Chinese Lathes

[bugs]

Hi All,

I have had my heart set on getting a metal lathe for a while now, more just for learning and playing around with that anything serious. alot of stuff I have read has said dont buy a chinese lathe they are rubbish, however my budget isnt huge and as this is more of a learning tool would it 'do' i`m not after anything huge either.

or am I best just saving my money and shelling out the £600 for a lathe?

Thanks

 

[rtbcomp]

For your purpose I'd go for an early drummond, maybe a round-bed. Have a look on Ebay, they go for a few hundred pounds (I got an incomplete one for £50) and they'll keep their value. Those small Chinese lathes will depreciate very quickly.

 

[julianthegypsy]

Seconded. You don't need to spend £600 to get something solid, keep your eye on evilbay and something will turn up. I bought a very old but very lovely harrison for £300 a few years ago, it would run rings around any of the chinese jobs in terms of...well absolutely everything really!

 

[zzr1200]

Gumtree and Preloved are also worth keeping a close eye on (better than Fleabay, imo), there was a Myford 7 with a lot of bits local to me a couple of weeks back for 280-00, it didn't stay on for long, looked a true bargain.

PS. theres a couple of 300-00 ish lathes around your area on gumtree at the moment...plus another couple on Preloved.

hth

 

[jackjosh]

I got a Raglan Littlejohn Mk2 with a screwcutting gearbox for £280 off fleabay and promptly sold my Chinese mini-lathe, nuff said. A Drummond as stated previously is also fine but for a quality lathe at the right price i would back a Raglan machine, they also have a mechanical variable speed system which works really well.

 

[mr_splatter]

Some sound advice there. One thing I would add is factor in the price of tooling. A second hand lathe will be a much better bet if it includes chucks, some sort of tool post, face plates etc as these can be expensive if you need to buy separately.

 

[ronan]

If you have a good bit of space in your work area then you can pick up larger machines cheaper than the smaller stuff. Myfords and boxfords etc go for more money than big old Harrison's and Colchester's.

 

[robwizard]

I have a Myford ML2 or 4 (can't remember..) in pieces at the workshop. Bought for £200 to get it back to it's former glory but never got round to doing so. Made a new bush for the cross slide as it was a little wobbly but now it's doing nothing. Would like back what I paid for it.. give us a shout if your interested.

Cheers

 

[stormin]

£600 would have nearly bought you my best two lathes. Got my Colchester Student for £200, bit worn but ideal for me as a beginner at the time. I've recently just got a DSG 13x40 for £500, an utter steal. If you watch Ebay long and patiently enough the bargains are there to be had.

I've also got a Myford ML7 that was just missing a motor and some handwheels, which I still havent got fully up and running. Paid £100 for the lathe and £5 for a motor.

 

[jackjosh]

Harrison's and Colchester's are what I have used most and are fine machines but remember they will need an inverter as they will probably be three phase and also pull a higher current, so you will need to have a good supply to your work area.

 

[Keith 66]

Harrisons have the advantage that they have a clutch so the motor can run all the time. The motor is rear mounted on a slotted plate so fitting a single phase motor is easy.
I still have a good L5 for sale with basic tooling.

 

[jackjosh]

The L5 is a great machine but the newer M series does not have a clutch and is expensive, an L5 at a good price would be fine choice.

 

[ford34/2]

Price drop on L5

L5 down to £450

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=38014&page=2

Stan