What Lathe Is Right For Me?

Hello all,

I am in need of a new lathe and i thought that as this is the largest model engineering magazine that you guys might be able to help.

My previous lathe was a Warco super mini which was a great little lathe but even i soon reached its limitations. I should explain that I'm not an engineer I'm just have a keen interest in engineering its self, always loved making things and now i have access to a large garage (ish) i wanted to create a small workshop.

The main use for the lathe will be to simply turn brass and aluminium occasionally nylon and steel (ok i know that covers most things) but its main purpose will be aluminium. I intend to make air rifle parts as i am a target shooter and i thought i might be able to help out other shooters

Ok so thus far i have considered the following;

1) Chester DB11VS

2) Warco WM 280V

3) Colchester Student Lathe

4) Colchester Bantam

5) Axminster SC8

There are a few things that i would like out of my new lathe, powered cross feed for parting off which rules the chester out, 26mm/ 1" + spindle bore and 500mm/ 20" + distance between centres.

What i would like to know am i better of going for new or old? The old British lathes look very well made and hold there value well but most or 30 years old, is this a bad thing? And if old is best then where should i go to find a decent second hand British lathe? Ex Demo Chester and Warco lathes go between £900-£1300 where as a 30 year old Colchester is £900 upwards so does this go to show that the old dogs are still the best?

Basically i am trying to get the best bang for buck and a lathe that will last me for many years to come. Also spares are another thing i am concerned about, are these old lathes easy enough to get spares for? Don't get me wrong I'm not going to be in the garage every minute of every hour of every day turning however i want an accurate machine with the least amount of hassle as possible.

Any input would be hugely appreciated, specs on older lathes seem hard to find and knowing what lathe to look for is the other difficulty for me. If there are any other lathes that you guys think would be worth a look at please let me know. Lastly if anyone knows of any good sites that sell used equipment that would be great.

Many thanks

Steve

Welcome aboard Steve,

I'm amazed it took five days of 2015 for someone to ask this question - especially daring to aks used British Vs. Imported!

Even more surprised you don't have more answers yet - they will come!

Neil

O.K. Neil

I'm back from my walk, so here goes:

Steve ... If you can find a good one, and have the room for it, the Colchester Bantam gets my vote [out of those listed]; although personally, I would prefer the old Chipmaster.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 05/01/2015 11:05:52

I'd be surprised if anyone would suggest an imported (far Eastern) Lathe is as good as an old English one. The problem is finding one in good condition. You can add several other makes to your list including Boxford and Harrison. Unless someone hears of a machine that needs a new home I expect most end up at dealers. You could put some wanted adds up and see if that bears fruit. Good luck with whatever you decide to get and let's see some pictures!

Any input would be hugely appreciated, specs on older lathes seem hard to find and knowing what lathe to look for is the other difficulty for me. If there are any other lathes that you guys think would be worth a look at please let me know. Lastly if anyone knows of any good sites that sell used equipment that would be great.

Try lathes.co.uk. This website has a large amount of information regarding lathes.

Good luck with your quest.

Peter G. Shaw

Lots of these threads in here

I can gather just of these two posts alone that people are definitely going to favour the older lathes i thought i would just ask the question as for me its a huge out lay of cash, originally it was going to be a cheap Clarke CL300 (please no laughing) but after seeing one in the flesh i could tell how poor quality it was so i went for the Waco, which i was happy with but it was limited.

Space is hopefully not to much of an issue now Michael the problem is knowing what to get.. most of these old lathes are older than i am and my concern is if i purchased one for the right price or should i say my budget am i then going to have to chuck an additional £300 into repair and refurbishment? The other thing that is putting the brakes on is knowing an ex demo lathe still looks all pretty and new where as a 30yr old lathe has been used, i accept this, it doesn't mean its bad or worn out but when you don't have a clue what you are really looking for its daunting just taking someones word that its tip top? I personally would love an old British lathe but I'm just hesitating because of its age and condition? Should this be putting me off or am i being naive?

Steve

Whatever you end up getting... you will often spend as much again or even more on tooling to make it do all the things you want

It's from a USA perspective but I've always liked this advice on buying a lathe and the related page about why a bit of wear is not always the end of the world.

If you would love an old British lathe I'd say go for it - you'll always enjoy the quality and aesthetics and you can work round any wear as long as it's not ridiculously bad... and as to spares, it's unlikely to be an issue, these machines were built to last. Do try to get a full package of accessories though with the machine you buy, as they'll typically be a LOT more expensive separately.

And bear in mind that a lathe makes stuff, it's the only purchase you will ever make which can fix itself

The small cog backgear on mine was broken when I got it, after about 18 months of use/abuse I'd fixed it myself

The unit is now 70 years old

Edited By Ady1 on 05/01/2015 12:00:40

.

VERY wise words, Bikepete

MichaelG.

I would buy a lathe similar in quality to the Taiwanese one I have now if I was to get another lathe, if it was a

British lathe it would need to have good bearings for one thing because replacements would cost almost as much as the Eastern lathe. When I bought my lathe, I could have bought 2 1/2 lathes for the price of a Myford S7. It took the best part of a year to find the lathe I wanted.

I'd love a Chipmaster, but the variable speed drive scares me if anything went wrong.

Ian S C

Edited By Ian S C on 05/01/2015 12:19:50

If I were in your position, I would opt to go for the Colchester bantam 1800 (I think that was the latest version) and spend about £2800 from a private person or if I had to go to a dealer, I would expect to pay maybe £3200 for the same machine. but I would expect 3 and 4 jaw chucks, face plate, catch plate, quick change tool post and at least 3 standard tool holders and the original paintwork with a minimum amount of wear on it.

My old student is from '65 and chugs along nicely. had to replace an oil seal last year. £2.20. I wont get rid of her for a long time.

I've got a WM280V. Very pleased with it, robust and accurate. Warco good company to deal with.

I spent several years looking out quite regularly for my lathe until I saw just the one I wanted. The main issue with older lathes is finding the accessories and the spares, and in some cases they are almost impossible to find or you need a second lathe to make them on! Ex-industrial machines sold through commercial dealers often are very worn and this may not be worth your while to put up with.

Two sites for used equipment are http://homeandworkshop.co.uk/ and http://www.gandmtools.co.uk/ if you want to source on old British lathe in good condition. Both places also stock a wide range of accessories in addition to those on their website and they wil be able to match to your requirements as far as their stock goes. Your specifications are not too exacting so I think you will not have too much trouble in finding something suitable, although they may not be cheap as, you correctly say, old good British machines will hold their value if looked after.

Personally, of your options I would choose the Student. They can be hard to find in good condition as their market was indusrty not the hobbyist but they will last for many years for sure. As the machines are still widely used in the workplace spares can be got hold of and there are many accessories too for the same reason.

I would go for hardened ways, they should not wear as badly as non hardened, worth another 30 years on the life of the lathe?

Frank

Not such a problem nowadays surely, with inverters around? There are notes on the lathes.co.uk write-up about replacing a defective variator with an inverter, apparently works very well. I've had good luck with used inverters and three phase motors off ebay for not much money.

Lots of good things about the Chipmaster - hardened ways, good top speed, clutch system, etc...

No conection with the seller but theres a nice looking colchester student Mk2 on ebay in welwyn garden city

well tooled and fitted with a 2 speed motor mentions 4 jaw chuck but not visible in photos

If you only have single phase then have / fit yourself an inverter

bidding at £1500 BIN at 2200

you would probably get it for £1500-1700

Ian

That one on fleabay may seem a good buy and is, BUT you will have to run it off 415v 3 phase to retain the motor and the cost of single phase 230v to 415v 2 phase inverter has to be taken into consideration. It has been done not long ago with a Bantam see this thread **LINK**

Bob

I would replace the motor and fit an inverter as one... motors about £130 ish new inverter about £200 new

But it looks in good condition and is as well tooled as you can expect