All depending upon the size of componet realy, but... i would look for a good second hand Colchester Chipmater lathe, although they may be a little more than you are looking at spending, you will not be dissapointed if you get a half decent one, very versatile, very easy to use
HTH Tim
I run a small engineering company that creates prototypes, and the time has come to buy a lathe. I'm looking for something less than £500 which is going to last and can be new or second hand. And that is what worries me. Axminister sells lathes which look great for what I need, but they are imported from China so I'm not too sure about the quality of the build or the steel and that's why I need your help. I intend to create tapers, threads etc, so what lathes do you guys use and recommend for me?
Thanks for your input
's'funny you should say that! I'll be advertising a good Chipmaster in the next few weeks but it'll be more like £1500 than £500.
Dave S
what sort of condition?
I hadn't intended advertising it yet (or here) because we're having some building work done; everything is covered in dust sheets and the garage/workshop will be inaccessible for a couple of weeks more, but since you ask ... ;-)
I bought it about 18 months with the expectation that it would be my last lathe but recently stumbled over a Holbrook and the Chippie will have to go. A few bits of info:
- mounted on a unique bogey with jacking screws. When the jack screws are wound up the lathe can be moved easily by 2 people (on a hard floor), when the jack screws are down the lathe is rigid and can be levelled as normal
- currently wired for 240V 3-phase so that it can be run from a variable frequency inverter (not included but cheap to buy) from 240V single phase, if anyone wanted to re-wire it back to 415V 3-phase I still have the 415V contactor/starter.
- the variator was rebuilt by the previous owner
- 3HP motor (I think)
- speed range at 50Hz 35-3000RPM, with an inverter the range is anything you choose to use
- dual metric/imperial dials
- spindle bore 35mm
- 3 jaw chuck, 4 jaw chuck, faceplate
- fixed steady, travelling steady
- spindle nose bush (to decrease to MT3)
- tailstock spindle bore MT3
- taper turning attachment (needs a simple link bar)
- screwcutting gearbox 58 threads (2-120 TPI, 0.5-12mm) + more with change wheels
- 22 feeds (1-8 thou/rev longitudinal, 0.5-4 thou/rev cross)
- low voltage (anglepoise) light
- coolant pump and equipment (pump vanes may need fettling to improve flow rate)
- splashback
Dave S
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required