Show us your lathe!

All discussion about lathes including but not limited to: South Bend, Hardinge, Logan, Monarch, Clausing and other HSM lathes, including imports

Moderators: GlennW, Harold_V

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Bill Shields
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Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by Bill Shields »

Correct
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
johnmostyn
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Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:23 am

Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by johnmostyn »

Hi, Im John, From Central Coast NSW Australia. New to machining. Willing to learn. We just recently bought a Optimum TU2506V lathe 2nd hand from a guy who is a machinist in Sydney. Came with a DRO setup, and 4 jaw chuck as well as 3jaw chuck, a MT4 ER32 collet chuck, quick change tool post and 6 extra tool holders, with various cutting tools
IMG_4040.jpg
, cutoff, and boring bars, MT4centre, MT2 dead centre, MT2 half centre, MT2 Live centre, MT2 die and tap holder MT2 drill chuck, a mini mill attachment and a ball turning post and a slide stop. The original compound slide was taken off but it came with the original compound, and an extra top slide to use the original tool post (4way).
looking forward to many hours of learning and playing around with it. Have enrolled in TAFE in a machining course to help me along quicker with the learning process.
cheers
John
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rmac
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Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by rmac »

Welcome, John, and congratulations on your new lathe. You'll find lots of friendly and experienced folks here who'll be happy to help with answers to your questions.

-- Russell Mac
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NP317
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Location: Northern Oregon, USA

Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by NP317 »

Welcome John.
Smart that you have found a machining course to attend.
That will be your best way to start enjoying the creative world of "making chips."
Your Optimum lathe looks like a good machine to begin your journey.
RussN
johnmostyn
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Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:23 am

Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by johnmostyn »

thanks Guys for the welcome,
looking forward to learning lots.
Just going through all the posts on the forum ATM
cheers
John
Kay_B
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Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:28 am

Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by Kay_B »

Not so long ago I got carried away with woodwork and recently finally decided to buy a lathe specifically for woodworking. I found a good article, but since I don't have a lot of experience, I can't choose the right machine for my needs. Maybe someone can tell?
Russ Hanscom
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Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:10 pm
Location: Farmington, NM

Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by Russ Hanscom »

Like ever thing, depends on what you want to do'; and then add a generous allowance! I do my limited wood turning on my 13" swing metal lathe.

Mt brother, who is a serious wood turner, has several wood lathes. A wide speed range, and the ability to turn on the outside of the head stock are desirable features. He has added riser blocks to get more swing for bowl and platter turning.

Anyone near you in the wood turning hobby that you can visit and query?
pete
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Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by pete »

I guess I'm a heretic who should be burned by any real wood workers and use my 11" x 27" metal working lathe for any minor wood turning I do Kay. Clean up is a pita but it's workable. Like Russ just posted, buying a proper wood turning lathe is really not much different than choosing a metal turning one. It's just a factor of your project size for swing and between centers length. Figure out what you want to do, how large it might be and find one that will fit your part requirements. Doing mostly spindle type work obviously would have a priority of length verses turning larger diameter bowl or platter type work. Maybe a bit OT to what you asked, but if anything wood working and especially wood turning seems to be rigidly locked into tradition for there machine design. Afaik most or maybe all hobby level wood turning lathes have small spindle through holes, threaded spindles for chuck and part mounting etc. The world has found much better spindle designs at least 50 or more years ago. And while those tiny through holes and threaded chuck mounts can be made to work, there's certainly much better. I always thought if I was really going to get into wood turning it would be better to find a 12"-14" swing metal turning lathe with decent head stock bearings, strip the carriage off it and add a simple tool rest. Most of us are somewhat limited in shop space so that may not be a workable idea for you.

Today it's not hard to find variable speed motors on wood turning lathes, but by most accounts I've read they all have fairly poor torque at the lower rpms right where it's required. My second option would be finding a decent used wood working lathe in the size you need since used wood turning lathes can be fairly cheap and plan on changing the motor out to a higher HP 220V 3 ph and use a VFD along with the OEM two or 3 step pulley set up. For about the same money you could end up with a much more usable machine than what most of today's new hobbyist level wood lathes will have. You'd still be locked into those small and fairly weak spindle design though.Your link shows your not interested in spending that much, but price wise there's some high end wood lathes in the $8,000 - $10,000 range for the serious hobbyist's or small commercial shops. For what they are those prices are literally insane for what your really getting compared to spending the same for a new or even used metal turning lathe at roughly the same part size capability's.
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dusty
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Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by dusty »

This is my DIY Slant Bed, Space Frame, CNC lathe I built from scratch 5 year ago. Here are some specs:

Overall dimensions (without blue stand): 142.4cm L x 55cm H x 74cm Deep
Spindle Mount: D1-4 Cam lock
Motor: 130 VDC, 1800 rpm, 2.5 hp, Leeson (Primarily used for tread mills)
Motor speed controller: www.Geminicontrols.com
Swing over Linear Rails: 7" (14" diam)
Swing over Z axis carriage: 5" (10" diam)
Max X travel: 8"
Max Z travel: 35.5"
Tailstock: mounted on separate rails, manual motion only.
Z Axis motor: NEMA34 stepper
X Axis motor: NEMA23 stepper
Stepper power supply: 48 vdc, 7.2 amps
Main Control Computer: Dell Optiplex 755 running Windows 7 & Mach3

Total cost to build: just under $3000.

The photos were taken when the lathe was still clean, shiny, & new,...after 5 years of use, it's much dirtier now and I've made some changes and additions along the way. I built this lathe to support my hobbies and I rarely try to hold more than +/- 0.001", but I can hold 0.0005 when I need to.

The following link shows a static walk-around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rbnPQpWByI
This video shows the lathe cutting a small piece of 4140: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPkAbeTqrCI
Attachments
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Tailstock view.jpg
ao1
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Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2022 9:12 pm
Location: Rockledge, FL

Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by ao1 »

New to site and first time poster. My first lathe. Just picked up this 1938 South Bend 9 inch Model C with a bunch of accessories for only $75. Had not been used in over 20 years. Tested it first and ran smooth. In the process of cleaning and thorough inspection. Only issue thus far is a broken compound handle. Looking forward to using it.
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Harold_V
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Location: Onalaska, WA USA

Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by Harold_V »

You sure couldn't go wrong for the price you paid!
Welcome to the board.

H
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
TimTheGrim
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2003 2:47 pm
Location: El Paso, TX

Re: Show us your lathe!

Post by TimTheGrim »

Welcome ao1,
That 9” SB looks a LOT like a lathe I gave away 23 years ago in NJ when I moved to TX.
Who knows ? Hope you get some good use with it.
Illigitimi non Carborundum
'96 Birmingham mill, Enco 13x40 GH and Craftsman 6x18 lathes, Reid 2C surface grinder. Duro Bandsaw and lots of tooling from 30+ years in the machining trades and 15+ years in refinery units. Now retired
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