Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

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taem
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Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:56 pm
Location: Derby Vermont

Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

Post by taem »

I know, I know. There must be a hundred of threads about this topic, and I think I have read most of them. What I have gleaned is that the better the question, the better the answers, so I will try to give you as much information as I can about what we are looking for. I am a semi retired farmer, assisted by my adult son who lives on the farm. I am a mechanical klutz; fortunately, he is incredibly smart about fixing things, doing most of the repairs on the machinery and usually making tools to solve a problem. We currently have an 11” Logan Powermatic, apparently cobbled together of spare parts the last year before the company imploded. There is no manual for it (we have looked) He found it rusting away in a shipping container where the school had dumped it when they stopped shop classes. It was so bad to look at, they gave it him for $1 and with much effort, he got it to some running order We have learned and used it, but it still has so many problems that spending anymore time and money seems like polishing a turd: bent lead screw, dicey Reeves drive, non functioning magnetic brake, horrible noises from the head stock bearings ($$$) to name a few.
So we’re looking around for something better. Our budget is $3500 or less, and we would like to have a manual lathe with a 12” swing or better and 34-40 inch centers, quick change gears, 1-1.5 hp 1 phase or 3 phase motor (we can rig a VFD if necessary), 1 1/2” spindle, a D1-4 chuck attachment or similar, qc tool post, and a good heavy machine (this one is 880 lbs.) American would be nice, but Taiwan or Korea ok. Not Chinese. We can truck it ourselves within about 250 miles of our Canadian border Vermont home and unload with a tractor. It would be used to do repairs on farm equipment, fabricate impossible to find parts for our older machines, straighten shafts, etc. plus make tooling for the lathe itself. It doesn't have to be perfect (our budget says that) but we would like to get it in action without spending huge amounts of money. Some of the tooling from the Logan will stay.

So here are some questions: we have been haunting auctions, Craigslist where we have missed out on a couple of lathes, Facebook marketplace and have touched base with a couple of used machinery dealers, who mostly sell bigger and more expensive stuff. Any other ideas? Are there machinery dealers/brokers in the Northeast who don’t upcharge 100% for clapped out barn finds? Do you have any recommendations for dealers who have a good track record? Any other sources, and recommendations for any particular machines that would fit what I listed above? Specific brands that are more reliable for the use we are talking about? Any other suggestions about what we should be looking for that I haven't mentioned? We are patient, but would like to get beyond our present situation whenever we can. Thanks in advance
curtis cutter
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Re: Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

Post by curtis cutter »

On a scale of 0-100 where a 1 is I want something that rotates and a 100 is Harold, I am I would guess at 10. That said, what are you planning on using this machine for? My old Enco makes farm stuff all day long but if I bid a job for NASA, the QC guy would have to stop laughing to breathe if he saw my machine.

Without knowing what you expect to do with it, it is likely hard to provide advice as to a direction to go.
Gregg
Just let go of it, it will eventually unplug itself.
taem
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:56 pm
Location: Derby Vermont

Re: Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

Post by taem »

As you will note, I specified at the end of the first paragraph that we would be repairing farm machinery, making hard to find parts for same and trying to improve machinist skills
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Bill Shields
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Re: Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

Post by Bill Shields »

Dealers are in business to make $.

Finding a good used lathe with your specs at at price is going to require looking and waiting until it shows up.
.
Government deals is a site I watch.

See a lot of stuff in Canada popping up
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Mwhite49
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2023 7:00 pm

Re: Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

Post by Mwhite49 »

I was in the same boat as you. Looking for a nice Clausing lathe. I lucked out on Facebook today and picked up a nice Logan model 1935-2 for $1,600. He even took a short video of it running. Nice clean and quite machine. 43 in bed. V belts and on a cabinet. He installed a new 3 phase motor recently. He runs a small fab company that is going all cnc for the most part. He purchased it from a airplane model builder. So not much use. And a 3 jaw and 4 jaw chuck, collets and the nice kdk tool holder. I could run 2 tool holders across from each other. I pick it up Monday.
Did yhe school have any more of these? If so that may be source of parts cheap.
Mike
hanermo
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Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:47 am

Re: Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

Post by hanermo »

I disagree on the no-chinese idea.

About 12 years ago I bought a new 12x24" *heavy*, note heavy, chinese lathe, a chester craftsman, from chester uk.
About 2500€. new.
350 kg, == 900 lbs, 450 kg with stand.

The heavy-series chinese lathes from about 11x upwards are really really good.
They have issues with fit and finish, but the spindles and spindle bearings are really good, and the torque is excellent.
About 2 microns tir on the spindle, 2 microns up-down slop, with no adjustments.
This is really really good - and I have over 2000 hours of work on it, all tool steel, carbide tools, lots of interrupted cutting.

Power feeds on x and z, originally.

The heavy series chinese / taiwan lathes are available from the usual culprits, although perhaps 3/4 offers are of the light versions.
Buy by mass !

For farm machinery stuff I would look for a newish heavy asian lathe of about 13x, about 5-10 years old, and in good nick.

Suggest:
(Skim) Turn a bar of about 80 mm D, on it, for 150 mm, and put a DTI on it 8 cm out, and pull-push it up and down by hand, when still mounted in the chuck.
If the slop is less than 0.01 mm, you have a winner.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

Post by Bill Shields »

My personal complaint with PRC ROC lathes has been rigidity of the compound.

Not to say that you cannot get a good one, but I seem to have hit a bunch of not-so-good units

My clunky old SB units all cut off a lot better...which is where you see the difference
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
taem
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:56 pm
Location: Derby Vermont

Re: Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

Post by taem »

Well, I appreciate all the responses here and a lot of useful information gleaned from other threads, We have just agreed to buy a Clausing 5914 with a good suite of tooling (aloris quick change post post, 10 tool holders, a six jaw chuck, 2 3 jaw chucks, a back plate, a steady rest , a collet closer, and a lot of small parts.) It looks to be in great shape, fitted with a vfd and sounds quiet and the Reeves drive is still working. The owner is a retired engineer whose shop is sparklingly clean and well appointed with machines he has bought new or restored. It meets nearly all of our requirements (something other than an L00 spindle would be nice, but really shouldn't complain) and is only 120 miles from home. We are still going to work on the Logan which we will sell with full disclosures. I don't like to discuss prices from a private sale, but it is well within our budget. Anything that we get from the Logan is gravy and will go for goodies like a follow rest and maybe a taper attachment. I look forward to a lot of learning with this machine
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Bill Shields
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Re: Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

Post by Bill Shields »

🙂
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
earlgo
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Re: Another newbie question about buying a used lathe

Post by earlgo »

My advice would be to avoid any Atlas/Craftsman lathe no matter how inexpensive it is. The bed has two flat ways and the bed is way too flexible for any heavy usage.
Just my opinion for what it is worth.
--earlgo
Before you do anything, you must do something else first. - Washington's principle.
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