Thread: small/mini metal lathe

Am new to this and metal lathes want to buy one
any ideas which one.
Am rebuilding a mini minor and would like to turn
down a couple of things.

Have a look at this recent thread.

I would be looking at older second hand lathes .I bought a second hand Myford Super 7 at an auction ,although not a large lathe by any means ,it is a precision lathe ,fits the space I have and fills my needs .
It came with a heap of accessories ,Myford collets , Myford swivel milling vice , face plates steadies , and a Myford dividing attachment .
I must admit I got this very cheap , the other bidders at the auction had no idea what this lathe was and what it was worth .Luck was with me on that day .
To replace all this new at todays' prices I would have to take out a second mortgage on my house to be able to buy just the lathe alone.

I would check out some second hand machinery places and see what is available .
I know a guy here in town picked up an ex defence Harrison 250 lathe for $1,100.00 ,if I had known about it before hand I would have grabbed it.It was around 12 years old ,but had done little work.
I set it up for him leveled and tested for accuracy, he uses it for gunsmith work and he is very happy with it and it will out last him .

Kev

As has been said buy a hercus if you can afford one. Get a model A if you can, they go for about $950 on ebay and model C's go for about $750. The later 260's go for about $1500ish. The "A" is the go they have power cross feed and quick change gearbox. If you get the backgear they cut a range of metric threads. In practise you don't cut that many threads but a thread cutter has certain other features like tumble reverse and low speeds that are useful for other work.

Myford are overrated, smaller than a hercus less versatile and more expensive. The model train people apparently love them, and anglophiles...I'd have one but not for more $ than a hercus. Sheraton are another south bend copy (Hercus are too), and there is another I've forgotten that's common in aus. Sometimes you can find a prewar south bend on the bay cheap, but they often have a reduced feature set.

Have a look at lathes.co.uk for some great info on lathes generally.

A hercus size lathe (9" swing 4.5" center height) is the smallest lathe that's really useful on full size projects like a car. If you want to get serious keep an eye out for a colchester. Quality machine and the student and post war bantams aren't too big. Much heavier than a hercus. Chipmasters were always a precision top end machine so no wonder that one got $3200 with all that tooling. I personally don't like them but that's taste.

Also be aware that old big lathes are scrap value only. If you have the space you can get an old whopper for about $500. Your talking 15' long or more though. Might need an engine crane to change chucks.

If you see a Dean Smith and Grace 13 X 30 or similar at an affordable price buy it or tell me about it. They are the RR of lathes.

I am a mechanic by trade but have done a lot of turning and other metal work. Was a CSIRO technical officer for many years. Don't buy an asian machine. I can get work out of them but you really have to hold your tongue right and you don't need the trouble if your learning.

2c.