Lathe Suggestions
 

4909 is looking to purchase a lathe for the upcoming season and I wanted to see what everyone suggests. I've been keeping an eye out on Craigslist but it's slow going.

I've also looked at something along the lines of Precision Matthews (http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM-1127-VF.html).

What are some suggestions?

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What is your budget for this, and how big would you like it to be?

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$3000-$3500

When it comes to specs I am in the dark.

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We got this one this season: http://www.pts-tools.com/cgi/CGP2SRI...91135740322589

It has worked out well for our needs so far. The ability to precisely cutoff and tap 1/2" shaft has been a game changer. We have also been able to cut pockets to recess bearings into gears, machine custom intake pulleys out of plastic, and turn down hubs to thin them out. We haven't done any steel work on this lathe.

Changing speeds is a slow process, but we ran most of our operations at the lowest speed this year with the carbide lathe tools from harbor freight. Use oil/tap magic. Make sure you buy motor oil to keep everything running smooth.

I'm impressed by the number of safety interlocks on this lathe, it has an estop, a power off button, an interlocked chuck shield, and the belt/gearbox cover is interlocked.

Overall I think this lathe will be able to accomplish almost all of the lathe machining we could wish for at least for several years. I would recommend that you don't overthink this decision too much, the best lathe is the one you have.

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Finding a good used lathe is a lot more difficult than finding a used milling machine. There is no single "flagship" design that you see with Bridgeport knee mills for lathes. You need to know what you are looking for in terms of minimum specs and capabilities of the machine. But the upside is if you are patient and watchful you can get a lot more machine for your money.

What are you wanting to make with it primarily? Shafts and drive axles? Because you can get away with a tiny lathe for those kinds of parts.

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so if you want a slightly above average Lathe, and want to build immense knowledge then this is the path to take :D

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What sorcery is this? That is an impressive overhaul you did on that machine!

We use a stock Grizzly G0602 and are pretty happy with it. For a manual machine it works well enough and is a good size for most FRC parts. As a bonus, there are many places online that show how to convert it to CNC.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Thanks! though I might be able to find a better "after" picture. This is where OCD pays off :rolleyes:

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Machining 1/2 inch hex shaft can be done on a mini-lathe.

For general FRC use something around a 10 x 40 with a BXA tool post size is ideal. Having a quick change tool post speeds up the work. Watch the motor specs, you need a motor that will work with your existing power outlets.

You'll want to save some of your budget to buy a good assortment of cutting tools, cutoff blade, grooving tools for c-clips/e-clips. Also a full tap and drill set.

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What have you used that sized lathe for? I've never thought of a job that really required more than 10" of working travel or 7.5" diameter max (and that's only for custom pneumatic wheels or something), but I'm sure teams have used the full travel before.

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My Brother made this swerve drive (by himself) https://grabcad.com/library/swerve-d...lder_id=871722 if you see the white part in the plate that is to take any linear thrust and act as a bearing. It's about 5-7" in dia. we needed to use the lathe i posted earlier to make this. this Swerve was designed by my brother to be completely manual machined, (no cnc parts). So there are some needs for a bigger lathe :)

link to the cad https://grabcad.com/library/swerve-d...lder_id=871722

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Your typical mini lathe has 7 inches of swing.

Stepping up to a larger mill provides-
Considerably more powerful motor
Stiffer overall machine, higher accuracy
More Speed Options
Ability to use a BXA tool post (1/2" tooling) over 3/8" tooling on a mini-mill.
Ability to machine larger items if needed.
More options for creating threads
Room to Center bore. (Harder to do on a short mini-lathe)

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A Grizzly G602 is a great choice. Get the stand with it. Allow $3-500 for tooling and accessories.

Regardless of new or used - but especially used - if you ahve no experience with a lathe, either find someone who does or start learning fast. A lathe needs tender care. Older used machines can take more abuse, but unless you know lathes, you won't be able to restore it to where it needs to be.

I recommend getting a copy of South Bend's "how to run a lathe" - Atlas makes a similar book, and either can be had for under $20 on eBay (or $25 new from the factory). These books were written in the 1930s and are still excellent resources, they tell you almost all you need to know in very plain language. Do this before committing to a lathe.

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This South Bend book is available online as well.

Maintenance is Key: Monitoring the oil level, and having a proper oil can with a bronze tip that fits the oil ball bearing ports is important to keeping your lathe running well. Lubricate the gears with grease. Never use shop air to blow the chips off. Same advice goes for all your machine tools, take care of them and they last and perform well.

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I would definitely recommend buying the largest lathe you can afford. An old used lathe (hardinge, monarch, hendey) will be better than a modern machine but can be harder to find.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-x...campaign=zPage
these seem to be pretty good for the price and size.

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Seconded. Grizzly is better than most cheap end machines.

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Quite a few other good American Lathes to consider used including South Bend (9 Inch, 10 Heavy), Atlas or Craftsman 9 inch, Clausing, Leblonde, Lodge & Shipley, and Sheldon. Need some experience when buying a used lathe to evaluate it's condition, and understand what parts are present, or if replacements are available. (total cost).

Other than HASS, there are no domestic lathes in production. The current South Bend ones are all imports.

If you have limited shop space; a Bench Top to unit would be the way to go. Otherwise their are a lot of "tool room" sized lathes in the used market.

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Hardinge and Monarch both still make HLV-H and 10EE lathes...but they are custom order and the last I heard a 10EE was over $100,000...so not exactly FRC friendly from a budget standpoint.

Standard Modern makes lathes in Canada, which afaik is the only North American lathe still in regular production. They are not cheap though. I got a quote last fall just to see and a 1340 was $16,000 and a 1640 was $27,000.

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Smaller lathes are cheaper, however smaller sizes can be killers on precision. If your doing non-critical shapes then small lathes are good but if you want precision definitely go for a bigger lathe. It really matters what you're going to use it for. Sometimes its better to spend a little more money and get what you need.
Also be careful using carbide, its great but it can chip too. The smoother motions you can do the less chance you risk of damaging your cutter. Its the same way for mills, unless you use CNC machines its actually recommended you don't use carbide.

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Look for a Hardinge HLV-H tool room lathe. They are wonderful machines and can be found in your price range

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Avoid the Atlas/Crafstman 9" lathes, they are somewhat fragile. They are inexpensive for a reason. A 10" atlas will serve you well, but they tend to be rare and expensive. Even a 6" atlas is fine for precision work, if you know how to use it, but might be a little small for FRC.

Craftsman (Sears) lathes were made by Atlas, parts are identical.

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Please find me an HLV-H for $3k, I want one. :P Maybe it's just CA, but I've never seen a good one for less than several thousand $.
I also wouldn't trust a high school kid with one (and I am a high school kid) just because they are so nice. It would be a shame for one to get killed.

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Look for the "TFB-H" - same as the HLV-H but without the threading gearbox. Might catch one cheaper, but be careful that it isn't run into the ground, since a lot were used for production parts. 10ee's are beautiful as well, but make sure you do some research on the specific model/model year. The controls can be tricky to sort out.

Otherwise - the Taiwanese machines are generally nicer than the mainland China manufactured machines. Lots of brands sourcing from the same factories and putting their label on it (Precision Matthews, Eisen, Victor, Sharp, etc).

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My mistake. A quick search led me to Hardinge DV-59 lathes, not the HLV-H I expected. After looking more, I also would gladly accept a $3k HLV-H

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You cannot find a good HLV-H for less than $10-14k, at least around here.

A TFB-H that isn't beat to hell and back won't be in OP's budget either. We spent $8k on ours. Without DRO and accessories it was $5000something.

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There was one on Craigslist for $2k for about 6 hours a couple of weeks ago >_>

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If you're looking to buy a used lathe, I recommend watching this video: https://youtu.be/bP-rh6LfteU

It's a little long, but it goes really in depth in what you should be looking for when evaluating a lathe. Also, there are a couple of tips on actually moving it.

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For someone like me who is not an expert on these Hardinge lathes, what is the difference between these two models?

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No threading gearbox on the TFB-H. "Turn, Face, Bore" only.

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I think the used lathed market is very location & economy dependent. Where I am in the south, decent small lathes (anything under say a 12" swing) are hard to find & don't stay on the market long. Larger lathes typically need 3 phase and a dedicated space.

While way under the OP's budget, don't discount the 7 X xx Chinese lathes. They are supported by a large hobbyist group. Lots of available tooling & mods. While sold complete they should be thought of more as a kit. As long as you stay in their capability, they are as accurate as the operator. They do well on shafting and bushings. While no match for a Hardinge in good shape-- good luck finding a Hardinge for $1k with tooling. They can also be moved. If your reality a multi purpose classroom for a work space, they are not a bad choice.

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My suggestion for lathe is this JET BD-920W. and guess what it is on Amazon.com JET has really good machines.

http://www.amazon.com/JET-BD-920W-La...ords=jet+lathe

We were fortunate to get this lathe donated to us (used)
It is compact but not too small, it worked great for all of our shafts this year.

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This particular lathe is a common one. It's not actually made by JET. They slap a label on it like a lot of other companies. I highly recommend this site for these lathes (used to be more extensive but times have changed):

https://littlemachineshop.com/produc...ory=1963256897

Also this guide and website can be helpful for these lathes:

http://www.akpilot.net/Rebuild%20Man...d%20Manual.pdf
http://bedair.org/9x20camlock/9x20project.html

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That lathe is a piece of junk. You can make good parts with it but it is not a heavy duty machine. I would hate to pay $2k+ for it. We have one in our trailer and while it may have started out ok for small work and light cuts it is absolutely terrible now.

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I can second this and this will be the case with and mass manufactured Chinese lathe or mill. You will spend more time maintaining the thing than you will making parts, substantially more time if you want accurate parts.

I would never pay 2k for a lathe like that, maybe 1k all in with tooling if I needed a starter lathe and had no patience.

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Has anyone purchased the insanely cheap small ones from Harbor Freight? I know you get what you pay for, but will it work for turning down 1/2" hex shafts, creating spacers, and other minor operations? The downside seems the small travel length & chuck size.

We've gotten by for years without a lathe or a mill but I could see where a small one could come in handy for some operations that we simply can't do today. With a 20% off coupon you could probably snag this for under $500.

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This has been discussed quite a bit, here are two posts about the subject I found with a quick search:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...53&postcount=7

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=28

Re: Lathe Suggestions
 

Good finds! Thanks. Now to convince the team we need one :]

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http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=136550

This thread here has some good reasoning on why lathes (and mills) are important. :)

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Those lathes are worth buying if you have limited need and budget. They can work fine but do take a lot to maintain. We had one donated for the 2014 build season and made all our shafts with it. I would do it again if I had to but I had to repair it at least 3 times during the season. If I had no lathe I would buy a 7x12 from Harbor Freight on sale, mod it with dials or cheap scales and be able to make parts.

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I am sure you will convince them. We use our Jet quite a bit for making axles and spacers it works great.

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A small import lathe can easily machine custom axels, spacers, etc. Machining 1/2 inch 7075 hex shaft tends to push the limits of their ability.

You definitely need to be on top of the maintance game with these small lathes. If you machine much hex stock frequently, inspect the gibs for free play often.

Re: Lathe Suggestions
 

We purchased this lathe last year: http://www.micromark.com/microlux-7x...athe,9615.html
We were limited on space and could only handle a benchtop lathe.
We put the lathe ontop of this rolling workbench : http://www.costco.com/TRINITY-72%22-...100235671.html

You will also notice it has a longer bed than most others on the market.
It worked for everything we needed.
I'd recommend this lathe to anyone looking for a benchtop lathe.


FRC5090

Re: Lathe Suggestions
 

I believe we're looking at this one:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-x...campaign=zPage

Waiting to hear back from Grizzy regarding suggested accessories that work with it.

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Any thought on this slightly larger Harbor Freight model (8x12)?

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-...the-44859.html

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I bought that lathe back in 2006 when it was about half the price. I've been very happy with it. It's twice the machine of the 7X lathes. Tight, smooth, accurate, and relatively powerful. You can use a 20% off coupon to buy it.

Be aware though, no quick change gearbox.