Lathe advice

[wrustle]

Hi Shawn, A nice little machine for sure, but.........what are your intentions with it?

I have no idea what your experience or situation is in the machining world, but that is not going to make parts as easily as an engine lathe would.

It would be great if you are picking it up as an addition to your shop to do some production runs, otherwise, I just feel you would take up valuable floor space as it collects dust in the corner if you're just a onsie-twosie type shop.

I have a Warner & Swasey #3 turret lathe. I seldom use it, but there a few jobs a year that I put in there and am glad to have it there.....after wiping off the cobwebs of course.

I do not have an engine lathe however, and there are MANY times I wish I did, instead of the W&S.

What ever you decide, good luck with your venture. Hopefully it is going for little money as most of them these days aren't worth the money and time it takes to bring them to the scrap yard despite their working condition.

This is my W&S #3 Turret Lathe. Came fully tooled up with about 50 sets of collet pads, a three jaw chuck, turning boxes, boring heads, and assorted sizes of morse taper drill holders. I paid $1,500 for it about 12 years ago.

It does not single point thread (not sure if yours does) so I bought a die head and chasers for threading parts.

Before I switched over to the "Darkside" (cnc) it was in use everyday, for several years.

Despite kicking around the thought of getting rid of it now and then......it did just make the trip over to my new shop. Just can't bring myself to get rid of it I guess.......



Best Regards,
Russ

[Sunset Machine]

Egads, what brutes! I was admiring a Colchester lathe the other day (not for sale though), looked like 10 tons of iron, 3" spindle hole, Metric/Yankee threading. I could make room for *that*. :grin:

[Shawn]

The lathe got sold but not to me. I had spoke to the owner a year ago when he had previously tried to sell it and I knew it would be scrapped if it didn't sell this time. I glad it didn't get scrapped but I think it would have been a great addition to my shop. I have two engine lathes already but this one would have replaced the smaller south bend.

Thanks for the advice guys
Shawn

[Hawkeye]

Ah, Shawn. This addiction sure is compelling, isn't it? There are a few machines I'd have a hard time saying "no" to, even with no more space. Bigger lathe, surface grinder ...

If I wasn't in a strata, something like this would be worth considering for a new shop:

http://www.wimp.com/concretetents/

[Shawn]

That looks like a great idea for a shop, one of these days I'll get out off my two car garage and into a proper shop but I really can't complain. I've heard that parking your vehicle in your garage is pretty nice in the winter time though.

I have found a couple surface grinders but one sold before I had the chance to make an offer and the other one looked pretty rough. I did miss out on a nice 9" standard modern lathe that was on a government auction in Kelowna. The winning bid was $25.00 higher than mine. The QCGB would have been nice but I'm getting pretty fast switching gears out on my SB so not really essential.

Shawn