What brand US lathe to buy

The Nardinni lathe is absolutely crap. Take it from a person that bought one new. I could never get an employee to run it. They would make any excuse they could think of. Sold it for about 1/3rd of what I paid for it and only kept it two years. Felt really guilty dumping it on the idiot that bought it. Problems!!! Yes!. The chip tray pulled out the back and there was little room in front. Every time you dropped a part or a tool into the chip tray you had to go around behind it to retrieve it. There was some kind of overload relay on it that prevented us from starting and stopping the lathe more then twice a minute. Made quick second ops really tedious waiting for the lathe to restart. (I had the factory out about 4 times on that subject.) There was nothing nice about this lathe other then the original price. I replaced it with a used Hardinge TFB for about 2/3rds the original price of the Nardini and have been very happy ever since. I also bet I can get more then my original investment on the Hardinge. Leigh @MarMachine

I just looked at an old wartime manual on the operation of turret lathes, and apparently *some* of them did have leadscrews, which were used to move the turret assembly at a constant speed, to make the work of the die head more precise. But not all of them will have leadscrews, so double-check before you buy. I apparently should have said "*may* not have a leadscrew". :-)

Good Luck, DoN.

Which one did you have Leigh? Ive seen at least three different models. Two of them are similar to the Victor 15", which I see occasionally around So Cal, and most of the users indicated they are good lathes.

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

I have a Brown & Sharpe #2 still sitting at a customers shop in So. Cal that has a lead screw.

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

The Clausing 5900 series also included step pulley drive models. I have a 5938 with step pulleys.

James