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Imported Lathes - Which one

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Anthony Spencer 101/03/2010 07:57:10
19 forum posts
3 photos

There are a number of imported lathes available these day's and I wondered which are the better ones.
 
I realise you get what you pay for but was interested in members experiences
 
My 1958 vintage Myford is still going strong with most spares still available and i wonder how many of the imports have the same quality of build.
Peter Gain01/03/2010 11:25:25
103 forum posts
HI Anthony,
None!
Peter Gain.
Jeff Dayman01/03/2010 12:25:37
2356 forum posts
47 photos
I have seen several chinese lathes from several makers and they are not even consistent within the brand. I have two friends with machines imported by the same firm, same lathe model same year of mfg. One lathe  is not bad at all, the other has so many problems he has scrapped it, Every system on it had problems. The final straw was the 6 week wait for replacement spindle bearings and then they didn't fit when they arrived.
 
I would say that if you buy one you have the check the individual machine thoroughly and if not spot on in all respects don't buy it.
 
One thing I don't like about any of the ones I've seen is the towering compound rest. They are lightly built and not rigid at all. Sturdiness has been thrown out to get large swing capacity I'm afraid. The other thing that bothers me is the really cheap power feed and threading levers. These are die cast in some sort of funky light alloy. Twice on two different lathes I have had them jam up so I couldn't get them disengaged while running. Very scary.
 
Give me my old worn South Bend any day. 
Geoff Theasby01/03/2010 14:59:20
615 forum posts
21 photos
Hi all,
 
I will be in the market for a bigger and better lathe than my Unimat 3 in about a year's time or so, and I have more or less decided not to get one with electronic speed adjustment, because of the possibility of not being able to get it repaired if it goes wrong in a few years, or the cost of doing so.
I was thinking about the Warco BV-20 (No space for anything bigger), or would I be better getting an old Myford second-hand?   I imagine that a geared or belt-driven lathe would outlast me (I'm 63)
 
Regards
Geoff
Vapeur8901/03/2010 15:12:44
18 forum posts
 
Two years ago I bought a chinese lathe and a mill (Optimachines-Quantum/ D250-400 /BF20 vario) almost like the Chester range (DB-10V /Champion 20V)
I met small problems but the main one was on the lathe (compound slide grooves not parallel!). It took me half a year to understand what was happening. So the main thing is to trust the distributor to replace the faulty parts. There is a large discrepancy of accuracy within the same model and the same brand as the chinese brand is not the maker but uses contractor who uses sub-contractor who ... I’ll say the same for the accessories. Some are incredibly bad. I remember a 4’’ three jaws chuck from Shoba really out of centre . On the contrary I’m very satisfied with my 6’’ Vertex rotary table.
 
Compared with professional  machines of the "same" capacity there is an obvious lack of rigidity, mainly torsional, both on lathe and on mill. You have to cope with that.

In fact these machines are not for the absolute beginner as they need a lot of tweaking and care. Even if they are sold under “professional mill” or “expert lathe” labels they are only light duty machines. But in my opinion they performs well enough for the average model engineer.

Finally I’m satisfied, I can achieve my goals for a “modest” investment. Surely I won’t buy a second hand chinese lathe nor mill.

 

Patrick
Gordon W01/03/2010 15:18:02
2011 forum posts
Well here goes:- I bought a new 8" lathe from Chester about  2 yrs ago. I stripped it completely and cleaned etc, much as advised by many. Have made a few mods to suit my usage. I'm very happy with it and at the price a bargain. This is belt drive to mandrel, I made a big pulley to get lower speeds, and tapped the cross slide with a few holes, and made a feedscrew handwheel. Don't know if all belt drives are still available, but I would not worry about it. Hope this helps.
Vapeur8901/03/2010 16:06:02
18 forum posts
 In the range of lathe and mill I talked about the variospeed uses a brushless DC motor driven by a microcontroller that computes voltage and chopping the current to stabilize the torque. Sometimes the electric devices blows and it’s not cheap.
The problem is that at low speed you generally need a high torque but with this device the real efficient torque is reduced . More frightening is that at low speed the DC motor is not correctly ventilated on long period. 
So the good old belt with AC motor is an excellent solution. The torque on the chuck increases as the spindle speed is decreased but your motor is revolving a the same full speed and with a good ventilation.
Generally the mill comes with two gears speed and the problem is solved for speed no lower than 150 rpm.
After a while -if you really need it - you could mount  on your belted  lathe a 3_phase motor driven by a a professional frequency and torque control device. Need some work and a minimal electrical knowledge. You could keep your belt system in place to have a very large range of speed and torque. Take care not to overspeed the spindle!
If that helps.
Anthony Spencer 101/03/2010 17:05:08
19 forum posts
3 photos
We are looking for a lathe for our workshop at work, hence the question.
 
I had seen Kent and Grizzly lathes in the USA but have not seen the equivelant models here.
 
I am leaning toward finding a secondhand Harrison M300 as I have heard mostly good things about them.
 
We need about 40mm through the spindle.
JasonB01/03/2010 17:37:14
avatar
25215 forum posts
3105 photos
1 articles
Quillstar have a few M300 at what looks a reasonable price, a Colchester 1800, 200 or 2500 would be another option. Just make sure it comes with chucks & steadies as these can add up if you have to buy them separately
 
Look under Trade sales
 
I've had one of teh Warco WM280VF lathes for about 18 months and am quite happy with it but would not want to use it in a work enviroment.
 
Jason
V8Eng01/03/2010 18:34:46
1826 forum posts
1 photos
 

Edited By V8Eng on 01/03/2010 18:46:59

Edited By V8Eng on 01/03/2010 18:50:32

Dougie Swan02/03/2010 20:18:54
269 forum posts
73 photos
Buy the M300
After buying a SEIG lathe with all the bells and whistles it developed various faults in the first three months. NO parts are interchangable from lathe to lathe, mine had a fault in the tailstock ( 3mm play when extended) a replacement was sent which fitted the bed but the centre was 2mm higher
The company I bought it from sent a replacement which I discovered after installing in my workshop, had exactly the same problem ( it went straight back on the lorry to be sent back to devon)
After I got my money back I bought a second hand M300 from BBC Machine Tools in Carluke ( try them, they usually have 50 or so lathes in stock)
So in conclusion buy a good second hand British made machine
Regards
Dougie
chris stephens03/03/2010 00:55:39
1049 forum posts
1 photos
Hi Anthony,
I will not recommend any particular lathe, but make a general note about lathes.
Do listen to whatever you are thinking of buying before you buy it. Some of the Asian made lathes, and mills too, are deafening in use. A Myford on the other hand is almost silent in comparison. It may sound like a small price to pay, having a noisy lathe, but if you are using it for a few hours at a time it may become a right-royal-pain-in-the-butt, and your neighbours might not be too pleased either. 
 
chriStephens 
Steve Garnett03/03/2010 10:45:47
837 forum posts
27 photos
Chris makes a good point about the noise. At work we had a Colchester Student with an incredibly noisy gearbox for years, but eventually replaced it with a Smart and Brown 1024, which is way quieter. Generally speaking, the less gears, and the more belts involved in the drive chain, the quieter they are - which is of course where the Myford scores well for home use.
 
I looked at the Chinese import lathes at the show in December, and of course they all look very appealing. But I'm still left with the feeling that if I was going to import a lathe from anywhere, China wouldn't be it. So in answer to Anthony's original question, I'd suggest that Germany or Switzerland would almost certainly produce some of the better ones. Just make sure that you're sitting down when you read the price list, though...
 
I am going to attempt to go through the same exercise within the next year or so for the home workshop, and I haven't yet decided finally what to go for either. I know what I actually want, but somehow I suspect that if I bought one it will either have to be in need of a complete rebuild from the ground up, therefore affordable, or SWMBO will go ballistic. So if anybody knows of a Hardinge HLV-H in need of a good home, and it's outrageously cheap, I'm all ears. Somehow I don't think that this is going to happen...

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