Should you really get the biggest lathe possible?

I would dearly like a bigger lathe, and a smaller one, and a miller and ... I have a 8" dia lathe, bought new and it is 98% perfect for my needs. I intended to start model making on retirement and am just about there. The first job I did on my new lathe was the repair of our old water pump, far too big for the lathe so drilled and tapped my new and pristine cross slide, then bored and sleeved, all worked well. I t was only afterwards that I thought about having to return it, but have had no problems and learnt a fair bit about bodging.

HI Gordon,

well I had a Myford Super 7, then bought a square head Student was very happy with both...wish I'd kept the 7....

but it had to go.....

when I get my next worshop I'll have something similar again but this time I'll hide it under a cloth.....hahaha....

my good lady is brill. but as u only get one birthday per year and I have to wait 5 years or so, because I've had all my prezy's.........lets c what santa brings......

I dont' do to much small stuff but a 7 would be good to have around......

just need another Wed, and Thur's. in the week, oh and some more money.........hahaha......

regards Frank

I've got the Clarke cl500m machining centre. works perfectly for my needs. Doing some mods but that is par for the course.

Cost and the electricity it uses are also concerns that must be balanced against large size. I would say choose a lathe you think will do the jobs you're anticipating and then actually buy the next biggest up, not necessarily the biggest. Motor power is probably more important than the overall size.

Get one of these! and a bigger shed.

Mike

Father Christmas would have a job getting that in his sack!!!!!

Sadly nothing engineering wise for me this Christmas, apparently I have treated myself too much this year, I think the last straw was ordering a 27inch iMac last week ( bye bye Windows.....) Oh! Well, can't have everything....

Russell.

The problem with a lathe that size is if you make scrapper you will not be popular ,and it takes something bigger than a 3 phase converter!! plus more concrete than your house is worth. Seriously the size of lathe just depends on your needs and facilities, For model making say up to 5 inch gauge loco or 1.5 inch traction engine a 3.5 inch lathe is just adequate,If starting new I would go for a Boxford as the spindle bore takes 3/4 diameter ,a myford 7 or S7 only just clears 9/16ins. For larger models or say a bit of motor cycle restoration a gap bed Colchester student or master is ideal with 1.625 in spindle bore ,though milling would be difficult, though I found that the regular short bed student is a bit crowded and the tailstock gets in the way,the 40 inch long beds are far better,always go for a gap bed Colchester,The later masters are better than the student as they have forward and revers clutches which makes metric screwcutting and tapping easy, Go too big and it can be hard work,pushing the tailstock or changing 12 inch chucks gets difficult on a Colchester triumph when you have been drawing your pension foe a few years

"Just" is a little close for some 5" loco's as some have driving wheels that are 7" diameter try holding those in a 4 jaw chuck as you have to allow for the jaws, could hold them on a face plate but a lot of messing about. The same is true of some 1.5" traction engines as the flywheels can creep close to 7" never mind the wheels. Suppose you could always farm out the larger parts but where is the fun in that.

Again it depends on what you intend to make, it is easier if you have a larger lathe if at a later date you decide to build a bigger loco or traction engine.

Bob

Hello all, a friend of mine once remarked to me about buying things, who said, " ask youself 2 things , do you want it and can you afford it ". If the answers yes.......... As long as youve got room of course .

Ive got a big lathe that I admit I dont use as much as my smaller one, but I get pleasure from just owning and looking after the thing. I even get pleasure from being near my equipment, which I tnink is what its all about.

What really does piss me off looking at the lathes is what lovely machinery this country used to turn out, now we only make rules and regulations. Duty first, not safety first. Rant over.

Absolutely right Roger, I will leave it at that, or I will start to rant too!

Phil

I am a fan of using the size machine most appropriate for the size of the work. Sure you can do stuff on larger machines, but if you need to change chucks etc on the big stuff then it does not become viable time wise.

I made a Cuemaking lathe, and it has been alot more used than I thought it would be for working on small diameter stuff, but quite long.It has a48 inch bed and the headstock is ER40 with a through hole of 30.5mm. I have an adapter that then allows for the 3jaw or 4jaw Taig chucks with the 1-9/16 X 32TPI thread. Lately I have been making cue parts with it, but have made parts for tuned exhaust pipes and even did a work job once of squaring up the ends of some 400 mm long or so shafts between the two steady rests. All the accessories are quite light and easy to work with and change around. With care you can turn something to about 0.01mm in diameter and about 0.01 on length with great care. If I need better than that, I use my Super 7. A lot of things I hold between the 2 steady rests, then drive it with a drive dog, and then can bore and drill out the inside with ease, knowing that the work piece is in a relaxed unstressed state. The large steady uses a single bearing with a 68OD and 45 ID. Down side is it has no thread cutting capability.

Neil

Excellent points, Neil

I think there should be a market [*] for hobbyist lathes that are small in one dimension, but large in another: Your cue-turning lathe being one extreme, and a faceplate lathe the opposite.

Many of us do not have the luxury of space for a large & heavy industrial machine; but could accommodate two small units ... or some contraption that could morph from one to the other.

Small cuts on long, or large diameter, components are a common requirement ... increasingly so, given the ready availability of laser-cut blanks ... so do we really need a machine that is big in every dimension?

MichaelG.

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[*] ... I use the term loosely; there is probably not a commercial market.

Back in 1987/8 went to an auction at the Railways Workshops in Christchurch, one bloke got a nice wee lathe, a wheel turning lathe weighing about 20 tons, his comment after getting it for $NZ 800, "my wife's going to kill me".

There were some carbide lathe tool tips, asked the auctioneer about them, he said not for sale, take as many as you want, I did.

Ian S C

One other point in favour of the smaller lathe if you are a beginner is that they are not very forgiving and require sharp tools and good setups to achieve results. This does promote good working practice which is transferable to larger machines.

Regards.

David.

(who has just finished using the DSG)

Some of you will be delighted with the home-made vertical lathe that will be in the next MEW.

... and it's in Christchurch too!

Neil

Can it turn 6 foot diameter?

Only a mere two feet, so a bit small for the average home workshop

Neil

At that same NZR auction there were 3 or 4 vertical lathes, can't remember the size, probably about 5 ft, they sold for something like $NZ1000 each. But the 18" power hacksaw $NZ2500.

Ian S C

Not too fashionable these days but anyone with a horizontal mill already has a device that can potentially turn large diameter, short pieces Michael - you just need an extended tool holder to mount on the table.

Someone had an article in MEW (I think it was?) about doing exactly this a year or two ago. I guess you could also use a vertical mill in a similar way (a vertical lathe?) if you were really pushed to machine a large circumference (i.e. an 'edge'  ) but not nearly so easy (or robust in most cases) as using a horizontal.

IanT

Edited By IanT on 08/12/2014 10:12:46