Clarke CL430 Metal Lathe

I am thinking of buying a Clarke CL430 as my first lathe any pitfalls any alternatives with a similiar spec for the same kind of money. Any opinions of this lathe good or bad.

got one earlier this year general opnion i got was use it to learn with.

having said that after id followed peoples advice and fettled it a bit not really had any probs.

first thing i was advised to do was check chuck was running true anf if not take it off and move rd.

cured tht prob on mine.

sure someone else withmore time with one will be along soon.

def in right place though pos one of most helpful,friendly forums im on

Edited By naughtyboy on 18/08/2013 07:58:38

Dave,

I have the same lathe with the milling head attached, I've had it for several years now and more than happy with it.

It does need a little fettling, for instance replacing all of the gib strip adjusting grub screws with longer ones so you can fit lock nuts so your not constantly adjusting them, one other mod I have done is to remove the metal springs inside the axis measurement dials and replace them with a gruub screw and nylon block so that I can lock the dial as the spring tends to slip, there are several modifications you can do printed in previous copies of MEW which are of interest.

I dont do model engineering with mine, I mostly make/modify parts for my collection of Lister Stationary engines so it gets a bit of work. There are plenty of accessories available, most of which I have and use and I have also bought an ER32 morse taper chuck for the headstock tube and was pleasantly surprised at the very little run out. I tend not to use the milling head for no other reason than I have a Mill/Drill and a horizontal mill to do all my milling work.

All in all I'm happy with mine.

Martin P

Dave,

£800 is a lot to pay for an at best mediocre machine that will only ever depreciate. - You' lose the VAT instantly.

What do you actually want to make ? what diameter do you need to be able to swing ?

I'd suggest that your money would be better spend on e.g. a used Boxford in fact anything that was well made & designed & in reasonable condtion will hold its value.

I'm not trying to put you off starting up but do bear in mind that the associated tooling and perhaps later a small milling machine are going to add significantly to your costs so you need to bear that in mind so that SWMBO understands this is the beginning & not the end of the outlay !

I know buying used is a worry - perhaps ther is someone in your area who can offer some advise or check a machine over with you.

If you decide to stick with a new Chinese ( probably) machine I'd advise you but from one of the more specialised sellers that advertise in the MEW - at least you will get service backup should you need it.

Keep posting if you have any questions

Tony

forgot to add but previous thread reminded me, spares and assistance is good with clarke so your not operating in the dark, I must admit I only paid £300 for mine but it was new as I bought it from a company I worked for who bought it new and never used it. The second hand market is a mine field particularly if you have no idea what to look out for and also have a small budget.

Martin P

I would say it is what might be referred to as a 'garage lathe'. It is sold by garage tool type shops for blokes who are a bit into car maintenance and are old enough to have done some metal work at school.
If you look at a specialist supplier like those advertising on this forum you see their offering in the same price bracket seems much smaller. eg 180mm swing vs 300mm, MT3 spindle vs MT4. So the clarke looks a bigger more manly machine. However that's not going to be possible for the same money so some corners must be cut. Compare the wieght., It is probably lighter so way less ridgid. Unless you need to skim a lot of brake discs you are just never going to need that extra swing that in practice makes it so much more flimsy that other jobs like parting off become a pain.

You wont skim Car discs because there isnt enough cross slide travel and it wont come back far enough, as for rididity is a fairly solid lump as long as the stand is fixed to the floor with floor anchors to stop it flexing, for what it is and cost I rate it and if treated properly can be fairly accurate. As for weight it took two of us to lift it onto its stand so its not light.

Martin P

Thanks for the comments I looked at hobby lathes including the two smaller clark offerings and decided that they are to small. I am not a machinist but we do have a workshop at work with industrial Lathes and milling machines. We also have two myfords so I have seen them in the flesh so to speak. I am not bothered about it loosing value I intend to keep it for a long time thats why I am keen to get it right first time. I would hate to buy a small lathe then discover it wont cope with what I want. I am not a model engineer . I might be tempted once I get set up but I would like to do some general engineering stuff especially as retirement is not that far away.So what would you recomend with a budget of approx £800 for a lathe. I will probably want a milling machine once I get the Lathe sorted out.

I recently completely stripped a 12 in lathe of light construction as typical 100 yrs ago and the bed alone would have been a hernia to lift half of. I needed a crow bar to move it into place for the engine crane. A 'hobby' 12 in(300mm) lathe like the GH1232 weighs half a ton and it is way flimsey compared to an industrial machine. The Boxford mentioned earlier might be lifted by 3 foolish men (2 needed headstock end) and it is only 9 inch.

Perhaps you can get help and advice looking at second hand machines from a your work colleagues.

Bazle,

I can relate to your machine, my brother and I have our grandfathers Britannia Colchester Treadle lathe and that has to come totally to pieces if moved any distance, its not much larger than mine but its no more accurate than my modern lathe, I have worked as a machine tool fitter/machine tool service engineer since I started as an engineering apprentice for over forty years and have seen all manner of machines which started out as heavy castings through to modern machines which are constructed from steel plate fabrication and even concrete for grinding machine bases. rigidity is the king not weight and by fabricating and using concrete there is no need to weather. Machine tools are now lighter in their construction but a lot more accurate due to other means of construction.

Martin P

Dave,

Bayzle has your solution, ask one of you friendlier work colleagues to give you a hand - they might even know of someone who has something suitable for sale.

Tony

My 1324 BH lathe, made in Taiwan has the same bed as the similar sized Colchester lathe, only difference is the head stock that is, for the Colchester made in England, The Colchester beds are made in Taiwan, or at least were 20 years ago, might be China now. Ian S C

I wouldnt buy another one. The motor went bang and the gib strips as mentioned earlier are crap. Buy a good second hand myford type and it wont (usualy) let you down.

Whats a gib strip.