Quote:
Originally Posted by RoboChair
Look for, Hardinge, Monarch, Clausing, Mori and their clones or competitors for your lathes. CNC is an even harder one to nail down, just pick a machine or brand with a reputation is my broadest advice.
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While I generally agree with this sentiment, for the purposes of the OP it seems like there is not enough familiarity with machine tools to make an informed decision on any kind of used machinery purchases. Particularly with lathes, where you can't just (fairly) safely pick any non beat to hell Bridgeport or similar clone.
It will pay to find a way to bring mentors into your team that have experience with machine tools. Perhaps you have sponsors that are machine shops/employ machinists and you could get them to help you evaluate a prospective machine. At a minimum definitely take Devin up on his suggestion to help guide you in the right direction.
Used machinery can be super hit or miss. There's a lot of old lathes out there that were made to a much higher standard of quality than new lathes are (that is not the case with mills), but there's also a lot that are going to be worn out pieces of junk, or require a good amount of tinkering by your team to tune them up and keep them in good working order.