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Originally Posted by Jared
Monarch lathes are quite good, but they extremely expensive to buy/maintain and are overkill for FRC. The 10EE's I use often have lots of issues with electronics - the vacuum tubes for the variable speed drive are unreliable, and sometimes don't warm up like they are supposed to. That said, they are an absolute joy to use!
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I second that. We have a 10EE and while it's the finest lathe I've ever used and will likely outlive me, I would never, ever recommend it to a team that has never owned a lathe before and has no experience with machine tools. Any 10EE that the average FRC team can afford is going to need work put into it that is extremely tedious, time consuming, and potentially frustrating. There are a lot of resources online that can be invaluable, but it's way too much of a crapshoot for people who aren't familiar with machine tools and electronics.
A Hardinge HLV-H is a similarly excellent machine that has much more conventional electronics, but for a machine in good shape you're still looking at more than most FRC teams can afford ($10k-15k).
For the price the harbor freight lathe probably isn't terrible as a starter machine to get exposed to machining and to help you figure out what you want down the line once you're familiar with lathes and know what to look for. There's really no particular "benchtop" lathe that you can purchase new that will be the clear choice as a standout in quality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by asid61
Those are ok, but you would still have to grind them down for 3/8" and smaller snap rings- those require a 0.029" wide groove, and the tools to make that cost $50+ unless you make your own. I recently was able to make my own Thinbit holder, and I highly recommend that route- it's very easy to make your own holders for indexable tooling.
Oh, you'll want a Quick Change Tool Post (QCTP). They make toolchanges super fast and height adjustments easy.
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If you have a Thinbit holder, what is causing you to struggle to find inserts for small grooving? .019, .029, and .039 are all stock sizes from Thinbit. You can get them from Western Tool, or McMaster will source them for you with a 1 week lead time if you call and ask for them.