Thread: CQ6230A 12x36 lathe

Hi Darren,

I have that same lathe. Although mine is an earlier CQ6230 model (early 1990's). There are lots of them around, often with different badging, Grizzly, and others have their own badging.

The maker, (although probably not the only one) is Shaoxing
Products - SHAOXING TONGLI MACHINE TOOL COL.,LTD.

DaveJ also has the same model, I'm pretty sure his is a Gasweld Toolex as well.

I've done a lot of upgrades to mine, DRO, QCTP, 2HP VFD, and other smaller bits and pieces. I recommend the DRO and QCTP as essential.

I'm happy with mine. and there are lot's of others with the same or very similar lathes who can help if you get into trouble down the track.

Hope that helps

Regards
Ray

Edit: They all have power cross feed as far as I know.

Hi Darren,
I have that same lathe and could not speak more highly of it over the H&F's model. The fit and finish is better the accuracy is spot on and it does has powered cross feed. It also has 18 speeds and is a imperial lead screw which I think is better than a metric one's that you have to change the thread dial gears constantly for different pitches.
Reg around the corner from me also bought one.and has a few photos on his site
Reg's Workshop
If their is anything you want to know or pictures just let me know.
Here are a few pictures to give you a better look at it.









If you are coming up Newcastle way you are welcome to have a look and do some machining on it if you want to.

Dave

When I bought mine I used the other suppliers prices to barter them with. I got the lathe, stand and a live centre thrown in for $3000 and the price 7 years ago is what it is now, but the stand was $295 then. From what I have heard on here the guy in Sydney is good to deal with so it would be worth trying to get at least the lathe and stand for $3000.

Dave

Edit
I also found the chucks that came with my machine where back plate mount instead of direct cam lock mount. For the 3 jaw this was good as it gives a little wiggle room to get it running perfectly true, instead of being stuck with a fixed cam lock style. Also new chucks can be fitted to these back plates instead of having to buy a cam lock one.

Ray and Dave,

Thanks very much for your feedback, information, photos, and links. They were all very useful.

I've set aside an additional $400 for some basic tooling and a dial indicator so hopefully I can get a good deal for the lot. I've found that they have one on display in the Penrith Gasweld which is only an hour from campbelltown. I'll go and take a look I think.

What are the DROs you guys have? DRO's are on my wish list but I think beyond my budget for a little while.

Thanks and regards,
Darren

Just remember the display one wont look real good as it has been sitting their and will have rust and probably have parts missing pinched of it. The one in the Newcastle store has been their for 10 or more years.
The one you will get will be in a crate with all the rust preservative still on it.
If you can learn to sharpen HSS which is not hard, you can buy sticks for around $8 each and will last a long time. Carbide tooling is good for hard stuff, but you have the money for the spare tip which can be chipped easy.
If you get up around Morriset Mega markets they have 2 tool stores their that are a lot cheaper than the store prices. Also check out CTC tooling because he sells gear direct from over their and most of use on here buy from him. Years ago (before I would buy off the internet) I fell into the trap of buying locally and I now look back and think how much more I could have had buying direct from overseas.Sometimes it is marked up to 500% more here.

As for the DRO's the Sino one's are good and will cost around $450 for a complete 2 axis which is plenty good enough for a lathe. You can go for a 3 axis (one for the compound like I have done) and it will cost you around $550 but is not really needed.

Dave

PS
I just had a look and CTC can send you a 0.01mm dial indicator for $17.76 all up
DIAL INDICATOR GAUGE #C92
PSS
And here is the HSS tool blanks for grinding your own tooling.
HSS TOOL BIT - SQUARE STOCK - LENGTH 100MM (1 PC) #H30

Hi Darren,

A DRO is one of those things that, once you use it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it.

I got one from Meister, and found them excellent to deal with, they will help you with choosing the scale lengths.

eBay Australia Store

It's probably going to set you back close on $400 by the time you pay postage and so on.

The other good one, is the Sino that Dave has, with the scale on the compound, which I don't have on mine. There are times when it would be handy.

Dave's pretty much said it already, but I'll add another vote for CTC tools.
CTC Tools Home Page

Regards
Ray

Another vote for the Meister and it is now cheaper. I have 2 x 3 axis sets and I would have mentioned and recommended them as I think they are the top of the range in the cheaper unit's, but they used to be a lot more expensive.
I find with the Miester you don't have to go into the sub menu like I do on the Sino for some things and the buttons are all in English. Back up service for any questions are first class (in English) even years on. I only had one problem with the 2 sent to me and it one of the cords. It is just a computer power cord but he sent me another one strait away, and when I asked questions about connecting Mitutoyo scales to the unit he sent me all the wiring diagrams and was fully helpful.

Like Ray has said once you have had a DRO you will wonder how you did without it. On a standard lathe you have to count hand wheel revolutions and calculate for radius and diameter. The carriage hand wheel is also course reading, so you end up having to calculate between the carriage and the compound for longer stuff.
With the DRO it is all there in plan English dividing any length moved into 0.005mm (0.001mm optional) increments, and you can select radius/ diameter by the push of a button. It also has a taper function for machining tapers precisely, stored tool off sets and loads more including a calculator. It takes the hard part of using a lathe out of it.
If I bought another lathe it would be the first thing fitted to it, and with the dollar being so high it is a good time to buy.


Thanks for posting that Ray as I had forgot they have brought out some new ones that are even cheaper than the Sino's. When I used to recommend them to people they would question why the where a few hundred dollars dearer than others and also come with no mounting brackets. Even though they are a better DRO it is hard to convince 1st time users to pay a few hundred more for a DRO with less pieces.

At that price it makes me want to buy a head unit for the shaper.lol

Dave

Originally Posted by Dave J

At that price it makes me want to buy a head unit for the shaper.lol

Dave

Hi Dave,

I'm seriously considering one of these for the mill..

150mm 6" Vertical DRO Digital Readout Quill Milling LCD (eBay item 230527702509 end time 16-Apr-11 16:05:56 AEST) : Industrial

Would it be suitable for the shaper, or do you need XY?

Regards
Ray

Thanks guys. I'll enjoy looking into both the Meister and Sino DROs.
I've had a look at the CTC site and I'll have another good long look tomorrow. It looks great. I've bought electronics from HK in the past and come out way in front.

Its been many years since I did metalwork in high school. I've just bought the TAFE fitting and machining book to help me back into it. I had planned to buy a pile of carbide tools now and learn how to grind HSS tools later... but I might bring the HSS tools forward and save my carbide money for a DRO system. Mild steel will be the hardest thing I'm likely to use in the near future.

Tomorrow I'll have a look at QCTPs.

Darren.

One thing I just remembered about the Sino DRO's is they have a backup battery that if left unpowered for more than a year will need to be replaced by the factory.
I contacted Miester to see if they had a backup battery because it wasn't in the manual, and they have told me that they don't have a battery. So that is another one up for Miester.


Ray
That would be a good idea for the quill, I see a lot of people have been fitting that type and are happy with them. If you have the quill clamp made for your CNC you could attach it to that, or if you haven't made it you could maybe make a provision for it in the pattern. Just be careful if you are drilling into the bottom of the front of the head because the spindle lock hole is close as I found that out when drilling the first mill.

I have a 150mm glass scale for the quill that I had on the old mill but haven't got around to putting it on this one. I got it out of the cupboard a few weeks ago to re fit to this mill, but that is as far as it got. All the brackets and quill clamp are made I just have to drill the line it up and drill the holes.
It is surprising how much you miss it after you have had it before. My technique for putting the depth of cut has always been to get the knee close then use the quill to put on the last 10-20mm. Without having the scale on the quill I have been using the knee which is a pain in the neck.

For the shaper I am not sure, but I have been thinking of using a scale like you posted for the down feed on the clapper. I think a glass scale on the ram would not only be vulnerable, but would take a beating with vibration and the cable would get a real workout going back and forward so many times.
When I was looking last year there was a ebay shop in the US selling those scales cheap and the postage was a good price. I will try to track it down for you.

I have some new Mitutoyo glass scales that I picked up on ebay cheap for the X and Y for the Douglas shaper and have the spare Miester DRO with 3 scales off the old mill for the Alba, so I have been thinking of sharing the read out between shapers. I could always make a switch up instead of having to unplug them all the time.


Dave

I forgot to mention earlier, that the Meister 2 axis DRO that Ray linked to is $340 AU and $70 postage. So at $410 posted it would be about the cheapest readout I have seen and you get a good quality unit as well.
It also now comes with a mounting bracket, a back plate for the cross slide scale and plastic end plates for the scale covers, they didn't come with any of this before.
Meister ARC2 digital readout DRO Scale 500~ 900mm Lathe (eBay item 330505568855 end time 06-Apr-11 18:42:14 AEST) : Industrial

Dave

Hi Ray,
I think this is the guy, I know I had to ask for the postage price which was reasonable. At that price it might make it worth while to get a couple to save on postage.
I just remembered I have one on my 15 inch timber thicknesser I could use, but a dedicated one would be better.
6"/ 150mm VERT DIGITAL QUILL DRO KIT-BRIDGEPORT READOUT (eBay item 310200431330 end time 09-Apr-11 04:46:30 AEST) : Business Industrial

Dave

Hi Dave,

Thanks for that link, I'll have a closer look at it, first impression is it looks like the one that came on my thicknesser as well.
I think that it's a smaller display size than the meister, but still, at that price.

Regards
Ray

You could always borrow the thicknesor one for now.
I never noticed the smaller screen. though it would be only a foot away from your eyes, so I think it would be easy enough to read.

There was a guy on US ebay selling a unusual 3 axis DRO with one scale being digital vernier type for around the same price as a 3 glass scale unit.. It had a unit that went between the scale and DRO to convert it's signal.
Here is a link to the auction
3 AXIS DRO MILL LATHE PACKAGE LINEAR DIGITAL SCALES NEW - eBay (item 330521809815 end time Jan-23-11 16:16:23 PST)=
And here is a better picture of the insides of the unit in post 9
The Home Machinist! • View topic - DRO Suggestions

Dave