middle of working up my South Bend 10L

which I got for < $500 on ebay. SB parts do seem to be available, though many will be used from other parted out lathes.

I recently visited a Grizzly tools showroom, and after fiddling around with their nice pretty lathes, I was glad I hadn't bought one. They have all sorts of snazzy-looking units, but I kept not getting warm-fuzzies as I played with them.

OTOH, I like the feeling of resurrecting a pile of junk, so I'm biased...

Gregm

I used to think I wanted an Atlas 12X36 until I did some work with one. Just too light and flexible to do any serious parting. I need the 36" length because I still intend on doing some more gunsmith work in the future and a lathe with less than 36" between centers just will not handle some barrels without using the chuck. My Sheldon at 1100# is just about the lightest lathe that I'd be happy with. Need at least 1 3/8" spindle bore, 1.5 would be better for the projects that I am into. Jet, Birmingham? Enco, Grizzley hall have somthing that fit my needs but am scard of the qaulity

Agreed.

And -- if you want a machine with step pulleys instead, there is the 5418 (which is what I have). Mine was made in 1957. It is possible to swap the spindle from a 5900 into it, to give it a L-00 spindle, instead of the 2-1/4x8 threaded spindle which it came with originally. I have done this, and am quite pleased with the result. (I did have to do a bit of tweaking on the collet drawbar -- making about a 1" extension for it.

Same for my 5814 -- especially since the spindle swap.

Clausing has most (but not all_ parts still in stock. Certainly the critical ones which might need to be replaced from wear.

Hmm ... the leadscrew is not listed in the available parts list from April 1998. Good thing that this one spent most of its life as a turret lathe (the UK contingent would call this one a "capstan lathe", but Clausing called it a turret lathe in accordance with US usage at the time.) The use as a turret lathe meant that most threading was done with Geometric die heads in the turret, not with the leadscrew, so only the key drive on the leadscrew was used -- mostly for cross-feed for parting off workpieces.

The bed on this one, also, was flame hardened, so it shows little wear.

Good Luck, DoN.

Nardini is good commercial grade stuff

Gunner

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there. - George Orwell

One point I missed on above post 5C!!!! Don't go smaller than a 5C collet, the atlas that uses 3c collets has many limits and the cost of collets is nuts. You can find a bucket full of 5C collets for dirt cheap. I have been looking to up grade my lathe and 5C is at the top of my list.

I've been shopping for a lathe for about six months (I'm in Maine if anyone wants to sell me something). One thing I've come to realize is that a turret lathe sounds like a pretty reasonable item. The headstock holes tend to be larger ( I use that a lot also), 2-2.5" on "small" turret lathes. I don't know about getting a 36" length, though. I haven't actually looked at one currently for sale as it weighs 3000 pounds, which would be a transport and unloading problem for me.

Steve Smith

GMasterman wrote:

A 12 x 36 might be a little less that what you might consider as acceptable in the weight category. My HF 12 x 36 without the stand is a little more than 900 lbs. This lathe is identical (or nearly so) to the Grizzly and Enco gearhead 12 x 36s. I realize that quality can vary from vendor to vendor and that even vendors like Jet sell lemons, but in spite of that you can still get a lot of lathe for your money with a Grizzly or similiar, IMO, especially for a HSM. One thing to be said for buying the more common models of lathes like the 12 x 36s and 13 x 40s is that parts are easy to come by and are available from multiple vendors. Of course this may not be true in 30 years, but then I doubt I will be using this lathe in 30 years.

One consideration for lathes built from the ground up as turret lathes is that they will not have a leadscrew and half-nuts for threading. All threading is expected to be done with die heads, such as those made by Geometric. Note -- I have nothing against Geometric heads, and use them in production runs, but they are *not* the choice for onesey-twosey threading -- especially if it is a non-standard diameter or pitch, such as the 4"-16 threads which I put on my Wireless ethernet circular waveguide antennas (built from 3.5" Schedule 40 aluminum pipe). That was easily single-pointed, but would not be practical with any die head which would fit the machine. (My largest OD thread die head is for a maximum of 1". I do have a couple of internal thread die heads which cut larger diameters.

I was lucky -- what I got had been shipped from the factory with a *bed* turret (mounts in place of the tailstock -- the UK would call it a "capstan" lathe), on a machine which had the full quick-change threading gearbox and leadscrew, and power cross and longitudinal feeds. It had spent its life in use as a turret machine, so the leadscrew had seen practically no wear. (Feeds are taken from a keyway machined the length of the leadscrew, not from the threads.) The machine even had a threading dial -- but it was in one of the drawers -- never mounted on the carriage, as far as I can tell.

Also -- there was very little wear on the flame hardened ways. The cross-feed leadscrew was so worn that it looked like a skip-thread V thread, not an Acme, it was so worn -- but it did not cost that much to replace it and the nut, and the 0.070" backlash dropped to practically none. That cross-feed had spent its life parting off pieces after the turret turned them from bar stock.

The spindle hole is 1-3/8 -- just right for 5C collets, and it came with the lever style collet closer.

I did have to find a replacement tailstock, as none came with the lathe.

I made a special table, just large enough to support the turret assembly and just the right height so the turret could be slide off the bed and onto the table -- fully loaded. I could (barely) pick up the turret empty. I could *not* lift it once it had a combination stock stop/center drill, a 1/2" Jacobs chuck, a T-head knurling tool, a box tool, and a 1" Geometric die head all mounted and set up for the next run. The tailstock, by comparison, is easy to lift off. Some projects want the tailstock, others want the turret. If you have a machine which was designed from the ground up as a turret machine, the turret will replace the saddle and cross-slide, and will derive power from the (now threadless) leadscrew. And removing it to put on a standard saddle, apron, and cross-slide will be a major project, so you will be unlikely to ever restore it to turret mode.

Just some considerations.

Good Luck, DoN.

i have a couple of old monarchs, and while you think parts are expensive for yours....they quoted me 800 for a crossfeed screw 15 years ago, oh and the nut has to match, 800 also. I think if you found one with a good flat bed and good screws, there is nothing that will break that you cannot make.

I am not a turning shop, but my old 12CK needed tlc when I bought it but nothing since. I bigger heavier machine is going to be tougher and less likely to break things.

I've had my motor generator 10EE [1942] for ~7 years and aside from a contact somewhere that sometimes makes it not spin as fast as it should, nothing has gone wrong. I would avoid the tube ones......machinery values has a 1979 with readout and new looking freq drive for 17 grand ...a bargain........

GMasterman wrote:

bigger is cheaper..........call bob at Risons?

I haven't made it to Rison's yet. Brentwood Machinery has some machines at pretty reasonable prices (not shown on the web page) until you realize just how worn the ways are. I got an excellent deal on my mill at Brothers Machinery, but when I went to look at lathes, all they had were worn beds for $2k, which seemed excessive (admittedly not as worn as Brentwood's). How does Rison's compare to Brentwood and Brothers?

Thanks, Steve

yourname wrote:

Thanks Don. I haven't actually been to look at a turret lathe, and didn't realize the lack of a lead screw in digging around the net.

Steve