Which lathe for £600-800 ?

[vtsteam]

Reading this topic got me curious about what was available on Ebay here for lathes. Maybe I should consider moving to something heavier than my Sears/Atlas 12" x 42".

I was apalled -- I saw almost no lathes in the price range I'd bought my present lathe in a few years ago. There were just lathe parts. I saw at least a half dozen used steady rests for prices between $495 and $695. Just steady rests! I just bought a similar one to those in the ads for my lathe at the Bernardston engine meet a few months ago for $30.

Ebay here has gone berserk.   

[Fergus OMore]

This big lathe v small lathe thing will continue to continue- ad nauseum.
One answer to why 'we' or 'wee'( that old generation) have small lathes is because we are restricted in space because of all sorts of reasons. I cannot imagine the outcry if I arrived in my neck of the woods with a bloody big mill and equally big lathe. I've already got a titchy little Unimat clone thing to replace my Myford.- when the time comes. Let us take this a step further. The Unimat thing came from a bloke that 'went into a care home'.

Looking at the thing coldly and rationally, about one in four of you blokes will be limping about with a bag of pink urine in one hand. Another set will be limping around with a variety of ball and socket joints whilst another will be queuing up to have a little Stent. Not the tool and cutter grinder but the one my son in law does!
At least, I don't have any problems in 'spending my children's inheritance', he's doing quite well- thank you.

There's a whopping Beemer on the drive with a big VW little people carrier alongside and the scaffolding up for a £50K extension to keep up with the rest of his peers. Back to Liberal Peers?

I have a point- the grim reaper always wins.
Enjoy?

[raynerd]

Looking at the thing coldly and rationally, about one in four of you blokes will be limping about with a bag of pink urine in one hand. Another set will be limping around with a variety of ball and socket joints whilst another will be queuing up to have a little Stent

Hope not too soon, I'm only 29.

I have a point- the grim reaper always wins.
Enjoy?

If you did have a point, I am still none the wiser!!

[John Stevenson]

At least he never mentioned that George Thomas, Sparey, Geometer etc, all guys who knew how to use a lathe, not talk about it, are dead.

[AdeV]

I know for a fact that having a big lathe is, for me, better than having a small one. I've turned all kinds of stuff in mine that a small lathe would have been totally incapable of.

However.... the "you can always do small work in a big lathe" doesn't always hold true.... mine only goes 670rpm, which is more than enough when you've got a foot-diameter lump of steel on it... but if you're trying to turn a 2mm aluminium shaft? Forget it, the tool just bends the metal out of the way.

I reckon I could use something about the size of a Boxford - or maybe even smaller - for those occasional fiddly little tasks where 3000rpm would actually come in handy...

[S. Heslop]

Ebay here has gone berserk.   

I was keeping an eye on oxford oil filled welders for a long while on ebay, hoping to find one for sale up north. I thought it was pretty funny watching the prices slowly hike from the usual £30 up to £200 at one point. I suppose that occasionally an optimistic person seeing them selling for £30 would try get away with £40, and then once others see that £40 it becomes the new standard price. Then the same again till they're priced so riddiculously they stop selling, and the prices start to come back down again.

I saw the same thing when looking for an old computer too so I wouldn't be surprised if this happens for most items on ebay.

I'm not really big on ebay to be honest, it seems to encourage people to be alot sneakier and greedier than in life.

[tekfab]

Are you still looking for an Oxford ?

Mike

[S. Heslop]

I'm not sure to be honest. Rob said he might be selling an inverter for cheap soon so I stopped regularly checking ebay.

The real problem with the oxford welders is that they weigh so much it'd cost a fortune in shipping, so i'd need to buy one somewhere locally to collect.

[DMIOM]

Chris,

I've no idea how suitable it might be for you, but I've just noticed a Boxford CUD with QCTP listed yesterday on John's homeworkshop site.

Dave

[NickG]

The only lathes I would have here will be Harrison or Colchester newer 65 onwards lathes, no need to faff about with change wheels just dial in the pitch imperial or metric.
You can do small stuff on larger lathes you cant do larger stuff on small lathes.
Picked up an M300 three years ago £850, everything good and its British so will last a lot longer.
Previous Harrison 140 knocked me £300 and scrapped it for £200 fully tooled with coolant 1ph.

Bide your time forget ebay unless can view the dumping ground first, many go for more than the new price at the time.
Boxfords nice size so are Bantams new and old, take someone that knows what to look for you wont look back and wonder why people rave about ML7's at more cost!

Got to agree with this, although i did get mine via ebay so it can be done. 
Mine only goes to 720 rpm but i rarely use it that fast - prob can't do 2mm aluminium but can def do 2mm brass and steel. Besides, Chris has a cowells for that sort of thing, by the sound of it you can't beat those for a small lathe.

[AdeV]

Hmm, I use 670rpm all the time. Carved .375" x 5" off a 1" bar of EN8 this evening, 3 bites + a finishing cut, gotta love a strong lathe... The chips were nearly black on one side, you could really smell the sulpher in the oil working. The only trouble, in fact, with going that fast is watching out for work hardening...

I was keeping an eye on oxford oil filled welders for a long while on ebay, hoping to find one for sale up north.

A welder mate of mine has a big oil-filled arc welder he never uses, he'd almost certainly part for it for scrap money. Based in Wallasey (CH44) if that's any use to you. It'll be a hulking great 3-phase thing, I have no idea what make, or model, can get some details if you're interested.

[S. Heslop]

A welder mate of mine has a big oil-filled arc welder he never uses, he'd almost certainly part for it for scrap money. Based in Wallasey (CH44) if that's any use to you. It'll be a hulking great 3-phase thing, I have no idea what make, or model, can get some details if you're interested.

Thanks for the offer but Liverpool is a bit out of the way for me. I'm up in Gateshead.

What makes things difficult is that I don't have and cant afford a car, so i'm relying on lifts from friends and family.

[vtsteam]

Steve, that's admirable -- a welder before a car! 

[ParCan]

Chris

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/myford-ML7-lathe-/141047686596
looks like it could be well worth a punt.
It's an Ml7 so nothing special but it looks like it has a ton of stuff with it, maybe even the Myford dividing head.
Also looks very clean and the bed looks very good.
Worth ~ £500 Max so pull out before then unless you see it and it is as good as it looks to be.

[Swarfing]

Chris a neighbor of mine quizzed me a couple of months ago on what to look for on a second hand lathe. We talked a while and spent some time trawling the bay. He had £500 budget and was going to stick with it but nothing came up. He had a day off work and decided to go knock the doors of all the engineering places local. A couple had lathes they wanted to get rid of but to up market and out of his price range. he left his number though wherever he went. A few days later a chap rang him and barked down the phone "Bring your £500 quid round i have something for you", when he asked what it was the guy replied "Just get your arse round here or it's going in the bin". He drove round and the guy had an all singing all dancing job (Shorty mastiff i believe) and a stack of chucks and tools. He even loaded it and dropped it off to his garage. It turns out the guy had a change around in the shop and decided to get rid of their back up lathe that just never got any use as they are mostly CNC.

What i'm trying to say is go knock some doors and you maybe just as lucky? They can only say no or point you to one that's for sale. There are still lots of shops around using gear that is not up to todays safety standards butt fine for hobby use.

PS

He picks up his Mill (85 BP) next week from the same guy for £50 as he sick and tired seeing it in the way :-)

[raynerd]

lol,, problem is that I`m never that guy who hits it lucky!!!
Good point... is worth a try!

Chris

[dsquire]

lol,, problem is that I`m never that guy who hits it lucky!!!
Good point... is worth a try!

Chris

Chris

Ask the question even though you feel the answer will be "NO". You are giving him the opportunity to say "YES". Sometimes you will be pleasantly surprised. 

Cheers 

Don

 

[raynerd]

lol,, problem is that I`m never that guy who hits it lucky!!!
Good point... is worth a try!

Chris

Chris

Ask the question even though you feel the answer will be "NO". You are giving him the opportunity to say "YES". Sometimes you will be pleasantly surprised. 

Cheers 

Don

True - as the saying goes, "if you don`t ask, you don`t get"

Chris

[S. Heslop]

shy bairns get nowt

[garym]

lol,, problem is that I`m never that guy who hits it lucky!!!..........

Chris

Are you sure you should be building an arcade game, Chris?   

Gary