Lathe Suggestions

[FrankJ]

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.

[macman828]

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.

[marshall]

Originally Posted by macman828

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.

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

[Cory]

Originally Posted by macman828

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.

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.

[RoboChair]

Originally Posted by Cory

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.

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.

[Ryan Dognaux]

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.

[frcguy]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

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.

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

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally Posted by frcguy

This has been discussed quite a bit, here are two post 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

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

[frcguy]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

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

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

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

[RoboChair]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

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.

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.

[Jrizo]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

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

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

[InFlight]

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.

[eneubec1]

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

[Underdog_19]

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.

[matthewdenny]

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

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