Which New Lathe; choices, choices...

I am planning on buying a new lathe for a new hobby workshop I have just built.  I am a beginner, and looking forward to getting my pension soon, and I have no machining experience but do have lots of practical DIY, R/C aircraft and helicopter building and full size homebuilt light aircraft building experience.>>

I started off looking a cheap micro/mini lathes, and as my research went on, decided to go a bit bigger and almost settled on a Chester DB10V Precision Variable Speed Lathe, which I am sure will be all I ever need, and you certainly get a lot of metal for your money.>>

However whereas they are perfectly adequate and excellent value for money, I do also see a lot of criticism about these Chinese built machines, and problems with accurate setting up and reliability, and backlash and the like.  I do like quality and precision, and would like to be able to make batches of items with as straight forward repeatability as possible (without going CNC).>>

I have therefore shifted my focus to something that is still small (I need to be able to get it physically into my workshop with relative ease using a max of 4 people to haul it there), but built to high standards of quality and precision and alignment/set-up.  There seems to be remarkably few options, probably due to the substantial price jump, and I am down to a choice between the Ceriani David 203VS or the Wabeco D3000E, D4000E or D6000E (the latter may prove just a bit too pricey).>>

If there is anyone who can provide any insight or guidance to assist my decision, please do!  No calls to get a second hand Myford, or Boxford or the like - I am not interested as they are too big and heavy to get them to my workshop, plus I don't know enought to tell a good 'un from a rogue.

I can't really comment on the reliability of the lathes as this will be my first Chinese one, but I have used a small Chinese Milling Machine for some years and have had no problems so fa (except that it was destroyed in a workshop fire recently ), but take others advice and go to the showrooms and exhibitions and talk to the traders who are generally honest and open about their products, inspect the machines and then decide according to your needs.  As for size and weight if you buy a machine bigger than the 'baby' Mini Lathes you will need some kind of lifting and moving equipment as they are all heavy.  In fact the heavier the better as this will influence the accuracy as the more robust machines absorb and resist the deflections and twisting caused by the turning process.  I moved my Boxford myself by dismantling it and moving it in small sub assemblies and then rebuilt it on site but this involved all sorts of adjustments etc to get the machine accurate again.

By the way, if you paste your text from Word, use the 'Paste from Word' facility, it's the icon in the top bar of the comment box, then you won't get those pesky smileys all over the place where you don't want them .

Edited By Terryd on 11/11/2010 16:16:51

Edited By wheeltapper on 11/11/2010 17:22:47

Also I have a Warco WM14 mill and this too went from box to bench and produced good results. Again a bit of fine tuning and it is turning (pun not intended but will do) out quality work. Using a fly cutter or sharp mill and the finish is almost mirror like and silky smooth.

Edited By Martin W on 11/11/2010 17:59:29

Edited By Gene Federici on 11/11/2010 21:25:55

Edited By Lathejack on 11/11/2010 21:30:30

Edited By Lathejack on 11/11/2010 23:42:41

Well there is some good stuff to think about here…. And as I said originally I do believe that the Chinese machines offer a lot of value for money.

I had indeed also considered the Warco range and concluded that the machine I would want from that range is the WM-280V-F with power crossfeed, but that at 210Kgs it was too heavy – as is the WM-280 Variable speed at 190Kgs (Chester DB10V is 120 Kgs) and that the machine that did fit the weight requirement was the WM-250 and this is of less interest.  The  WM-280 Variable speed seems to have the low minimum speed advantage of 50RPM with good torque over the WM280V-F with a minimum of 125 RPM – which is too fast for a beginner like me for threading operations.  They are also rather big (wide), similar to the Chester DB11V which I have seen in the flesh after a visit to Chester Tools, where I determined the smaller size of the DB10-V or Ceriani is more appropriate to my circumstances.

I have to get the machine from my front gate, round the house and across the garden (including about 30 metres of soft grass), through a Laurel hedge (gap cut for access) and across a ditch (filled in but a fair level drop) into the field (very soft) where my new workshop has been built.  I have no suitable rollers, and they would not be practical for much of this run, so the machine has to be man-handled.

I also believe the Ceriani and Wabeco machines will be quieter when running and am willing to pay the extra price for the quality of the core machine.  The Wabeco motor has twice to power of the Ceriani - but I am not sure how relevant this may be.  However I would like to be able to use other less premium priced accessories and tools easily.

Edited By JasonB on 12/11/2010 13:42:11