upgrading to a better lathe

Just reading a reply from Dave regarding better quality lathes,which I had asked about. Dave mentioned Buck and Hickman,which I looked up.

Good job I was sitting down !! After going through their list,you,de need more than a strong cup of tea ! Those machines are not for us.

I had wondered what was available between hobby range and industrial range,and at what price. Would be interesting to know if anyone else has looked and what they found. A gap between £2200 and £21000 leaves plenty of room.

On the other hand,there was a nice one there for only £31000,might be a little OTT.

Larry,

Within that wide price range some people get an ex industrial machine rebuilt. I.e. bed ground, re-scrape, motors overhauled/rewound etc etc. Then you get industrial quality without the new price. Not cheap but not new prices either. Most beds have enough depth of hardening for at least 1 regrind possibly 2. Others do the rebuilds themselves (outside of perhaps bed grinding) and that is another area of the hobby alltogther. You get a fantastic machine at a fraction of the price but don't build many models in the mean time.

For the record I use the word "rebuild" carefully rather than "renovation". A rebuilt machine tool will meet or exceed the original builders tolerances and potentially include all the steps in a thorough renovation. A renovation could involve a through clean/paint job replacement of broken or worn items. No bed re-grind and no scraping.

Steve

Edited By SteveI on 11/09/2017 14:51:37

I bought a Runmaster 330 machine off Axminster tools several months back and am very pleased with it 1000mm between centers and fully kitted out and a 3 year onsite warranty.....

http://www.axminster.co.uk/machinery/lathes/engineering-lathes

Highly recommended

Tony

There was a Uniprize UL 600 from Buck & Hickman made 2009 on homeworkshop the other day ,new 15K selling for £2k .

Edited By mark smith 20 on 11/09/2017 15:44:13

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This topic has been mused a few times here since I became a member.

Last time I remember it being so I requested pricing information of the M300 / Student from the 600 group. Probably a year or so out of date now but a .pdf can be downloaded here. **LINK** I think the prices required VAT putting onto them.

Nick

My thanks to all,

What prompted my question was that I was just curious to know what was available in what I would call a middle range,but there does not seem to be such a thing.

That deal on the Buck& Hickman ,sounds too good to be true but maybe it is. If so,it,s a good find.

I take the point between a rebuild and a renovation,big, big difference !

I think that at my level of skill together with my needs,I,ll stick with my Craftsman.

Just nice to dream,now and then. It,s just that some of the prices around are more of a nightmare than a dream !

Thanks to all.

A bit off topic.

In the 70's I purchased a used Pratt & Whitney lathe. It was made in USA but carried a Buck and Hickman nameplate. I assumed they used it for wartime production. I am curious how it got back to the US. I sold the lathe several years ago but saved the B&H nameplate.

Uniprize do shaping machines !

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Chester acqured Uniprize in 2016

**LINK**

http://www.machinery-market.co.uk/news/15064/Chester-acquires-Uniprize

MichaelG.

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brief details of UK Companies are readily available here:

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 12/09/2017 06:32:36

Larry

I looked, and I found. By coincidence to your figures above, I recently bought this Boxford 330 - 13" x 40" -  ex school and virtually unused, for just £2,200.

You can still buy new from Boxford, and this spec would probably be around the same price as the M300 mentioned above - around £14,000.

It's a lot of lathe for £2,200!

Edited By David Standing 1 on 12/09/2017 09:42:12

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It most certainly is. That was a very good find. Congratulations.

Nick

Nick

We need to start a Boxford X10 appreciation club!

This one's a keeper!

Looking at David's lovely Boxford, I've gone exactly the same colour. I am Boxford Green with jealousy!

You wouldn't want to buy the lathe that featured in my schooldays though. Not sure what it was (headstock a bit like a squeezed Dalek?), battle-ship grey, and it looked old-fashioned in 1965. It had a hard life, for instance during one of many illegal unsupervised sessions a friend drove the cross-slide into the chuck and something broke inside. After that it always ran with a tinkling sound. I now know the many dings in the bed were probably caused by the chuck key...

The experience put me off buying second-hand, and I've probably missed bargains because of it. I doubt many educational lathes bought after 1980 were used heavily, and modern schools are much more careful about keeping their kids and machinery safe. David's lathe doesn't look as if it was ever bashed about by the privileged young gentlemen I grew up with! (Thuggish hooligans with absolutely no respect for our elders...)

Dave

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Hahaha.

Although I am obviously an owner of an X10 series and a fan I will take issue with you regarding the statement it's a Harrison M300 equivalent though. - They IMHO ain't the M300 is a step up again.

The M250 may be more of a like for like but again the Harrison is sturdier and of better build quality. - However I do think one may struggle to find an M250 in such good condition as your Boxford though. 

Nick

Edited By Nick_G on 12/09/2017 13:11:07

What do you need one for? or rather what's wrong with the one you've got? So it might help people look.

Michael W

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Do you mean an early Chipmaster, perchance, Dave ? **LINK**

http://www.lathes.co.uk/chipmaster/

A good one is an absolute joy to use, and [in my opinion] a delight to the eye.

MichaelG.

That's very much like it Michael. I don't remember the large dial, or a giant name plate covering up the space under the bed, but that could be blurred memory. If it was a Chipmaster, it must have been relatively new. Poor thing was quite battered. Now I've read lathes.co.uk I'd be very pleased to own a Chipmaster in half reasonable nick. Boys are horrible. Perhaps good tools should have bodyguards and social workers!

Dave

Just wish that I had space for a lathe like that Boxford.

Having said that, if you have a Craftsman, in good condition, you should be able to turn out (pun) some good work on it, judged by the experience of others and myself with its cousins.

But "Oh to dream"

Howard

To Michael W,

I dont need one any more than I need an E type Jag,just curious to see what,s out there. I am quite happy with my Craftsman and I do manage to turn out some good work with it. It,s a simple machine [which suits me,perfectly ],not quite in the same class as the example above. That is a gem,and no mistake.

Everyone dreams about something better,we all do,it,s the nature of the beast,otherwise we would still be living in caves.We just cut our cloth to suit our measure,but never stop dreaming,that,s the name of the game.

Some good feedback there,if I do decide to go wild.