Advice on what to buy.....

[Hood]

Thanks - that is good advice - Tooling - id not forgotten that and I'm looking at that in that price as well - Obviously that is a big expense, I take it the advice would be to buy new ? or is 2nd hand tooling considered to be ok ?

I have a CNC lathe, 2 CNC mills, a CNC plasma and a manual lathe, I would hate to get rid of any of them but if I had to only have one it would be a manual lathe.

Regarding the tooling, second hand can be ok if you know what you are looking for but often they are being sold because they are damaged or parts missing or inserts obsolete/hard to find. Personally I would go for new tools, the likes of Cutwel do good quality tools and often have them on special. I have both used the Kolroy and Teknik tools from them and I would say the quality is as good as the big boys. Personally, as I do this for a living, I would not entertain the Chinese tools but some people seem to think they are ok, they are certainly very cheap.

 

[Screwdriver]

I have approx £2,000 max to spend - Evil bay is a bad place..... I could just about stretch to a Mill and a Lathe - If no body out bids me..... So much choice and a few nice things.

Pics will be forth coming once i'm set up and turned/milled my first part.

If there are any one out there looking to off load a Lathe or Mill I would be grateful if you would let me know....

Wow. Ok I got a lathe, a milling machine, a flypress, a 200 amp AC/DC Tig and still got change out of £500. Fetching the stuff home is a big expense I like to ignore, plus of course the days and weeks spent watching and waiting for the right one to come along and the occasional bad deal (which we all like to ignore as being part of the "cost").

I guess what I am suggesting here is that the purchase price of a big machine like a lathe or mill isn't even half the story. You need to research your chosen target or research the subject so that you can spot a suitable candidate from the zillions of choices if one turns up. You need to have the space to accommodate it and again that is generally twice the size of the actual machine, more if it creates an issue with access or to account for table travel, long stock etc. It should come with ALL THE TOOLING IN THE WORLD. Machines by themselves are 2 for a penny. it's the tooling that makes it.

For a lathe that means 3 and 4 jaw chuck, quick change toolpost and half a dozen tool holders, then a decent selection of cutting tools, that's really a minimum requirement. Collet chuck (system) is a luxury but makes the machine vastly more efficient and versatile. Same goes for milling machines where a rotary index could be worth more than the whole shebang and the seller might include it basically to "get rid" of the machine without having to pay. Same thing with the flypress. Unless it's a spectacularly interesting one, you really want it to come with a bolster, a decent bending jig etc.

For a newbie (as I once was) it can be overwhelming but the more you know about your subject, the more likely you are to get the right machine at the right price or more importantly perhaps, the right spec for your requirements. Buying accessories after the fact means you'll be paying a massive price premium. A bare bones toolroom lathe can be had for peanuts, a decent four jaw chuck can cost £100's, travelling steady £100's more, collet chuck system. £100's...

Caveat emptor.

 

[Me.]

thanks the offer of all that equipment for £500 is accepted...... Or did I get that bit wrong. LOL

Your advice is noted - I have 700sq foot, workshop so space is not a problem - at the moment.....

 

[addjunkie]

2k will get you a decent lathe, or not so decent lathe and mill.

Transport costs could be your issue

 

[Arc Tourist]

Just noticed a new listing on the gandmtools.co.uk site for a Centec II mill with the desirable mark 3 head. single phase with the optional power feed.

The listing number is 80210763

 

[jerrytug]

One of the folk on here, John @doubleboost has a Youtube channel and every Sunday evening he puts on a couple of short but educational and amusing videos about turning and milling. Definitely worth a look for you.

 

[Fraserb]

One of the folk on here, John @doubleboost has a Youtube channel and every Sunday evening he puts on a couple of short but educational and amusing videos about turning and milling. Definitely worth a look for you.

I watched his videos with the plasma table first then went to see him about the table, he gave me a look at his lathes and milling stuff as well, been watching his videos since and I've now decided I need a lathe and mill.

 

[Arc Tourist]

Seen just about every video.