Sieg lathes & downsizing.

Well the time has come to start some downsizing of my workshop equipment.

My partner Ruth is severely disabled with MS and getting worse. So with my limited time and energy to tinker in the workshop and not wanting to become lumbered with large and heavy machines and all the problems of moving them in the future I have decided the bigger stuff may have to go. I hope to replace them with smaller lighter machines that can easily be lifted into a car or van for moving when needed.

The fist casualty is my beloved Smart & Brown Model A lathe, here it is already loaded up and ready to go on the new owners trailer, he is a friend who owns and restores old buses and tractors.

My plan was to put the cash towards a C3 Mini lathe and a new Sieg SC4 lathe, but I have just noticed that the Sieg SC4 lathe price from Arc has recently risen by about £300, so that has probably knocked that dea on the head.

I have owned the old S&B lathe for at least 25 years, it was great to use and sad it has gone, but time moves on and circumstances change so it is the first that had to go.

Edited By Lathejack on 28/05/2023 18:23:46

Do you need both a C3 and SC4? could you manage with just the SC4 in which case the saving on the C3 will cover the price rise

Or get both second hand, As they are a relatively new design and hobby oriented they are unlikely to be worn.

I would also just get the SC4, unless you have a specific special need for the smaller lathe eg watchmaking etc. You can always do a smaller job on a bigger lathe but not always vice versa.

Can you try these machines in earnest? because while I am happy with my SC3 both are orders of magnitude different to the S&B. You need to make certain it will do what you want in a smaller space.

The SC4 is a little smaller than your S&B as far as the swing goes while the SC3 is about half an inch smaller than the SC4. Both, but particularly the SC3, are shorter and neither has a screwcutting gearbox - BUT BUT BUT when you say you are downsizing how big is your new workshop? because bench space is vital and if you can 'borrow' a large lathe when 180mm swing is not enough would 210mm have made it possible?? and the bench space saved by the smaller machine could be extremely valuable - but only you can decide.

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 29/05/2023 16:33:01

From the specification, and little that I have seen of an acquaintance's SC4, it looks to be a versatile machine.

If I were in the market for a lathe, it might well be my chioce.

It has varaible speed from a brushless motor, power feed on both axes, and changewheels that allow Imperial and Metric threads to be screwcut, if Taps and Dies are not used.

It may need a little fine tuning but that is probably trues for almost every hobby machine.

You get what younpayfor! Which nis why industrial machines are so much more expensive.

Howard