What to buy for a 2nd lathe?

[DianneB]

I am in the market for a small mini lathe.

I have a large, old Southbend 10" that is great for large and heavy work but is too worn for precision and fine work (and not worth rebuilding) and I have a mini mill for milling work but that leaves me in need of a small lathe to do small parts and precision machining/turning, primarily for 1" and 1.5" scale in steel and brass. A good range of thread-cutting ability and power feed are requirements. As a retired person, I would like to keep the TOTAL cost between $500 and $1,000 and cost is a major factor.

I have read MANY reviews but there are so many offerings by so many vendors that I have no idea who offers the best machine at the best price.

Remember that I don't need power and size - I have that with the Southbend for that - just precision and repeatability (and Imperial calibration LOL!)

I am leaning toward the 7x14 from Little Machineshop Link or the 7x12 from Grizzley Link

What do you recommend?

[vtsteam]

Dianne after seeing all you've accomplished, why not build your own small lathe -- like the Gingery? You might enjoy that, and you can make it as high precision as you have the patience for! I'm going to probably refurbish mine soon with many improvements I've thought about, and have similar situation with an old somewhat worn Craftsman 12" x 42" as the larger lathe.

[Dr Stan]

If you really need/want precision I recommend staying away from the small cheap Chinese lathes as the old axiom "ya get whatca pay for" certainly applies. Look for a used small Logan, Harrison, Denford, Emco (not Enco), Myford and many many other brands that made good to very good industrial grade equipment. Of course you could go for my favorite, a Monarch 10EE. :)

[schor]

Hardinge?

[12345678910]

Those links you have shown, those have no quick change gear box.

Plastic gears that tend to break, other things too

I would tend to at least go bigger
http://www.grizzly.com/products/9-x-19-B...athe/G4000



It's true new chineze is worse than old good stuff..

[EdK]

(09-05-2014, 07:46 PM)12345678910 Wrote: Those links you have shown, those have no quick change gear box.

Plastic gears that tend to break, other things too

I would tend to at least go bigger
http://www.grizzly.com/products/9-x-19-B...athe/G4000



It's true new chineze is worse than old good stuff..

I have to disagree with this opinion. I've had both a 9x20 and a 7x10, which I still have. The 9x20 has a weaker cross slide design than the 7x10. I really did hate that 9x20 despite lots of people having them and liking them. I've abused my 7x10, not intentionally, and have never broken a gear yet and I've had the lathe for more than 10 years.

I would go with one of the 8x14 lathes, probably the Lathemaster since opinions seem to say it's the best of the bunch.

Ed

[stevec]

Dianne, Google "lathemaster" there seems to be a lot of info/opinions out there.

[PixMan]

Being in Manitoba, it may be harder for her to get some of those mentioned here. What's the Busy Bee brand equivalent? What other options exist for her without all the import B.S. that you folks up in the Great White North have to deal with?

[EdK]

(09-06-2014, 08:40 AM)PixMan Wrote: Being in Manitoba, it may be harder for her to get some of those mentioned here....

Good point Ken.

Ed

[DaveH]

The 9 x 20 is in my opinion a very good lathe. There are millions of them about. The basic design is the same from whichever supplier, however it is important to know some suppliers require a higher standard of finish than others.
Bearing in mind what Ed said about the cross slide design I think it is a good value for money lathe.
There is a simple design mod to increase the rigidity of the cross slide.

This is a very good site about the 9 x 20 lathes http://bedair.org/9x20.html


DaveH