Need a lathe.

[Gwil]

I live up a dirt road in Portugal, in the lovely middle of nowhere, but, the nearest machine shop is 50 miles away!

I'm retired and on a pretty tight budget, so the scrapyard is my normal habitat. Currently I'm building a lowered and chopped about sidecar outfit from an old Suzuki 1500 and a Russian military sidecar, and through being the only guy around with serious tools I have responsibility for the local goatherd's tractor/pickup/dairy and anything else made of metal (irrigation pumps a favourite) for miles around. We're never short of goat's milk......or cabbages. Why didn't I buy a ruin next to a vineyard?

Reached the point where I need a lathe for the sidecar fittings, something bigger than a Myford/Boxford because of the tractor type stuff, but that comes in under a ton in weight. I've got a shipper who's given me an unbeatable quote for Uk pickup and delivery here.

Where to shop though, who to trust? I've had what seemed like reasonable exchanges from ebay sellers, checked with the shipper, gone to bid only to discover the ******** have pulled the item from auction- no indication it was on sale elsewhere. Do these guys understand what an auction is?

I have to take any description on trust, like are the spindle bearings ok, and my experience to date makes me wary.

Any advice welcome!

 

[shedfull]

I've used this site for wanted ads and had good responses.

http://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/

however if you get a dud its not my fault

Why not ask for a video of it running / cutting you'll get a good idea what it's like from that.

Lee

 

[Gwil]

Thanks for that- I'll try it. The video's a great idea too.

I keep stumbling on people on this site and others who've picked up some stonker for little more than scrap money. Born under a lucky star I guess!

 

[fizzy]

You mention the shipping. Please be aware shipping lathes is NOT easy. Something small like a Boxford/Myford shouldnt be too bad but if they are on a stand they are still top heavy and all the weight is at one end.
The lathe would need to be strapped to a good quality pallet or even better bolted down. Getting someone you have bought it from to do this can be very difficult,
We ship these all the time UK and Europe - machine tools need special preparation.

 

[Rig Pig]

It would be worth having a uk holiday to inspect the lathe before purchase as buying and shipping a turd all that way would be a bit annoying! Aren't there any machines available in Portugal? In the uk the bargains are private sales, the dealers always want top money, even for clapped out junk. Don't be tempted by the Chinese lightweight lathes.

 

[Cyberprog]

*holiday, with a hire van to bring the thing back with too!

 

[Gwil]

No Chinese for sure. Dunno how they manage to make stuff out of noodles but they do!

There are lathes here but you can multiply the price for anything good by at least four compared to the Uk- it's a small market, and due to import taxes the original cost was in telephone numbers.

I'm coming over in February with my pickup- it can handle a ton in the back so maybe that's the answer? Some old but reasonable Colchester Student or similar would fit in, at least if it was a turd I'd KNOW it was a turd.....

 

[Wedg1e]

Aye, the Student is a good bet for size/capability/ price - and weight, coming in at about 650Kg. Plenty of them about as well. Even the 'square-head' Mk2 can be had for under £1000 but the later 1800 variant can easily rise to double that. The Mk1 and 2 had gap or no-gap bed variants so do your homework if large diameter parts are your thing.
Slightly down the scale would be the Boxford VSL: essentially an AUD with constantly-variable speed, it also featured a beefier spindle with a larger bore and taper-fitting chucks rather than the screw-on variety.
The later the better; the two-tone khaki 'VSL500' version was the last of the breed. More compact than a Student and a couple of hundred kilos lighter but still with 5" swing - no gap bed though so you can't get brake discs in. Highly prized by model engineers so you'd do well to bag a late one for under £800.

 

[Pete.]

There's a Town Woodhouse with chucks and faceplates finishing this morning in Yorkshire. Bit big for shipping over-seas but looks in fine condition yet no-one has bid on it. If it was a Myford it would be in the high hundreds now and it's sitting unwanted at £250.

 

[Gwil]

So tempting...it is big though, ton and a half according to the seller. Strangely, a site here in Portugal has just posted up a Boxford VSL- no cabinet and looks well used but cheap at 400 euros. Would be a 500 mile round trip away though.

Decisions decisions...

 

[Wedg1e]

So tempting...it is big though, ton and a half according to the seller. Strangely, a site here in Portugal has just posted up a Boxford VSL- no cabinet and looks well used but cheap at 400 euros. Would be a 500 mile round trip away though.

Decisions decisions...

That's not a VSL, it's an A-series non-underdrive (with Imperial screw-cutting gearbox) and an old one at that - certainly pre-1970, perhaps even pre-1960.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/boxford/page2.html

 

[CRB]

Transport and workshop combined. Number 2

Of course you need to ask for the price, but ?worth considering if the pennies are available?

 

[Gwil]

Thanks- the seller thinks it's a VSL, but from your link I realise it's certainly not.

Love the truck- pile of pennies almost certainly not tall enough....

 

[brightspark]

i think the weight of that is rather lighter than stated