Thread: Small Lathe Experiences

Thinking of buying a small lathe and was looking at H&F's AL-30. Does anyone have experience with this machine or another smallish, cheaper machine? A second hand machine (possibly a 9x20 style) would be OK but I have been looking for a while now and nothing suitable has come up.

I am going through a similar process at present, but am favouring Carbatec's C3 model, a 7x14 variable speed lathe.

Having inspected both, the Carbatec C3 is definetely a better finished and better specified lathe. Last I looked C/tec were selling it for $895, so a bit more than the AL30.

I take you have looked at these lathes on mini-lathe.com?

Blu_Rock,

In my opinion, you will regret buying a small lathe. They are fun and fine to learn on, but tomorrow, or the next day, you will wish it was a bit bigger. Sound familiar?

Have you considered buying a Hercus 9" lathe. There are a number on eBay at the moment. Mick Moyle may also be able to help you out.

If you buy a Chaiwanese lathe, you will only get what you pay for. Speak to our inimitable, Grahame Collins. He can tell you a few sad stories.

If you chase up a second hand Hercus in good nick, you will be buying a good quality lathe that has stood the test of time, and although spare parts are becoming scarce, someone, somewhere, will have what you want.

On the down side, you we have to hand over anywhere between $1000 & $2000.

Of course I'm a Hercus owner, so I guess I'm a little biased.

I cut my teeth on a miniature Unimat 3 lathe/mill.

It was great until it disappeared under a pile of swarf.

Ken

Originally Posted by Big Shed

ILast I looked C/tec were selling it for $895, so a bit more than the AL30.?

I was looking at the ctec site this morning and the C3 is now $1,160.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

I take you have looked at these lathes on mini-lathe.com?

Thanks for the link, I had not see it before. Interesting read.

More food for thought.

Originally Posted by neksmerj

In my opinion, you will regret buying a small lathe. They are fun and fine to learn on, but tomorrow, or the next day, you will wish it was a bit bigger. Sound familiar?

LOL .. yes it does!

Originally Posted by neksmerj

Have you considered buying a Hercus 9" lathe?

Ken, I am considering that option but I am pretty early in the serious research process and I am open to all suggestions. It would be good to get a decent quality S/H machine with some accessories as, I suppose, you can end up spending a packet on those in their own right.

Are the cheaper H&F machines <$1200 generally considered to be cheap and unreliable machines?

Thanks to you both for you comments... the hunt goes on.

Originally Posted by Blu_Rock

I was looking at the ctec site this morning and the C3 is now $1,160.

The Melbourne C/tec site has it for $995, as does the printed 2008 catalogue, when I was there last it was on special for $895, but that may have finished.

The Little Machine Shop site (US) is also very interesting, it has the user manual for the 7x14 C3 mini lathe.

Big Shed, thanks again for the info... I will have to make some time and go to c/tec in person and have a good look at these machines. I will also check out the Little Machine Shop site.

Regards

Blu

Grahame, I would appreciate your take on the AL-30 and C3 machines.

This Hercus 9" machine on eBay looks the part but would it be able to cut threads and metric pitch?

That Hercus has been sprayed with gay abandon all over the threads etc could hide anything the chuck is looking old on the lathe,the tool post is incomplete and the best thing is the safety covers and switchgear, looks like it was used in a public place, school etc, no gearbox, no evidence of gears for screw cutting certainly no metric ones on the accessories.

Take care Peter

Thanks Peter... I am flying in the dark here.

Flinders Uni is selling a couple of old lathes on Ebay at present. One is a Smart and Brown Model A, the other a Colchester Chipmaster.
Personally I think both would be lovely to own, but sadly both are way too overpriced for the market. Still if you were serious you could contact them and say you would be interested in making an offer after the auction is over. The Model A has to be 50 years old (they were made as a Mk1 up to @ 1957) however it is in very good order no doubt used for precision work only and has an extremely good amount of tooling such as collets and TA.

Originally Posted by hux

sadly both are way too overpriced for the market

Craig, you are not joking about their starting prices A$3,800 and the other @ A$3,200. They do look like great pieces of machinery. Look at those bits and pieces it comes with. Good tip about making a offer after the auction. I might just do that. Thanks

Originally Posted by Blu_Rock

Grahame, I would appreciate your take on the AL-30 and C3 machines.

Hi Blu Rock,
Sorry mate I am unable to provide an intelligent response on the above mentioned lathes other than to say I did look at an AL-30 at one time but thought it to small for my needs.In any case I choose not to deal with H& F.

One needs to look at what is in your machining future and make selections based upon work requirements which dictate:

• Spindle diameter
• Lathe Motor HP/KW
• Max Revolutions
• Gear or belt drive
• Feed screw ,lead screw
• Accessories available
• Costs of tooling the lathe
• Available spares
• Warranty

Buy on price and you will most likely will regret for one reason or another.
Cheers
Grahame

Thanks for your pointers Grahame.

I have all the time in the world to decide on what will best suit my needs. I do have a somewhat limited budget and although I was originally hoping to get up and running with the lathe and some tools for well under the $1,000 mark, I now realise that unless a decent S/H machine comes up, I will have to spend well over my initial budget.

I am now looking at H&F's AL-50GB or their AL-50GA both priced at $1,050. I can buy it locally at M&G Industrial Supplies in Canberra and I had a look at one in the flesh (steel) yesterday. Both are 230 x 500mm, 3/4 HP, max 1,800 RPM and come std with 4-jaw chuck (in addition to the 3-jaw), faceplate and 2x steadies. It also has imp/metric thread cutting as a std. I understand that this model is very similar, if not identical, to the Grizzly G4000 lathe that is sold in the USA (apart from some cosmetics and higher RPM due to different USA 60Hz AC frequency?). It also appears to be the same as the Toolex CR 575873 model sold by GasWeld @ $1,250. These machines are larger and more powerful than the Carba-tec C3 (1/2 HP 180 x 350mm, max 3,000 RPM) and they appear to be of a reasonable quality, for what you are paying.

Considering that you get the additional accessories, the package works out a fair bit cheaper than the Carba-tec C3 ($850-$1,150, depending on where you buy) that only comes with a 3 jaw and only imperial thread cutting a std. For the C3, you would need to shell out an additional $340 to get the equivalent accessories (4-jaw, 2x steadies and faceplate) and even more to get metric thread cutting capability.

That said, the C3 comes with a 3-year warranty (compared with H&F's 1-year), has digital electronic speed control (whether that is a good or bad thing, I don't know) and has a higher max RPM.

I will be doing a bit of Googling on the AL-50GA / Grizzly to see what people's experiences have been and would welcome any feedback from owners out there.

From memory this lathe is the C6, also carried by Carbatec. There is also a C4, which is EVS like the C3.

All these lathes are made by Sieg in China, they also make the X1, X2 and X3 Mills.