Lathe advice please

This lathe is quite popular with gunsmiths in the USA **LINK**. It has all the features that you mentioned.

* Danny M *

If only I could afford one. Couple of things, can't cut 19tpi (small BSP threads) and BA threads without extra gears, Quick change tool post 1100euros ?? To tool it up would probably double up the price of the lathe, but apart form that, I would swap my Boxford tomorrow.
BobH

Colchester master good lathe ,long bed model takes 40 inch between centres ,1.625 ins spindle bore,good screw cutting range, with one extra gear it can do DP worms.ideal lathe for gunsmithing,you can earn a living with the Master. until recently I had a master and a triumph,both good lathes,the triumph can cope with lots of varied work but the master is the better lathe for smaller work,the triumph can be a little clumsy ,the chucks are heavy and the tailstock takes a lot of pushing down the bed,regarding accuracy their performance is the same, The triumph departed last month as I soon have to downsize my home and the triumph gets to be hard work when you get well past retirement.Currently making a saddle /cross slide mounted 4 morse taper attachment so that I can still use the large drills that I used on the triumph,plus the capability of power feeding the drills.

The Boxford VSL nearly gets there. 1 3/8" bore but 28" between centres. The big bore versions are usually fitted with a tapered spindle nose arrangement that is rather nice to use but it can be hard / expensive to find chucks etc to fit to it so one with chucks is the best answer. They do crop up now and again but do read their page on lathes.co.uk. They also have a knack of turning up ex workshop rather than places where the lathe may have been used all day every day for long periods. I think there is also a cam lock version but not totally sure. With this one you wont have centre heights that are probably well over what you need. It weighs about 300kg.

I suspect the OP's best bet is to see what's around and what equipment they come with and hopefully go and look and try them under power. Given the devious nature of one dealer I once bought a lathe off I usually take a decent tool and piece of metal with me. That type might be rare. Not sure. One produced an awful piece of metal and an even worse tool and claimed that they had nothing better.

There are lots of Harrisons and Colchesters about but other makes can turn up as well. This page can sometimes provide further information about them.

**LINK**

However talking not that much post WWII I know for a fact it's not entirely up to date. It would be difficult to keep track of all models some manufactures made as in some cases huge numbers were not sold. Colchester sold lots.

John

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Edited By Ajohnw on 22/01/2017 18:43:38

Good evening, Thanks to everyone for your excellent tips and advice, The Harrison M300 seems a good choice, I did use one in the Army but never paid attention to the spindle bore size as we never had to put rifle barrels in it. I will have a look around and let you know how I get on. Thanks again Steve

.

This might tick your boxes. **LINK**

There is also a long bed Harrison M300 on there ATM

Nick