Hi John,
I'm guessing i'm far too late but i've recently acquired a J&S 540 without coolant tank that i'm getting up and back into service again. I'd definitely be interested if you still have it.
All the best,
Nathan
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A very big thankyou for all of the feedback from everyone!, i didn't expect so much help. Taking Daves comments on-board i realise i've made this very difficult for everyone by not laying out my priorities for the lathe. I would like to use this post to reduce the importance of the d1-4 camlock or comprehensive screwcutting gearbox from my list and hopefully open up more options.
The camlock, which i understand limits me, was in part for safety, being new to the lathe i didnt want to spin a chuck off in reverse or similar and because i already have a 125mm 4 jaw independent and a 125mm magnetic chuck for my tool grinder. I liked the idea of being able to have quick changeover and move partially finished pieces between machines without too much fuss. I'm not very familiar with the other chuck mounting methods. If others can fulfill safety and acceptable speed of change requirements i'm open to them
The screwcutting gearbox. I have dies and use these at the moment. Firstly, is there a great difference in quality of a die-cut vs single point cut thread ? if there is then my priority will be for a better gearbox, if not then a gearbox can be almost unimportant, i will stock up on dies as i need them. As a further point i would place higher emphasis on versatility than speed for this, if there is a gearbox style that is very accomodating to making extra gears for increasing the threadcutting capabilities that would be preferred.
Spindle bore. Really i erred on the side of caution, being set for the life of the lathe. Considering i have a full set of er32 collets and they are well below 38mm i'll consider a smaller spindle bore if i can get to grips with workarounds, an er 40 set seems a waste for me and still doesent hit 38. So far i can consider a 'cat head'/spider setup supported with a fixed steady and four jaw chuck for face work on long bar stock. Part machining features and keeping the stock width as wide as possible to minimise deflection (robin renzetti showed an example of this recently) and being completely unfamiliar with 5c collets ive just discovered step collets, a quick look at arceuro seems to show the maximum capacity around 28mm). Just thse three techniques seem to obviate many instances of the need for a large through-bore but more examples to reassure me it isnt as important as i first felt would be great.
Weight-wise, a new or used machine delivered to me i could stretch to 500kg in weight but would prefer around 300. A used 500kg machine fetched/moved myself i think would be a bit daunting, mainly because i havent done it before, i have access to cheap van rental through a friend and own an import engine hoist but that is it currently.
The use of a DRO for an imperial machine (my inexperience) had completely passed me by, thankyou for mentioning it. If i can reduce the importance of the screwcutting gearbox or at least have good workarounds for my metric needs this opens up a lot of machines.
Most of the work i would like to do is also on the smaller side , mainly tooling for the machines (a lot for the tool and cutter grinder, model is brierley utg6 purchased used), Jigs for knifemaking, building a 2" by 72" beltgrinder including some of the wheels, a 24" by 24" router (i would really like to make the reduction belt pulleys for this amongst other bits) and finally model engines, which as a hobby i'm quite happy to stick to smaller projects with for a long time.
Finally, after tooling up my mill and partly tooling up the grinder i realise the costs involved, nevertheless i have a separate budget for that, this is why i put around 3k as if i find something used with lots of extras ill factor it in. Whilst the budget seems healthy i am in no way averse to going cheaper, in fact i prefer it because it increases the likelyhood of me tinkering and learning more about the machine if it needs work. I've got plenty of measuring gear currently. Thanks again for everyones input.
Nathan
ps, the way this is going you'll have collectively broken all of my wishlist down into nothing! the answers to these questions should hopefully clarify the most important lathe specs
Edited By Nathan Turner 1 on 08/08/2019 20:15:58
Edited By Nathan Turner 1 on 08/08/2019 20:28:20 |
Hi David, i had seen this and completely forgotten about it. It's on the heavy side but is in stock at least plus the gap bed could be useful for future use. With a dro vfd and 3 phase 240v motor it might come in a bit above my target price but it has a lot going for it. Does anyone on the forum have this model to share their experience ?
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Thanks Barrie the wabeco does look very good i think the price is just a bit too far out of my range. JasonB i've actually contacted him and he's sold it unfortunately but wasnt aware of how to remove the ad, i'm kicking myself for not seeing it quick enough so i'll haveto keep searching
Barrie ive found three Maximat V10P lathes on ebay just now, i'll haveto read up on how they compare to the 11. the most expensive actually looks in ok condition but is too far for me to visit without buying blind. There is one in Nottingham which i could see, they want £1200 for it, looks well used so i'm unsure but could be worth considering, thanks
Edited By Nathan Turner 1 on 06/08/2019 19:53:48 |
Thankyou for the replies. JasonB, it's one thing that puts me off it, i was hoping there was perhaps something like the emco maximat 11 that another company had made that i could search for used.
Thor, i think they seem to be pretty similar. I actually looked at the warco 280 as the 290 seems to be fairly pricey from them at the moment but i'd like the camlock. What kind of work have you mainly done with it ?
old mart, i forgot to add a DRO to the list, i wouldnt be without one on my gh universal mill from warco. I'll probably fit my own as the extra markup for prefitting seems to be quite high and it was fairly straightforward on the mill
Edited By Nathan Turner 1 on 06/08/2019 18:55:34 |
Hello everyone i'm currently searching for my first lathe, for a variety of work, some stationary engines, steel tooling for the shop and some smaller mechanical work. I already have a milling machine, tool and cutter grinder plus some other bits and pieces that would make me semi-comfortable to buy used and repair things. The space i have available is roughly 170cm L x 80cm W. My wishlist currently is:
Camlock chuck
metric
fairly complete threadcutting gearbox
around 300kg max (can go higher this is mainly incase i want to sell or move the lathe and not restrict potential buyers)
good size spindle bore, perhaps 38mm
10x20 inch capacity minimum, the swing is more important to me
ideally quiet running (am quite happy to fit vfd and motor but if theres a model already with it then that's a plus)
would like to spend around £3k at most but would spend more if there are much better alternatives out there.
If i look at new machines that fit the bill i can only see the chester crusader and warco gh 1236 which are pretty big for me (warco have sold all the next batch of 1230) and emvio engineering has the eml-290 which has the inverter and d1-4 taper at a minimum of £2.2k.
With used machines i'm really not knowledgeable but the Emco maximat super 11 cd seems to fit the bill perfectly and then i've not seen much else, ideas ?
thanks in advance for any replies
Edited By Nathan Turner 1 on 06/08/2019 17:46:56 |
Brilliant thanks for the recommendations, i'm waiting for the lathe i want to either come into stock or something similar so i'll be ordering some as soon as it arrives.
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I've purchased a few items from them, they've all arrived fairly quickly and i've been happy with the quality. I've seen a lot of posts that are really informative and helpful from Ketan which is a big plus in my book compared to the lack of response i tend to get from some of the more industry focused retailers.
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I have a six inch rough Alu disc that i would like to face off and use as backing plate for a gem faceters plate which is quite flat, i'd like a nice finish so any recommendations would be brilliant, thanks in advance
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Hello all
i'm Nathan from Mansfield. I'm slowly putting together a workshop (no Lathe yet, looking for one) and would love any suggestions for projects to start me off when ive acquired one. I'm quite interested in hit and miss engines or similar, i have little experience in machining so some nice easy starter projects to get me going would be brilliant.
I did see an emco maximat super 11 in the sales section but that's the general size of lathe i'm looking for to get me started building, ideally with a camlock but they don't seem common at the smaller end of Lathe but i'm new so that could be completely wrong.
Looking forward to chatting, getting to pick peoples brains and learn!
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