Member postings for Liam Cook

Yeah they've been up a while which is never a good sign.

Decided against the Speed10 in the end, couldn't shake the feeling the diameter would come back n bite me in the backside. Cheers fellas for the help

Doug, could you give me some exampels of things you've made or things you've struggled with on the Speed 10?

Nick, Yes... unfortunately this is what I'm thinking, for example theres a Super 7 on ebay now (2 from the same chap) for 1150ono, granted, no tooling, no goodies, just a machine, but if I compare what a super 7 will do, with a speed 10... it's a big difference. If it was £600, I'd have just done it and not thought twice, but for 1250, theres quite a few options and nice as it is, I want to use it, the fact its a museum piece 9in terms of its finish) isn't a + point as it won't stay that way.

See my photos for more info

Just to add, there was one of these that sold last week for £600 in about the same condition

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boxford-lathe-csb-13-amp-plug-single-phase/254867792823?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

I guess my question is, for the money, could assume it would be 600 - 800 for the machine then whatever for tooling, would the Boxford be a better unit just because its a bit bigger...

decisions decisions

Thanks all for replies and guidance so far, really is appreciated.

I'll be honest, half the problem is I haven't got a clear idea what I'd like to make. I'd like to learn how to turn, understand whats what and make a few things, what those things are is tbc.

Rob, you've nailed my main concern, 3.25" is quite low. I can't see me needing longer than 18", but having a 6" maximum diameter... that might get limiting quite quickly, and whilst I could accept the odd part being farmed out, if thats every other part then its a lot of money. Again without a clear idea, it's hard to know.

Hey Pete, I don't know how to get it to display in this post. But if you click on my photos, you'll see it. Hope that helps

Say 10 - 20 cutting tools? Few centers, 2 steadies, Chuck, Calipers, Head, spare cross slide (by the looks of it), few tail end chucks, full set of gears.

Lathe itself is fully complete, so everything listed above is in addition to what you would expect to be fitted (if you see what i mean)

I'm loathe to ask the question, because its your typical "how longs a piece of string" type. But, I'm in a position where I'm not experienced enough to make an informed decision. So I'm going to ask, I know ultimately, only I can decide and the usual things that apply to buying anything second hand.

I've been offered a speed10 long bed (18", pretty much in new condition (Manufacturers grease still on some of the gears and tools from Myford in their original wrap, never used) with the machine showing the usual aged paintwork but no scratches dings. Would come with spare gears, steadies, 2 chucks, 3 tailstock heads (from the looks of it) and some tooling, possibly a spare head. How much? £1250, Is that a fair price?

Now, I ask because thats how much I had envisaged spending in total to get me going over time, and is more than some of the (often more worn, heavily used) 7s that I see and thats before I look at Boxfords, Graysons, Drummonds and others. I have no specific examples, for comparison but you know the general ebay offerings and their variety.

So I guess my question is, if it was your money, which way would you go? Will I regret this particular model for being too small or lacking a feature I'll wish I had within the next year or two of learning?

Cheers,

Liam

Thats a nifty wee thing. Watches n Clocks?

So far I've used to my 3D printer to make catapults, I've got a trebuchet to do this week, then a Curta Calculator (which is why I bought the printer). Good to see a practical use!

For what it's worth I'm an engineer, I design things for a living. I'm not mechanical but I have some thoughts.

1. Don't do it unless you really really know what you're doing and you have no other option.

2. For the cost... a bigger, more able crane can be had for not a lot less, please consider this

That crane, you have no idea why its rating is only 200kg, and you dont know the stress' going through each part of the frame, so you have no idea where it might fail which means you can't say you've beefed it up in the right areas. In short, you have no idea what the basis of safety is and it could fail unexpectedly. And this is before we starting thinking about fatigue, about peak load stress, about the fact its a mobile crane and dynamic stress.

I'd either buy a bigger one and be done with it, or build one from scratch, but in typical engineering fashion, it would be over designed to hell :D

Meant in humour, to stand out, a good title should be eye-catching to draw an audience in so my english teacher used to say. Don't take it to heart, there is nothing more than that meant by it, besides it's been (it is) a good discussion!

I'm encouraged by that JA, overwhelmingly it's the skill I'd like as much as the capability and I'd have a crack at making... well anything, unless it needs a mill Peter, SWMBO has supported 3D printers, a workshop build and blinked (only the once) at a lathe... a mill might be a bridge too far... For now :D.

So I'm now on the page that I need to make way for several lathes, not because I want more than 1 but because it seems they bred when you're not looking? Preferably quiet ones for the neighbours sakes (Though they're a good lot and it turns out my garage keeps most of the noise in, as I've brought it up a few times only to get puzzled looks).

Ironically the only complaints I've had off my neighbours was from the bloke across the road, the security light overlooking the drive was aimed too high. The other from the guy out the back as I was burning some wood which was a lot wetter (and hence smokier) than the stored dried stuff I'd started with, so fair enough.

Still awake Howard, just

Thats really interesting, . Especially about the rust my garage come shop is dry except for 2 small corners on the floor which suffer a little with damp, but I've a mini in there from the 70s which has sat for 5 years with no additional rust, despite all the bare metal so it's good enough (I hope). Nothing a bit of blue won't keep right with a light coat of oil, even WD40 isn't bad as long as its applied a few times a year.

When its my turn I think I'll get a slightly beaten up, second hand one, can't be doing with absolutely pristine things, makes me feel bad getting them dirty or dinging them! Like the satisfaction of fixing things as well, not absolute beasts of a job as they sap too much time for the reward, but changing bearings, cleaning back and painting, fixing small issues.

For reference, heres the ol shop, its changed a lot since here, electrics been run throughout and its a lot tidier, this was mid project running all the electrics in and building the worktop and shelves. Eventually a lathe will go where that toolbox is and I'll bring the worktop out another few hundred mil. It looks really narrow because its just over 5 meters long

Thanks guys, appreciate the answers. Seems some people have confused a little what I'm asking.

I'm interested in what lathe YOU got and WHY, I'm not asking you what lathe I should buy, thats a bit like asking how long a piece of string is.

To Jacks point, I guess that's what I'm asking for, your opinion. My experience is that you learn a lot more by asking people what they like, don't like and what they'd change than you do from any amount of reading (especially if you have no experience of the subject as it lacks context)

To answer some of the questions, for me really this is about learning how to use a lathe and having the capability to build things I might have struggled with in the past. I'm not adverse to fixing a machine should I buy one which is worn, and obviously there is no way to know how worn until it spins up and you can have a play n see what the back lash and all the rest is like. The risks you take right.

Like the advice Andy thank you , actually the opposite of what I was advised many years a go but I can see the logic in it, especially with a something like this.

I did look at the smaller units, my concern being the obvious, they are very small and for the money, by the time you've bought tooling and instruments, you're probably not far off a larger machine like a myford or boxford or some such. Total price difference won't be much different to some degree (I'm talking about a used £400 machine vs a used £800 machine based on what I see on ebay, happy to be corrected though)

Hey guys,

I've been longing after a lathe for a long time. Go back maybe 12 years at least but life has always had other plans, other, more immediate concerns, all the usual jazz. Finally got myself into a position whereby, I can throw some money (more money, always more!) at tools and I'm reaching the point where I've got 90% of the stuff I'd need to do most of what I do as a hobby. Restore cars, fix cars, make random bits for the house or whatever, after this is all specialist gear which I probably don't have any real reason to buy and am better off taking it to my friends body shop, or garage. All that said, the times come to look at getting a lathe, and its a hell of a lot more complicated and involved than I was expecting from a machines perspective. I'd thought the majority of the difference was in the tooling, but the more I look... well you already know that.
Unfortunately I don't have specific projects in mind, which has made reading and researching difficult as it is entirely without context at this point.

So what I was wondering was, what lathe(s) did you buy, and why? Why that particular model and what features do you find you use most often and wouldn't be without? And lastly, if you had any advice to get started, what would it be?

Cheers,

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