gonna buy a lathe

[akajun]

here ya go, In Sulphur, just accross the bay.

http://batonrouge.craigslist.org/tls/2030273306.html

[PatMarlin]

Ther ya go Danny.

$53,000 for that Supermax is a bit steep, specially with Centriod. Ick.

I've got $1800 in mine with a Fagor REAL CNC control. Fully operational now, just got to frame a room in for it...

[skimmerhead]

Ther ya go Danny.

$53,000 for that Supermax is a bit steep, specially with Centriod. Ick.

I've got $1800 in mine with a Fagor REAL CNC control. Fully operational now, just got to frame a room in for it...

no problem! i won the lottery!!!!! i will donate a large portion of the loot to my friend's. i'm trying to remember who they are as i'm suffering from can't remember _ _ _ t syndrome. the only one i can remember right now is snoop, payment will be made accordingly. thank you!

skimmerhead

[PatMarlin]

Snoop has a PayPal account as well.

[skimmerhead]

Snoop has a PayPal account as well.

could you please explain to me how to send dog bisquits thru pay pal. snoop's friend,

skimmerhead

[deltaenterprizes]

Catch me on the right day and I will sell you my mill and lathe and all of the tooling to go with them for a song!

[PatMarlin]

Yea- and if you come over today and get here in the next hour you can have my Hardinge CNC Danny. And then you can bring Snoop's bisquits.

I've been chasing what I've thought is a machine problem the past 2 days, and I think all it is is a collet slipping...

[deltaenterprizes]

I have had days like that too!

[skimmerhead]

Catch me on the right day and I will sell you my mill and lathe and all of the tooling to go with them for a song!

CAN'T SING


skimmerhead

[skimmerhead]

Yea- and if you come over today and get here in the next hour you can have my Hardinge CNC Danny. And then you can bring Snoop's bisquits.

I've been chasing what I've thought is a machine problem the past 2 days, and I think all it is is a collet slipping...

keep the cnc, i'll settle for snoop

skimmerhead

[akajun]

http://batonrouge.craigslist.org/tls/2041562827.html

In Denham Springs, its big though, weighs about 8-9000. I emailed the guy, he is retiring from machine business. Already sold his smaller stuff, but is listing a lot of indicators, measuring, workholding items.

[skimmerhead]

http://batonrouge.craigslist.org/tls/2041562827.html

In Denham Springs, its big though, weighs about 8-9000. I emailed the guy, he is retiring from machine business. Already sold his smaller stuff, but is listing a lot of indicators, measuring, workholding items.

thanks for the tip. i will check it out. i think i'm going to spend my money on MADE IN THE USA! i'm tired of everything you want to buy these days is made in CHINA. i'd rather restore an old usa than play with MADE IN CHINA! i'll get one, been doing a lot of reasearch, and a lot of studying, just not in a hurray. when i find it i'll know it's the one. it's kinda like when i met my wife i knew she was the one, man she sure was lucky to get me!!!

skimmerhead

[JIMinPHX]

This is a subject that could easily cause me to fill about 5 pages, but I'll try to keep it short & sweet.

The only real way to know if a low priced machine tool is a good one or not is to take a cut with it & see what you get.

If you spend big money on a high end machine, you should get something very nice. If you spend low end money, you really need to know what to look for & I can't describe all that in a few paragraphs. The mid priced machines (your price range) can also be good or bad. It depends on which one you get.

I can't even recommend a certain model number because the quality of each individual machine sometimes varies. This is especially true of the Chinese stuff. Harbor Freight may list a single part number for a 10 x 30" lathe, but if you go to 10 different harbor Freight stores & look at 10 different examples of said lathe, you will probably see at least a few different variants. This is because of the way that things are sometimes done in China. Orders for production goods are often jobbed out to several different small shops & then all the different products are grouped together as a single export lot. Some are good quality. some are not. Good luck on spare parts.

In general, the Chinese stuff has gotten better in the last several years. Some of it is actually pretty good now, but you need to know how to spot the good ones or else you are playing Russian Roulette.

The American, English, German, Spanish, Japanese & Swedish machines tend to be of very good quality. Unfortunately, if you are buying a used machine, you may be getting one that is worn out or damaged. Even the best machines can get worn out &/or damaged. Hard chrome ways are pretty hard to wear out, but even they can get ruined if you run a bunch of abrasive material (like cast iron) on them. You can do some farmer's tests, like pulling on the tables, cross slides & handles to feel for wear, but that test is far from conclusive & often only indicated an improperly adjusted gibb. Again, you really need to take a cut or have a knowledgeable person look at it for you.

A general rule of thumb when looking at used lathes is to start by looking at the head stock bearing & through hole. If they are big in diameter, then you can probably take a fairly heavy cut & still get good finish & size as long as nothing is worn out or damaged. If you are looking at a very small spindle bearing, like on a 1920ish 12 x 36 South Bend, then just the added weight of a modern 8" adjust-tru chuck with removable top jaws may make it chatter. There may be a reason that machine only has a little 6" solid-jaw plain-back chuck on it. The seller may or may not know that.

I would guess that the safest thing for you to go after in your price range would be a Victor, a Jet or an unknown brand name machine from McMaster Carr. Better deals can probably be had on the used market, but you need someone to sort it out for you or else you can get burned badly.

I may be moving a couple thousand miles in the next few months, & if I do, I will probably be selling the 10 x 24 lathe & short bed Bridgeport that I have here for reasonable money. Unfortunately, the shipping charges from Phoenix to Cajun Country would probably double the cost to you & that's not such a good deal anymore. Machine tools generally ship as class 65 freight & that normally ain't cheap. That's why I would sell off what I have here & then buy again locally after I move.

My best advice is for you to find an old machinist that lives near you & see if you can get him to come look at used machines with you. The money that you may spend on beer &/or whiskey for that man will probably be a cheap investment in the long run.

You may find more useful information on the practical machinist website.

[JIMinPHX]

Oh yea,
what ever you spend on a lathe, keep some money aside...
You're going to need TOOLING, & that adds up quick. You always need some little tool that you don't have. The standard turn, face & bore tools are never enough by themselves.

[Dean D.]

Good for you Skimmerhead! I sure wish more people had the "Buy American" attitude, our country wouldn't be in the mess it's in now if they had.

[PatMarlin]

I chased my tail 3 days for nothing but a slipping collet on my CNC..

Lordy I feel like an idiot. I checked for a broken or slipping encoder. I checked for backlash in the gibs and slipping ballscrew. I checked contacts and the CNC program over and over again.

Well at least I know my machines in solid shape.

It was a warn Hardinge collet, that would slip only when my back was turned. Put a new $8 Chinese collet in and it's rock solid and back to work ...


PS.... don't waste your money on Lyndex 5C collets. They are junk.

[skimmerhead]

Good for you Skimmerhead! I sure wish more people had the "Buy American" attitude, our country wouldn't be in the mess it's in now if they had.

i could go into a long rant about this, but that would only get my blood pressure up. people in this country are strugeling in this econemy and i feel that everytime i buy something made in another country i'm hurting this country. haveing gone through the destruction of the fishing industry by imports and the reameing we got from our uncle, the wounds will never heal. i buy imported products, only if i can't find an american one. unfortunetly too often that is not the case. just think about this, lead is imported from china! too bad it's in the toy's our children play with. i'm gonna stop now and go in my barn and play with my MADE IN AMERICA toys.

skimmerhead

[JIMinPHX]

I probably should have asked this before...
What do you think you will want to cut on the lathe?

Do you want it for doing rifle barrel work? Do you want to make parts from scratch? If so, how big? Do you want to be able to turn brake rotors (which are tougher to do a good job on than a lot of people realize)? Do you just want to have it to fool around with & learn about lathe work? Do you want something super precise like a Hardinge or Potter tool room lathe, or is holding .0005" good enough for most of the work you plan to do? Do you want to be able to turn things that are longer than the bed of the machine? Do you want to do threading? Do you want to cut tapers? Do you want to do repetitive work, where you make 100 or more copies of the exact same thing? Do you want to be able to cut complex curves? There are different tools with different price tags for different jobs.

[PatMarlin]

Danny wants to turn alligators....

[hickstick_10]

Good for you skimmerhead.

A wise choice for a wise man, best of luck on your toy search