I thought that this was a very well-balanced primer for anyone looking to purchase a lathe. Given that you have now bought 4 lathes and a mill, you rank as someone with a depth of knowledge beyond most people's experience levels. Great video. Thumbs up as per usual. Keep up the good work. Mark from Melbourne Australia
Hit your auto parts supplier and buy some "Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer". I threw some of that into my new lathe on day one and it made the machine so much quieter while extending the lubricating qualities of the recommended oil for the gear box. Just sharing a tip I know that works great.. Cheers!
I hope this video gets good traction; you will save people money, time and frustration. Well thought out and presented, this should be required viewing by all potential lathe buyers. I don't fall into the small lathe category any longer but wish there was some intel like this when I started, even if you go for heavier iron there is much to be learned from this! Thanks for the great video.
This video won't save me money, it'll be costing me more in fact. I'm in the market for a lathe around the size and capacity of Artisan's and had been considering the next model up (AL-320G) that he mentioned (same supplier too). He happened to point out something I completely missed - how the tailstock rides on the ways. Total dealbreaker. The TU-3008G on the other hand has all the features I need or could want - it's the one in the video with the D1-4 camlock spindle. While the base package costs the same as the AL-320G *FULL* package l feel the overall quality and built-in features are $1000 more value. So, TL;DR - the video *will* cost me more but I'll spend far less on heartache and frustration 😁 Artisan, if you're reading this - a very heartfelt thank you from a very relieved West Aussie 👍❤
Rules of machinery - *One is none, two is one, three is better! **If it can`t turn you into mince meat in a blink of an eye - it`s a toy... ***The ideal number of machines is the current number +1... ****The higher the mass - the better the ass! (ass as in work donkey/horse)
@@vaulthecreator yeah I had been looking at a 320, didn't realise the tailstock located on the gap. It seems to have so many design shortcomings vs the 250. One big thing that's putting me off with it is the reliance on change gears to do any sort of speeds. I'm ok with that for threading, but not for power feeds. The TU-3008 still has some change gears, but it has a gearbox behind that too. It also has a separate shaft for the power feed vs using the leadscrew. It seems like a much better buy, but I haven't really watched too many people review it in depth yet
there must be plenty in Europe that run the TU3008 and review it? Try looking at 'Zerspanungsbude' forums maybe? It's features over the AL320 sure look nicer and the extra 1000 AUD will be worth it IMHO _(I watched Ducati9000 and got me a TU2004V for training over the AL51G for similar reasons.. way too much work to turn the latter into a usable state, while the former is able to do things 'nearly' out of the box)._
4:30 One thing people completely ignore is you are intended to break them down before placement. When they come off the crate you *should* be taking the entire assembly apart for inspection, cleaning, and proper setup. With that in mind its quite easy to move even the largest crate mill completely solo. I have a machine that comes in over 400 lbs fully anchored but each individual piece is quite easy to manage. On top of that it is fairly easy to screw these machines up moving them with a strap and crane. Moral of the story is don't take shortcuts and do it proper ie in pieces.
A VFD on a belt drive lathe works really well, the belts are 'range' and the VFD gives you a nice amount of control. Plus you get reverse! So handy for when you don't have a thredding dial.
Hi Just watched your video and you mentioned that the lathe cuts a double cut thread. I have the halfco AL336D lathe. I had the same problem no one could tell me what was wrong. Even Hare& Forbes could not tell me. So I sent Joe Pie in Texas USA 🇺🇸 a message asking him for help. Great advice. He said that the lead screw for threads is an imperial lead screw. So you can cut an imperial thread using the thread dial and engaging the half nut and thread dial. But when cutting a metric thread you leave the half nut engaged and reverse the carrage back and then take another cut. Leave the half nut engaged the whole time until the thread is finished. Hope this helps. Regards Greg NSW AUSTRALIA 👍
The AL336 is made in Taiwan (Liang Dei LD1236) and can be ordered with metric LS from H&F (takes a while then naturally).. at least that is what I'm going to do when I get one of them. Right now I "train" on a Opti2004v (with metric LS ;-)
A few things to keep in mind If buying a second hand/older lathe keep in mind is it metric or imperial. Only important when thread cutting. Belt driven spindles generally are a lot quieter, create better finishes, are cheaper and easier to repair when necessary. The precision, materials and build quality for a decent gear driven head stock is big money. Only professional standard machines will have it and unless it in the used market the prices will rule out hobby equipment. Even modern CNC unless direct drive will have a belt driven spindle. They may have a gearbox to give a broader spindle speed range but they will drive the spindle with a belt mostly. Modern belt have come a long way since WW2. Its the 21'st century get a VFD and run the spindle motor with that, AC. Forget DC unless it's a professional grade.
Loving your videos mate. I'm not normally one to comment but I can't not with how much value I place in your content. I bought the same lathe a while back, partially because of your videos and partially because they came on a special that made them cheaper than going second hand. Regarding your noise issues, I followed your advice about changing the oil after a brief run in. What I didn't follow though was the replacement oil I put in was the thickest I could easily get my hands on (Valvoline 85-140) with a liberal dose of Lucas stabilizer to make it stickier. Putting the thicker oil in has done wonders to reduce the my gearbox noise. Keep up the good work mate and I hope this might help you out a little.
I personally think one of the best drive systems for a lathe is a belt drive with a VFD. You get the easy, continuous speed adjustment of a DC motor with the high torque of a gearbox drive, but with much less noise and much easier maintenance. The VFD also means you're not changing the belts all that often, which pretty much eliminates the biggest hassle of a purely belt-driven lathe
In that case you need to be sure the motor used by the lathe has forced cooling, because I'm sure some companies have gone cheap and as a result the customer ends up frying it
Your Not wrong. Better finish as well. Cheap gear driven head stocks will always have issues when intermittently cutting and when they are making noise that is always represented in the finish.
@@theshindogg variable frequency driver It's an electronic controller that varies the input frequency of the motor They can go from as low as a few Hertz to even triple the original Hertz of your normal outlet For example, in my country we use 120/240 Volts at 60 Hz for domestic electric installations, so an average-quality VFD can vary the frequency from 20 Hz to 100 Hz with varying degrees of resolution (or stepovers) in-between That way you don't have to make reductions or increases mechanically, but electronically The downside is that the normal motors usually are designed to run on a stable frequency (and such, their cooling capacity depends on them running at a steady frequency), so the motors designed for use with VFDs have a separate unit forcefully cooling them no matter the frequency
@bengillette4035 I agree. Converting my belt drive Taiwan lathe to a 3 phase motor and VFD was the best upgrade possible. Many people warn of overheating when running slow. That's a fair warning, but I suspect it's rarely a problem, since hobby lathes typically aren't run for long periods at high load. If it turns out to be a problem, a fan can be readily added, even temporarily. And if you to have hog off a lot from a large diameter piece, just use the belts and back gear to run the motor at its normal speed. I would suggest choosing a bigger motor that you might think, to offset the torque drop-off of low speed operation.
11:52 This is a point that needs to be emphasised: it can appear that a lathe uses the leadscrew to drive the power feed, but on all but the smallest that is not the case - there is a slot in the leadscrew that separately drives the power feed, and only the screw-cutting half-nut engages on the leadscrew threads. i.e. power feed does not knacker your screw, but your half nuts will if used enough. 19:19 This is another good point. My Proxxon baby lathe (I use it for small projects and watch work) has a crank on the end of the leadscrew, but my Chinese 9x20 has a rack and pinion with a crank in the apron for rapid X-traverse. I am currently converting this lathe to stepper CNC, and will miss the rapid slew rate of the crank; I can't quite get the e-traverse up to manual rates. 19:29 That is why I converted my Sieg SX2p mill X-axis to stepper control with LinuxCNC, then CNCd the Y-axis (using CNC in the X-axis, and manual in Y), then used CNC X-Y and manual Z to build the bits to convert the Zed-axis (just spelling that out to alienate our American cousins). I am planning to buy a bigger lathe (well, three is a nice prime number) such as a Colchester Student 1800.
I have a herbert no2d capstan lathe, it can take a .350 depth of cut and is a very sturdy machine. The downside is it weighs 3500 ibs and runs off 220 3phase. Picked it up for 300 off marketplace and works great.
@@ikkiiiieee it's a pain but a few hours and a large prybar allows me to move it around the shop. Getting it on a trailer was a pain do to only having a winch
Oooh, nice, a capstan! Those can be savagely useful, yet still great for single piece projects... I think i`ve even seen one of those before... Does the herb n2 have a massive handwheel? If we are talking about the same lathe, you will know what i mean by the ``massive handwheel``...
@camillosteuss if you're talking about the one for the tailstock, yes. I've made an arrangement of tools to fit the turret do to it being 1.5" strait bore holes for tooling. I was going to make some m2 to m3 taper adapters for it but that's a project for another day.
@@loganlawlyes1980I have a drop bed trailer and they can be rented. Moved a heavy Harrison 14” for someone on pipes and was easy. Sunbelt in the US rents them.
I have the smaller AL-51G and it shares a few features of its bigger brother. It doesn't have the power cross slide or a gearbox though. The must do things to it are thrust bearings on the cross slide and compound, variable freq drive with upgrade motor and replace the compound with a 4 bolt compound mount from little machine shop or a John Pitkin donut compound mount. I made the later is it was easiest. I'm now in the process of making it CNC just for the experience. I was surprised by it's overall accuracy and runout on this one. Perhaps I got lucky but it still needs to be pulled apart and cleaned when you get it new. Overall it's not bad but for me, it's all about modifying it and learning along the way with the help of channels like this. If I had a shop I would go for the 250g or bigger
I feel totally validated. Pretty much everything you said was considered in my first lathe purchase. I ended up getting the Optimum 3008 with DRO. It is a small lathe in a workshop sense but it's also a full size lathe when compared to the mini's... plus a 2hp motor makes the 6 speed gears a non issue.
I got hosed on a lathe. We needed a precision lathe for our work shop and I picked an 8" Southbend mostly on the brand name. They must have had some business goof try to take the brand down market, because the thing was built like the cheapest import you could imagine. The fasteners were all soft and many had to be replaced. Last time I saw it, the electronics were weird and it would change speed as you were working on it. For my personal shop, I bought a Precision Matthews 12x36T and couldn't be happier with it.
I have a masters degree in machine tool design. This very good video covers most aspects of this lathe. Nothing to object to. Now retired. Wanted a small manual lathe for hobby use replacing a smaller lathe. Bought a lookalike, but 700 mm between centres. Fitted DRO to it and QCTP. Why this one? Decent price, spindle bore enough for me, feed gearbox, power cross feed, ability to make both metric and imperial threads and small enough to fit in the workshop. Of course T slots on the cross slide would be good, but that would mean less diameter over cross slide or spindle higher which gives less rigidity. After some search I've found that there is at least 3 factories making these. So quality could differ.
I bought the bigger brother, AL320G and I am glad I did. That extra size over the 250 is worth it. It is noisy but that is because of the straight cut gears. The change gears suck, but electronic lead screw fix's that
Thanks for the video. I bought the same lathe around 5 years ago for pretty much the same reasons you cited. The only upgrade I've made is a QC toolpost that can accomodate 16mm tooling. I'm pretty keen on seeing how you go with the gearbox noise as I'm not too keen on doing a teardown either, particularly when I'm not assured of a good result. It's the most annoying thing about the lathe and quite a contrast to my geared head mill that's very quiet. Some posters have recommended different oils or additives, but I doubt they alone can address the noise issue.
One note on threading dials: they match the leadscrew, and only work for the type of thread (Imperial, or metric) of that leadscrew. The lathes sold in the USA seem to always have (to my dismay) Imperial leadscrews, including my new 12"x35". So the dial is useless when cutting metric threads (or, on your lathe, when cutting Imperial); you cannot disengage the carriage with the half-nut without ruining synchronization. So you must run the lathe in reverse after ever cut to prepare for the next. My old lathe didn't even have threading or a half-nut, so when I added an electronic leadscrew, I became used to reversing between cuts.
Most of the import machines come from CHN and they definitely build them with metric LS for all other markets.. Might be worthwhile to figure out if ur machine can be retrofitted with a spare part that is metric? I know that the AL336 that H&F offers here in Oz with imperial LS is a Liang Dei LD1236 and that the OEM offers metric LS for it - having asked H&F about it this can be arranged for.. so give it a go if it's important enough?
Wish I'd had a video like this 44 years ago, it would have saved me making a load of mods to my lathe (which is still going strong after all these years!).
Awesome video, I have the same lathe too, the AL-250. The gearbox noise is definitely there, but on mine some speed settings are quieter than others. My biggest struggle with this lathe is alignment. Despite my best efforts it still cuts a 0.1mm taper over about 250mm. I have now resorted to turning between centres and fine tuning the tailstock when I'm doing long shafts to get dead parallel.
Very good point. I'd also buy a geared lathe if it was manual. You can only get away with direct drive on a lathe if you have like 20HP on the spindle.
I have one of those old Harbor Freight 12x36 inch moved it with a pallet jack when a frame was built, Grizzly sells this one 12x36 Gear head. It is a copy of an old Emco. This is if you're in North America, which is my recommendation. Good Epesode!
I have a Southbend 10k. I wish I had just purchased one of the newer model ones before Grizzly discontinued them so I could have a cam lock spindle. The problem I have that it is looking like it will be very difficult to mount a DRO to, and the motor mounting to the table behind the lathe requires a lot more depth on a work bench which in a small workshop room is a big deal. But the cool thing is that I have power cross and long feed and a quick change gear box that can go as low as .0015"/revolution. I do plan on getting a chunk of steel to eventually make a new cross slide with T slots on it, and can hopefully fit a slot for the DRO reader into.
If using steel, especially cold rolled, I would plan to normalise it before machining to remove any residual stress. I made a T slot table to fit my Harrison M300 so I could do boring of items with a between centres boring bar. The M300 has a cross slide with a dovetail section to allow additional tooling to be clamped in place.
@@davidbillington9654 I have access to a surface grinder where I work so I plan on using cold rolled 4340. Normalizing it is a good idea. Once I machine the dimensions on my Mill and I will pardon it and bring it to work to grind in. That's the plan at least :)
for the tailstock i would recommend adding a analog dro in the form of a dial caliper , seen them doing that with digital calipers plenty of times but hate those as the cheapones always are out of battery it seams so made mine with a dial caliper which is even better as the dial on the hand wheel.
Another good option for a head unit is one using a CVT belt drive. Not usually capable of quite as much torque as a gear head lathe, but you can get absolutely any speed you want without losing motor efficiency like you would with a DC motor or VFD.
I have a Hare n Forbes AL960B, drained out about 2/3s of the headstock oil top up again with Morey's heavy duty oil stabiliser, nearly as quiet as a curchmouse. Keep a bottle on hand for the backgears as well, it sticks like sh1t to a blanket. Highly recommended.
I have an old southbend lathe. Running on leather flat belts. I have a 3 phase motor on it, powered by a single phase to 3 phase vfd. With that, the cone pulley and the back gear, you can have ridiculous torque at quite a lot of speeds.
Your lathe is a day and night difference in terms of tool post and cross slide rigidity from my Boxford 4.5". From the other side Boxford has a full Norton gearbox (lacking the 27tpi thread),and the change gears are of excellent quality.
The tailstock locating on the gap in the bed vs the prism is not something I had realised was a thing. I had been looking at something the size of the 320, but IMO it has so many shortcomings in terms of design vs the 250. The biggest problem I have with it is mainly the reliance on change gears - for threading I can deal with that, but not for setting speeds for power feeding
I'm having visions of the mini lathe bed folding in half from all the torque it would have 😆 It's a good idea actually, if you're up for the challenge. Chris on the channel "rather B welding" recently did a video series adapting an electric motor to a dirt bike gearbox to make an e-dirt bike
A firend of mine recently picked up a new lathe and was giving me a demo. The instant he fired it up, I could tell that he had got the same lathe as you just from the sound.
Were I in the market for an engine lathe, the first thing I'd consider is spindle nose; I'd want a D1 series- D1-6 for a larger unit like my Monarch Model C or D1-3 for the jewel-like Monarch 10EE. The Camlock spindle makes for easy chuck changes, and is common in the States, unlike the Long series (Leblond and I think Lodge & Shipley used it), the A series is more common in Europe and Asia, not familiar with them. As for the weight, get a set of machinery skates, those and an engine hoist allowed me to move the 6000lb Model C by myself.
I'm in Aust too, and really want the AL 320. Your machine is much better for all the nice gear select levers, BUT as an electronics guy mine will just get an ELS in the first few weeks, so never need to mess with change gears etc which is the drawback of the AL320. That huge spindle bore diameter on the 320 and the extra rigidity, and 320mm swing, well, that swings it for me.
@@iancoulston6452 awesome info thanks! Can you share any tips re the AL320, like any accessories you would get from the start, or the tailstock issue that this video mentioned?
Wow, I didn't realise there were so many people doing electronic lead screws and so many commercial options available. I've been watching Not An Engineer build his the past few weeks - I didn't really know about them until then
@@wizrom3046 get a wedge style QCTP from the start (not piston) and like 10x of the 250-x01 standard square tool holders right away to start. _Multifix is only affordable in Europe afaik._ U prob want 250-222 (BXA) or 111 (AXA) size. Other stuff: for tailstock APU08/10/13-MTB3 & live center MTB3, LCD DRO with 1u scale for the CS and 5u for the bed (I run YH800's with KA500 scales), ER collet chuck (ER40:41mm, ER32:33mm), look for spring coil swarf covers for the LS and also watch Robrenz/Gotteswinter/Blondihacks for swarf protection of the bed/ways via covers and tarps.. If u don't have/want a mill look into buying a milling attachment.
Excellent pesentation! Can't wait to hear what you can do about the noisy gearbox. I have what seems like the bigger cousin to your lathe and the gearbox just screams! I'm told it is normal, but I would love to be able to do something about it.
Yeah, it was kinda disappointing when he first got that lathe to hear that much gearbox noise. Seeing what he can do to quieten it down will be interesting - half the reason I like watching his videos is the machine mods he does to fix them or make them more capable
I have had a Chinese lathe with noisy gearbox as well, most of the noise is because gears are low quality and not ground, you can´t fix it - I swapped the lathe to a VFD driven model.
Geared head 10 times out of 10 here. I suppose I'm also very lucky with the machinery dealer I use here... honest measurements. The lathe swing is as advertised, over the bed, with an additional measurement over the gap. Same with center to center, it's from the center held in the standard 3-jaw, to the live center in the tailstock. The "usual" measurements are much larger, but not advertised. Edit: I am that rare manual turner, apparently! I frequently use drive dogs and turn center to center.
I don't comment often on UA-cam but when I do it's for good reason. This was very informative and useful! Not that your videos aren't always but this was a cut above, you've added essential knowledge to the world . Top marks
I have an old Premo lathe, possibly 40s'. There is lots of wear , everywhere. .So, was thinking about buying what you have.. Thanks for this, a very big help.
a gearbox AND vfd could be a killer combo! boost the torque as needed and let the VFD and maybe some sort of cross-slide position reading change how fast the motor runs. Now, an upgrade like that might be overkill, but it's nice to be able to have the lathe keep surface speed constant as you lathe around
I have a german toolroom mill, similar to deckel FP1, it has only 350mm over the table, First I touhht it is terribly little. As I started to use it I have learned to work arround it, Instead of a collet chuck I use direct collets and as for the drills.. I use a small chuck up to 10mm for anything over 10mm I skip the drill chuck entirely, I use taper shand drills instead. It saves a LOT of space. I would do the same on a short bed lathe.
Oddball question, But do you have enough footage of your DIY epoxy garage floor to make a short video about it? I remember you showing a little clip of it in an older video. I'm planning on doing it soon and really like the style of your videos and the way you explain your process would be interesting to see and get some pointers from :)
Grizzly Industrial G4003G - 12" x 36". There ya go, that's the exact lathe you want for a home workshop. It is purpose built for GUNSMITHING, which means that it can handle large diameters in the spindle bore because gun barrels run over inch and half sometimes. I don't know if can get one of these in Australia or Europe, but for North America this is the one.
I also have an AL250 and agree with most your comments, except. 2 people 2 days to install, I did it by myself in about an hour. Chuck mounting is a real pain with them, to solve this change the bolts to front mounting and drill and tap new holes into the face plate (for 3 & 4 jaw chucks), it's a total game changer. I am also looking at changing the motor to 3 phase and a VFD to make it adjustable to fill the gap between the gears.
I think he said that he/the friends had to get it down into the basement. I'm sure that would have contributed to much of the time issue. Going downstairs never sounds like much fun.
I had to use a winch to get the pallet down to the workshop since it’s not accessible by road and it’s not paved. That took a few hours. And I had to rent the engine hoist, pick it up get the lathe hoisted up and return it. That took a full day.
Thank you for the information, I for one am interested in seeing a gearbox teardown for maintenance...keep being awesome and I hope the finger is doing better!
8:30 there are finishing inserts that at its lowest feed can keep a good surface even in the lowest diameter, an insert like the CNMG 12 04 04-MF 1125, any MF for that matter
Like your vids and actually use the same Hafco lathe. Lathe nomenclature using swing and length is a means to somewhat compare highly variable machines. All machinist understand that this is Not specifying the max working size. All machinists understand that their choice of head stocks, holding points and cutting tools will significantly limit the maximum working size. If you want to work on pieces 250dia x 500 length all machinist will suggest you need a much bigger lathe, and we haven't even started talking about useful power. My point is that the lathe sizing standard is not misleading but just a generalised nomenclature to assist comparing machines.
I swapped my geared lathe for a belt driven one, and I couldn't be happier. Sure, it can't make big cuts - but on the flipside, whenever the tool digs in while parting off, the belt just slips - as opposed to stalling the lathe and burning the fuse.
I have a 14x40 Chinese lathe. For some reason I have never had parting tool digging in or problems with chatter. I have had thin parting blades wander cutting off 2” stock, or being careless snapping the blade off.
@@glennwright9747 my 7x12 did that often. Granted, it was probably my lack of skill - in any case I prefer to have the belt slip, than trying to figure out where to get a 5A fuse at 1am 😆
Running on 10th year, an "old" 1976 Boxford AUD III with threaded spindlenose, I have yet to see my chuck being turned loose or off the spindlenose, despide the fact that I from time to time do take cuts of 10mm depth and 0.5mm in reverse
My priorities are; 1) Do not buy a lathe where the carriage can not be disengaged from the leadscrew - it will drive you absolutely insane! It will invite you to loose temper, and try shortcuts. 2) If possible, choose a lathe where the tailstock is locked down with a lever, rather than a nut. Especially when you have a short lathe bed, this really helps to change tools in the tailstock. 3) Seriously consider going for a longer lathe bed. The video shows why this is important, but it really matters a lot. Having to change tools in the tailstock is a frequent thing, so having a bit of travel to work with, will cut a lot of time. 4) Spindle and tailstock should use Morse tapers 2 & 3. Thieese are the most common in hobby use, and also in professional. So tooling will be cheaper - and is more likely to be useful, if (when!) you get another lathe - or a mill! Tooling is in the end, the greater cost, compared to the lathe or milling machine in it self. Over time, collecting toolingnis a lifetime thing, and is more important than what lathe you have for the time beeing. (When I was in to my 2:nd lathe, I also got a mill. And then I was very happy, that I always considered Morse tapers 2 & 3 the thing to work with. I can use the collet chuck in both machines.😉 The other considerations pointed out in the video, are also genuinely valid. If you don't think you will ever get a mill, then T-slots in the cross slide & a vertical slide will allow minor milling operations. That may be enough!
The one thing I don’t like about your lathe is that it’s the thread drive as a carriage Drive too. I prefer having a separate carriage drive shaft, to reduce the ware on the threaded shaft
I NEVER use the clock gauge anymore, if you have to thread, just keep it on the half nut and reverse the machine. If you have to pick up the thread again, re-engage the half nut, with the machine off just align the cutter with the existing thread using the cross slide. If you have to index, use a dial gauge and actually get some accuracy. Avoid DC motors altogether, if you want speed control, get a variable frequency drive and control the ac motor.
Just curious what about VFDs and CVTs? I know some machines like the Hardange lathes or equivalent used CVTs similar to Bridgeport series 2 mills. There was also a lathe in college that had a gearbox plus a VFD which was very nice.
When one decides to get into having a machine shop, the idea of spending money is something that has to gotten used to. I definitely do not recommend a beginner try to make a D1-x series backplate. Just give in and buy one with your chuck if it doesn’t come with one. Believe me, you will be much happier in the long run. Most 4 jaw chucks come with the backplate built in, so you shouldn’t need to buy one. If you’re buying a better quality, larger lathe, you might be able to get it with a VFD and 3 phase motor at some additional cost. It’s well worth it. They are much quieter, have plenty of power at low speeds and have a wide, infinite range that can be adjusted on the fly. They shouldn’t be compared with the cheap DC variable drive found in smaller, cheap lathes. It’s expensive having a metal working shop. Believe me, I know. Whatever your machines cost, you will be spending at least that amount over some time on accessories of various types. Sometimes, you can name them, but mostly, you have to buy them.
@@melgross no, I meant there doesn't seem to be a ready-to-go D1 cam system in the mini lathe size. I checked. D1-3 is the smallest defined and already puts the cams within the tapered part of the spindle nose while it's destined for chuck sizes of 125mm+ at least.
@@joansparky4439 I know exactly what you said. I’m not disagreeing with you. I’m just saying you won’t see that. By the was a D1-3 is much better for a smaller lathe than a D1-4. The South Bend began to come with a D1-4 some time ago. That’s a 10” industrial model. That was really too big for it.
@@melgross sure, but there isn't even an option to aftermarket or DIY a D1 for the minis.. unless u design it completely (and trust ur choices to work). For the sizes of machines those D1 cams exists - yes, get it and if not versed in making precision stuff - buy it, fully agree.
The one thing I don’t like about your lathe is that it’s the thread drive as a carriage Drive too. I prefer having a separate carriage drive shaft, to reduce the ware on the threaded shaft “proper power feed” as you put it. I’m also a gear head guy. Like minds and all of that.😅
I think threaded spindle noses get a lot of undeserved disrespect. I'd prefer a camlock, sure, but my threaded spindle nose has served me well for forty years. It's maintained its accuracy better than I expected, and I can make my own spindle tooling. I often run in reverse, and it's never come loose. I'm careful about it, of course. I'd never power tap with a large left-hand tap, for instance. There are ways to secure a threaded chuck, too. I've asked around, and I've heard of a few cases where a chuck has come loose, so it's certainly possible, but saying "they will unscrew" is a bit strong, IMHO. My point is, if you find a nice old lathe that you're considering buying, don't let a threaded spindle nose be a deal breaker. I've never dealt with a "direct mount" as described, but I'd be very reluctant to buy one.
I got given a lathe with a threaded spindle recently. I'm still getting it set up, but one thing I'm trying to find is another backplate . This should be relatively straight forward, except I can't actually figure out what the thread is 😑. It's 8tpi with 55 degree threads, but the diameter measures around 1.18" which is bigger than 1-1/8" and smaller than 1-1/4". The lathe has no markings whatsoever on it, so I can't look up based on that. I think the design is inspired by several different lathes - I can't even find a similar picture trawling lathes .co .uk. I will keep trying, eventually I'll figure it out 🙃
@@corey_nz It might be 30mm-8TPI. My 50y/o Taiwan lathe has an oddball 50mm-8TPI nose. You may have to make a backplate from scratch. Start by making a dummy spindle nose exactly like the real one, as close as you can. Measure the thread pitch diameter by the three wire method, and match it on the dummy. Then use that as a check gage when you thread your new backplate.
@@randyshoquist7726 yeah, it's looking like I'm going to have to make one. Is that a thing, mixing metric diameter and threads per inch? It's the only logical conclusion I've come to. My other theory is that at some point in my lathes life the spindle threads were damaged, so they went smaller taking as little off as possible and ending up with a custom thread
@@corey_nz I've heard speculation that Asian lathes, while largely metric, may use an Imperial pitch on the spindle, if they have an Imperial lead screw, so that owners like us can make our own spindle tooling. I've no idea if that's true, but it's a nice idea.
I made a couple of big mistakes buying my AL51G lathe. While I bought the biggest lathe i could afford, it struggles with any sort of a decent cut in steel, I should have just saved up for another year or so before making my purchase. So first mistake was being to keen I suppose. The second and biggest mistake I made being it never occurred to me that in this day and age in Australia, they would be still be selling lathes that are imperial. I mean fair dinkum, it is 50 years since we abandoned the imperial measurement system. But yeah, imperial lead screw, and dials that also have imperial screws with dodgy "metric" faces on them, so the measurements they indicate are just slightly wrong... So cutting threads on this lathe is a pain in the arse, and any finishing work needs to be done with a dial gauge. I should have bought the similar sized Optimum lathe that was available.
That is just a 'training lathe'. I'd chalk that up to learning how it works - I bet in good condition u can sell it for 50% of it's org value if the mods u did to it are worthwhile and an improvement over 'out of the box'. I got me a Opti TU2004v for training myself and family.. can do some stuff, but won't be able to end one easily if something goes wrong. _I'll get a AL336 later.._
I seriously suspect that this is This Old Tony after he's time travelled with accidentally wrong settings on his time travel lathe and it broke so now he's stuck in the present without his time travel lathe and a new aussie accent. The absolutely only reason he's got that lathe now is to travel back to his time and fix the accent. Also, inheritance machining is clearly his grandson.
At 0:30, 8:00, and other points, you are touching your freshly machined steel collet chuck with your bare hands. How do you keep rusty fingerprints from showing up on your tools and parts? Your hands don't look like they are dripping with oil and I don't see you using oily rags so how do you avoid getting rusty fingerprints?
Australia isn't as extremely humid as the near-equator countries (like Costa Rica, in my case) where any and all plain carbon steels are going to oxidize by simply being exposed to humidity in a normal room
@@gregoryartaviasalazar426 I'm in Queensland Australia, and it IS hot and humid here. Typically 50% to 75% humidity. Everything rusts, and that is inside the house. Don't even think about leaving steel outside!
@@untamedhacker collet chuck was a piece of 1045, stainless (304 and 316) is trash for everything except corrosive environments and sanitized applications
I've never been able to single cut threads on my lathe. It's an old Logan 400 that only came with like 3 gears. I could buy individual gears off Ebay but considering I need somewhere around 14 different gears, that would cost me more than the whole lathe.
Surprisingly you can 3d print them in PLA and they still last rather long. Of course it depends on whether you have a 3d printer, which need not cost more than 200 euro / USD now.
@ruudsmits907 I did notice people selling 3d printed Logan change gears a while back when I was looking. I came close to buying a 3d printer a few times. I just got overwhelmed a bit because I knew very little about them and didn't want to waste money buying one type when I should've bought a different type.
Seems a bit pointless to do it here when the gearbox does all the threads I need it to. Plus electronics aren't an area im hugely interested in. cheers
When you get a big lathe, you have to think if you will like the cost of transporting it and moving it in. I was lucky that my dads mate had a hiabb truck and the the moving equipment that saved me $2.5k. I a big lathe guy and the small lathes a too small. I was lucky to get a good deal but a a lot of work to referb.
Last count I had 11 lathes 4 in NSW and 7 in Western Australia. Russian KN German VDF JF__ Macson 2 triumph 2000s A small Taiwanese no idea what brand Another Macson Knockoff Colchester mastiff And an oil country with a 12” spindle bore 😅 Ah and a Chinese one there too. 3m bed.
The perfect lathe has never been built, its always been what combination of compromises the manufacturer chose. Mine is regarded by many as one of the best, but its still not perfect.
This is really helpful, thank you for putting it together. An advantage to having more info is that you go into a purchase more aware of what you're getting into, and even if that means you don't get exactly what you want, you set your expectations to fit your choice, and then you can adjust accordingly.
For the crossslide scales, I recommend the Sino KA500 with 1 micron resolution. It really helps to have the increased resolution on that axis. Also, the KA500 is a small version, which reduces the wasted space. Also, install it on the left side of the crossslide - at least for me, I found that I'm much more likely to need to push the tailstock right up to the carriage, than the carriage to the chuck. Also, TouchDRO is nice. Also, replace the motor with a 6-pole 3-phase one, and use a VFD. 6 poles gives you more torque at lower speeds.
If no optical scale will fit (KA300 is normal, KA500 is slim, KA200 is super slim & expensive) - the magnetic ones are even slimmer and cost roughly what the KA300 scales cost for 1 um res - just swarf protection then must be top notch if mounted at the left of the CS, as the mag strip attracts ferro-bits like crazy.
I can at least give you some perspective from the big boy stuff: When you buy an industrial machine in very good condition, you can expect to spend about two to three times what the machine cost in tooling, so all you can get included is probably worth it. E.g. the live tooling blocks for our CNC lathe cost about 2000 bucks per piece new. The revolver has twelve stations. You might not need twelve, but zero is too little. Businesses have much the same nuisances as hobbyists, just a different flavour and maybe a couple more zeroes. When you have a 5-ton forklift, your new machine weighs six tons. Or doesnt fit through the door. 😂
Regarding the mounting chucks, my lathe uses the same mounting system as yours with bolts from the back. I added a larger chuck and drilled through the face of the chuck and into the new backing plate. This allows me easy access to the bolts from the face of the chuck which is much less of a hassle. Thanks for the video.
One other kinda misleading thing to keep an eye out for sizing as well isn't just the swing but the part that's more importanter there is the swing over the carriage, swing and swing over the carriage are very rarely the same, I've been caught out by that before
You’ll need two gears for the threading dial. A 32 and a 35 tooth. They are module 1 worm gears made to suit a 20mm screw. There should be a chart in your manual which lists which gears are used for which thread pitches. The rest of the specs aren’t important. Just make sure the gear meshes and d you have 8 divisions.
It`s not what metals, it`s which diameters... The larger the diameter of the piece being worked, the higher the surface speed of the cut, and inverse of that for smaller diameters... Essentially the principle of the lever, but translated from a pole to a round body... It ultimately depends on what you are turning as in which diameter it is, as well as which operation you are performing... Roughing cuts are done with fast traversing, deep cutting and slow turning when compared to finishing passes - regardless of the diameter, or maybe better said, scaled appropriately depending on the diameter... It also greatly depends on cutter material and production setting... HSS tools are steel, and even when cobalted to 15% they still dislike high temperatures generated by high speed cutting... Carbide, special ceramic and CBN cutters tolerate heat immensely well and demand either constant cooling to keep shit - again - constant, or you go dry and modulate the max temperature of the cut with RPM and other factors(proper chip formation can take away an immense amount of heat) to keep the cutters happy(sudden cooling = cracked and ruined cutters)... The diamond cutters are their own can of worms and as such are outside the scope of this comment... Needless to say that HSS in itself is a vast field of specialty steel alloys that could have a small book written on it, and likely has, so there are steels that make some really supreme cutters that can tolerate remarkable heat for steel, but they are not able to beat carbide, ceramics and CBN, neither in heat tolerance nor hardness(while remaining functional), but again, some alloys come very close in some regards... All the best! Steuss
RotarySMP rebuilt one for CNC, Blondihacks runs one in that size as well for years now, then there is Clickspring with some info on his two machines in that size and Richard Moore has also rebuild one of them and provides details on that, to name the ones that I found over the years.. PS: Gotteswinter started out with a 250x500 as well.
I thought that this was a very well-balanced primer for anyone looking to purchase a lathe. Given that you have now bought 4 lathes and a mill, you rank as someone with a depth of knowledge beyond most people's experience levels.
Great video. Thumbs up as per usual. Keep up the good work.
Mark from Melbourne Australia
Hit your auto parts supplier and buy some "Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer". I threw some of that into my new lathe on day one and it made the machine so much quieter while extending the lubricating qualities of the recommended oil for the gear box. Just sharing a tip I know that works great.. Cheers!
I hope this video gets good traction; you will save people money, time and frustration. Well thought out and presented, this should be required viewing by all potential lathe buyers. I don't fall into the small lathe category any longer but wish there was some intel like this when I started, even if you go for heavier iron there is much to be learned from this! Thanks for the great video.
You must watch Chicanic!
This video won't save me money, it'll be costing me more in fact.
I'm in the market for a lathe around the size and capacity of Artisan's and had been considering the next model up (AL-320G) that he mentioned (same supplier too). He happened to point out something I completely missed - how the tailstock rides on the ways. Total dealbreaker.
The TU-3008G on the other hand has all the features I need or could want - it's the one in the video with the D1-4 camlock spindle. While the base package costs the same as the AL-320G *FULL* package l feel the overall quality and built-in features are $1000 more value.
So, TL;DR - the video *will* cost me more but I'll spend far less on heartache and frustration 😁
Artisan, if you're reading this - a very heartfelt thank you from a very relieved West Aussie 👍❤
Rules of machinery -
*One is none, two is one, three is better!
**If it can`t turn you into mince meat in a blink of an eye - it`s a toy...
***The ideal number of machines is the current number +1...
****The higher the mass - the better the ass!
(ass as in work donkey/horse)
@@vaulthecreator yeah I had been looking at a 320, didn't realise the tailstock located on the gap. It seems to have so many design shortcomings vs the 250. One big thing that's putting me off with it is the reliance on change gears to do any sort of speeds. I'm ok with that for threading, but not for power feeds. The TU-3008 still has some change gears, but it has a gearbox behind that too. It also has a separate shaft for the power feed vs using the leadscrew. It seems like a much better buy, but I haven't really watched too many people review it in depth yet
there must be plenty in Europe that run the TU3008 and review it? Try looking at 'Zerspanungsbude' forums maybe?
It's features over the AL320 sure look nicer and the extra 1000 AUD will be worth it IMHO _(I watched Ducati9000 and got me a TU2004V for training over the AL51G for similar reasons.. way too much work to turn the latter into a usable state, while the former is able to do things 'nearly' out of the box)._
4:30 One thing people completely ignore is you are intended to break them down before placement. When they come off the crate you *should* be taking the entire assembly apart for inspection, cleaning, and proper setup. With that in mind its quite easy to move even the largest crate mill completely solo. I have a machine that comes in over 400 lbs fully anchored but each individual piece is quite easy to manage. On top of that it is fairly easy to screw these machines up moving them with a strap and crane. Moral of the story is don't take shortcuts and do it proper ie in pieces.
A VFD on a belt drive lathe works really well, the belts are 'range' and the VFD gives you a nice amount of control.
Plus you get reverse! So handy for when you don't have a thredding dial.
Hi
Just watched your video and you mentioned that the lathe cuts a double cut thread.
I have the halfco AL336D lathe.
I had the same problem no one could tell me what was wrong. Even Hare& Forbes could not tell me.
So I sent Joe Pie in Texas USA 🇺🇸 a message asking him for help. Great advice. He said that the lead screw for threads is an imperial lead screw.
So you can cut an imperial thread using the thread dial and engaging the half nut and thread dial.
But when cutting a metric thread you leave the half nut engaged and reverse the carrage back and then take another cut. Leave the half nut engaged the whole time until the thread is finished.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Greg
NSW AUSTRALIA 👍
The AL336 is made in Taiwan (Liang Dei LD1236) and can be ordered with metric LS from H&F (takes a while then naturally).. at least that is what I'm going to do when I get one of them. Right now I "train" on a Opti2004v (with metric LS ;-)
Hi read your message.
I cut both metric and imperial threads. Just was not told about half nut and the thread dial. 👍
Mate thanks for the info, I have the AL336D too. Also Joe Pie is great, and always willing to answer questions
G day mate
You have a good lathe 336D.
Had my machine for about 3 years.
Lots of good videos on Utube.
Have a HM-47B mill.
Greg. NSW
A few things to keep in mind
If buying a second hand/older lathe keep in mind is it metric or imperial. Only important when thread cutting.
Belt driven spindles generally are a lot quieter, create better finishes, are cheaper and easier to repair when necessary. The precision, materials and build quality for a decent gear driven head stock is big money. Only professional standard machines will have it and unless it in the used market the prices will rule out hobby equipment. Even modern CNC unless direct drive will have a belt driven spindle. They may have a gearbox to give a broader spindle speed range but they will drive the spindle with a belt mostly. Modern belt have come a long way since WW2. Its the 21'st century get a VFD and run the spindle motor with that, AC. Forget DC unless it's a professional grade.
Loving your videos mate. I'm not normally one to comment but I can't not with how much value I place in your content. I bought the same lathe a while back, partially because of your videos and partially because they came on a special that made them cheaper than going second hand.
Regarding your noise issues, I followed your advice about changing the oil after a brief run in. What I didn't follow though was the replacement oil I put in was the thickest I could easily get my hands on (Valvoline 85-140) with a liberal dose of Lucas stabilizer to make it stickier. Putting the thicker oil in has done wonders to reduce the my gearbox noise.
Keep up the good work mate and I hope this might help you out a little.
Yeah I had wondered about thicker oil and a stabiliser
I personally think one of the best drive systems for a lathe is a belt drive with a VFD. You get the easy, continuous speed adjustment of a DC motor with the high torque of a gearbox drive, but with much less noise and much easier maintenance. The VFD also means you're not changing the belts all that often, which pretty much eliminates the biggest hassle of a purely belt-driven lathe
In that case you need to be sure the motor used by the lathe has forced cooling, because I'm sure some companies have gone cheap and as a result the customer ends up frying it
Your Not wrong. Better finish as well. Cheap gear driven head stocks will always have issues when intermittently cutting and when they are making noise that is always represented in the finish.
What is a VFD? thanks
@@theshindogg variable frequency driver
It's an electronic controller that varies the input frequency of the motor
They can go from as low as a few Hertz to even triple the original Hertz of your normal outlet
For example, in my country we use 120/240 Volts at 60 Hz for domestic electric installations, so an average-quality VFD can vary the frequency from 20 Hz to 100 Hz with varying degrees of resolution (or stepovers) in-between
That way you don't have to make reductions or increases mechanically, but electronically
The downside is that the normal motors usually are designed to run on a stable frequency (and such, their cooling capacity depends on them running at a steady frequency), so the motors designed for use with VFDs have a separate unit forcefully cooling them no matter the frequency
@bengillette4035 I agree. Converting my belt drive Taiwan lathe to a 3 phase motor and VFD was the best upgrade possible. Many people warn of overheating when running slow. That's a fair warning, but I suspect it's rarely a problem, since hobby lathes typically aren't run for long periods at high load. If it turns out to be a problem, a fan can be readily added, even temporarily. And if you to have hog off a lot from a large diameter piece, just use the belts and back gear to run the motor at its normal speed. I would suggest choosing a bigger motor that you might think, to offset the torque drop-off of low speed operation.
Find yourself a mate like this guy fondles his lathe. That's true love.
11:52 This is a point that needs to be emphasised: it can appear that a lathe uses the leadscrew to drive the power feed, but on all but the smallest that is not the case - there is a slot in the leadscrew that separately drives the power feed, and only the screw-cutting half-nut engages on the leadscrew threads. i.e. power feed does not knacker your screw, but your half nuts will if used enough.
19:19 This is another good point. My Proxxon baby lathe (I use it for small projects and watch work) has a crank on the end of the leadscrew, but my Chinese 9x20 has a rack and pinion with a crank in the apron for rapid X-traverse. I am currently converting this lathe to stepper CNC, and will miss the rapid slew rate of the crank; I can't quite get the e-traverse up to manual rates.
19:29 That is why I converted my Sieg SX2p mill X-axis to stepper control with LinuxCNC, then CNCd the Y-axis (using CNC in the X-axis, and manual in Y), then used CNC X-Y and manual Z to build the bits to convert the Zed-axis (just spelling that out to alienate our American cousins).
I am planning to buy a bigger lathe (well, three is a nice prime number) such as a Colchester Student 1800.
I have a herbert no2d capstan lathe, it can take a .350 depth of cut and is a very sturdy machine. The downside is it weighs 3500 ibs and runs off 220 3phase. Picked it up for 300 off marketplace and works great.
yikes, moving that thang
@@ikkiiiieee it's a pain but a few hours and a large prybar allows me to move it around the shop. Getting it on a trailer was a pain do to only having a winch
Oooh, nice, a capstan! Those can be savagely useful, yet still great for single piece projects... I think i`ve even seen one of those before... Does the herb n2 have a massive handwheel? If we are talking about the same lathe, you will know what i mean by the ``massive handwheel``...
@camillosteuss if you're talking about the one for the tailstock, yes. I've made an arrangement of tools to fit the turret do to it being 1.5" strait bore holes for tooling. I was going to make some m2 to m3 taper adapters for it but that's a project for another day.
@@loganlawlyes1980I have a drop bed trailer and they can be rented. Moved a heavy Harrison 14” for someone on pipes and was easy. Sunbelt in the US rents them.
That 250 lathe is very small for my hobby shop needs.
However, I am amazed at the quality of work you put out on your channel.
Long time subscriber
I have the smaller AL-51G and it shares a few features of its bigger brother. It doesn't have the power cross slide or a gearbox though. The must do things to it are thrust bearings on the cross slide and compound, variable freq drive with upgrade motor and replace the compound with a 4 bolt compound mount from little machine shop or a John Pitkin donut compound mount. I made the later is it was easiest. I'm now in the process of making it CNC just for the experience.
I was surprised by it's overall accuracy and runout on this one. Perhaps I got lucky but it still needs to be pulled apart and cleaned when you get it new.
Overall it's not bad but for me, it's all about modifying it and learning along the way with the help of channels like this.
If I had a shop I would go for the 250g or bigger
I feel totally validated. Pretty much everything you said was considered in my first lathe purchase. I ended up getting the Optimum 3008 with DRO. It is a small lathe in a workshop sense but it's also a full size lathe when compared to the mini's... plus a 2hp motor makes the 6 speed gears a non issue.
I got hosed on a lathe. We needed a precision lathe for our work shop and I picked an 8" Southbend mostly on the brand name. They must have had some business goof try to take the brand down market, because the thing was built like the cheapest import you could imagine. The fasteners were all soft and many had to be replaced. Last time I saw it, the electronics were weird and it would change speed as you were working on it. For my personal shop, I bought a Precision Matthews 12x36T and couldn't be happier with it.
I have a masters degree in machine tool design. This very good video covers most aspects of this lathe. Nothing to object to.
Now retired. Wanted a small manual lathe for hobby use replacing a smaller lathe. Bought a lookalike, but 700 mm between centres. Fitted DRO to it and QCTP.
Why this one? Decent price, spindle bore enough for me, feed gearbox, power cross feed, ability to make both metric and imperial threads and small enough to fit in the workshop.
Of course T slots on the cross slide would be good, but that would mean less diameter over cross slide or spindle higher which gives less rigidity.
After some search I've found that there is at least 3 factories making these. So quality could differ.
I bought the bigger brother, AL320G and I am glad I did. That extra size over the 250 is worth it. It is noisy but that is because of the straight cut gears. The change gears suck, but electronic lead screw fix's that
Thanks for the video. I bought the same lathe around 5 years ago for pretty much the same reasons you cited. The only upgrade I've made is a QC toolpost that can accomodate 16mm tooling. I'm pretty keen on seeing how you go with the gearbox noise as I'm not too keen on doing a teardown either, particularly when I'm not assured of a good result. It's the most annoying thing about the lathe and quite a contrast to my geared head mill that's very quiet. Some posters have recommended different oils or additives, but I doubt they alone can address the noise issue.
One note on threading dials: they match the leadscrew, and only work for the type of thread (Imperial, or metric) of that leadscrew. The lathes sold in the USA seem to always have (to my dismay) Imperial leadscrews, including my new 12"x35". So the dial is useless when cutting metric threads (or, on your lathe, when cutting Imperial); you cannot disengage the carriage with the half-nut without ruining synchronization. So you must run the lathe in reverse after ever cut to prepare for the next.
My old lathe didn't even have threading or a half-nut, so when I added an electronic leadscrew, I became used to reversing between cuts.
Most of the import machines come from CHN and they definitely build them with metric LS for all other markets..
Might be worthwhile to figure out if ur machine can be retrofitted with a spare part that is metric?
I know that the AL336 that H&F offers here in Oz with imperial LS is a Liang Dei LD1236 and that the OEM offers metric LS for it - having asked H&F about it this can be arranged for.. so give it a go if it's important enough?
A gap-bed is also very useful to allow large diameter and up to 100mm thick objects to be turned.
For your chuck mount look at the system Emco used to use. A disc with slots and full size holes. Loosen bolts, rotate the disk, remove the chuck.
Wish I'd had a video like this 44 years ago, it would have saved me making a load of mods to my lathe (which is still going strong after all these years!).
Great video, it verifies a lot of things I have thought of, or found out over the years. Enjoyed very much, cheers!
Awesome video, I have the same lathe too, the AL-250. The gearbox noise is definitely there, but on mine some speed settings are quieter than others.
My biggest struggle with this lathe is alignment. Despite my best efforts it still cuts a 0.1mm taper over about 250mm. I have now resorted to turning between centres and fine tuning the tailstock when I'm doing long shafts to get dead parallel.
Very good point. I'd also buy a geared lathe if it was manual. You can only get away with direct drive on a lathe if you have like 20HP on the spindle.
I have one of those old Harbor Freight 12x36 inch moved it with a pallet jack when a frame was built, Grizzly sells this one 12x36 Gear head. It is a copy of an old Emco. This is if you're in North America, which is my recommendation. Good Epesode!
I have a Southbend 10k. I wish I had just purchased one of the newer model ones before Grizzly discontinued them so I could have a cam lock spindle. The problem I have that it is looking like it will be very difficult to mount a DRO to, and the motor mounting to the table behind the lathe requires a lot more depth on a work bench which in a small workshop room is a big deal.
But the cool thing is that I have power cross and long feed and a quick change gear box that can go as low as .0015"/revolution. I do plan on getting a chunk of steel to eventually make a new cross slide with T slots on it, and can hopefully fit a slot for the DRO reader into.
If using steel, especially cold rolled, I would plan to normalise it before machining to remove any residual stress. I made a T slot table to fit my Harrison M300 so I could do boring of items with a between centres boring bar. The M300 has a cross slide with a dovetail section to allow additional tooling to be clamped in place.
@@davidbillington9654 I have access to a surface grinder where I work so I plan on using cold rolled 4340. Normalizing it is a good idea. Once I machine the dimensions on my Mill and I will pardon it and bring it to work to grind in. That's the plan at least :)
Why would you use a chunk of steel to make a cross slide vs something like Durabar or some other type of cast iron?
for the tailstock i would recommend adding a analog dro in the form of a dial caliper , seen them doing that with digital calipers plenty of times but hate those as the cheapones always are out of battery it seams so made mine with a dial caliper which is even better as the dial on the hand wheel.
Another good option for a head unit is one using a CVT belt drive. Not usually capable of quite as much torque as a gear head lathe, but you can get absolutely any speed you want without losing motor efficiency like you would with a DC motor or VFD.
You’re spot on. The tail stock on the AL320 is woeful. I regret buying it.
I have a Hare n Forbes AL960B, drained out about 2/3s of the headstock oil top up again with Morey's heavy duty oil stabiliser, nearly as quiet as a curchmouse. Keep a bottle on hand for the backgears as well, it sticks like sh1t to a blanket. Highly recommended.
Great Video dude really good explanation and hopefully will help people out on UA-cam when shopping around.
An idea for a follow up video would be how to setup your lathe after purchase or the first things you should do.
I have an old southbend lathe. Running on leather flat belts. I have a 3 phase motor on it, powered by a single phase to 3 phase vfd. With that, the cone pulley and the back gear, you can have ridiculous torque at quite a lot of speeds.
Very well thought out and articulated.
Your lathe is a day and night difference in terms of tool post and cross slide rigidity from my Boxford 4.5".
From the other side Boxford has a full Norton gearbox (lacking the 27tpi thread),and the change gears are of excellent quality.
The tailstock locating on the gap in the bed vs the prism is not something I had realised was a thing. I had been looking at something the size of the 320, but IMO it has so many shortcomings in terms of design vs the 250. The biggest problem I have with it is mainly the reliance on change gears - for threading I can deal with that, but not for setting speeds for power feeding
This a really great episode.
I am having visions of attaching a motorbike gearbox and 3hp AC motor to my chinesium DC mini lathe.
I'm having visions of the mini lathe bed folding in half from all the torque it would have 😆
It's a good idea actually, if you're up for the challenge. Chris on the channel "rather B welding" recently did a video series adapting an electric motor to a dirt bike gearbox to make an e-dirt bike
A firend of mine recently picked up a new lathe and was giving me a demo. The instant he fired it up, I could tell that he had got the same lathe as you just from the sound.
Were I in the market for an engine lathe, the first thing I'd consider is spindle nose; I'd want a D1 series- D1-6 for a larger unit like my Monarch Model C or D1-3 for the jewel-like Monarch 10EE. The Camlock spindle makes for easy chuck changes, and is common in the States, unlike the Long series (Leblond and I think Lodge & Shipley used it), the A series is more common in Europe and Asia, not familiar with them. As for the weight, get a set of machinery skates, those and an engine hoist allowed me to move the 6000lb Model C by myself.
I'm in Aust too, and really want the AL 320.
Your machine is much better for all the nice gear select levers, BUT as an electronics guy mine will just get an ELS in the first few weeks, so never need to mess with change gears etc which is the drawback of the AL320.
That huge spindle bore diameter on the 320 and the extra rigidity, and 320mm swing, well, that swings it for me.
I have an AL320 with ELS. Quite a capable lathe and the ELS is pure joy. Without the ELS it has the big drawback that the feed rate is too high.
@@iancoulston6452 awesome info thanks!
Can you share any tips re the AL320, like any accessories you would get from the start, or the tailstock issue that this video mentioned?
Wow, I didn't realise there were so many people doing electronic lead screws and so many commercial options available. I've been watching Not An Engineer build his the past few weeks - I didn't really know about them until then
@@wizrom3046 get a wedge style QCTP from the start (not piston) and like 10x of the 250-x01 standard square tool holders right away to start. _Multifix is only affordable in Europe afaik._ U prob want 250-222 (BXA) or 111 (AXA) size.
Other stuff: for tailstock APU08/10/13-MTB3 & live center MTB3, LCD DRO with 1u scale for the CS and 5u for the bed (I run YH800's with KA500 scales), ER collet chuck (ER40:41mm, ER32:33mm), look for spring coil swarf covers for the LS and also watch Robrenz/Gotteswinter/Blondihacks for swarf protection of the bed/ways via covers and tarps..
If u don't have/want a mill look into buying a milling attachment.
Excellent pesentation! Can't wait to hear what you can do about the noisy gearbox. I have what seems like the bigger cousin to your lathe and the gearbox just screams! I'm told it is normal, but I would love to be able to do something about it.
Yeah, it was kinda disappointing when he first got that lathe to hear that much gearbox noise. Seeing what he can do to quieten it down will be interesting - half the reason I like watching his videos is the machine mods he does to fix them or make them more capable
I have had a Chinese lathe with noisy gearbox as well, most of the noise is because gears are low quality and not ground, you can´t fix it - I swapped the lathe to a VFD driven model.
Geared head 10 times out of 10 here.
I suppose I'm also very lucky with the machinery dealer I use here... honest measurements. The lathe swing is as advertised, over the bed, with an additional measurement over the gap. Same with center to center, it's from the center held in the standard 3-jaw, to the live center in the tailstock. The "usual" measurements are much larger, but not advertised.
Edit: I am that rare manual turner, apparently! I frequently use drive dogs and turn center to center.
I don't comment often on UA-cam but when I do it's for good reason. This was very informative and useful! Not that your videos aren't always but this was a cut above, you've added essential knowledge to the world . Top marks
I'd love to see how you sort out the chuck removal system. It's so tedious getting them on and off
I have an old Premo lathe, possibly 40s'. There is lots of wear , everywhere. .So, was thinking about buying what you have.. Thanks for this, a very big help.
I'll agree about the control boards in the mini machines, and agree with the lack of power when running these machines at slow speeds!
a gearbox AND vfd could be a killer combo! boost the torque as needed and let the VFD and maybe some sort of cross-slide position reading change how fast the motor runs. Now, an upgrade like that might be overkill, but it's nice to be able to have the lathe keep surface speed constant as you lathe around
VFD's cost torque, plus it's just more electronics.
I have a german toolroom mill, similar to deckel FP1, it has only 350mm over the table, First I touhht it is terribly little. As I started to use it I have learned to work arround it, Instead of a collet chuck I use direct collets and as for the drills.. I use a small chuck up to 10mm for anything over 10mm I skip the drill chuck entirely, I use taper shand drills instead. It saves a LOT of space. I would do the same on a short bed lathe.
Good show. It really is a matter of buying the lathe you want or building it.
Onw of the best over views for selecting a lathe.
Oddball question, But do you have enough footage of your DIY epoxy garage floor to make a short video about it? I remember you showing a little clip of it in an older video.
I'm planning on doing it soon and really like the style of your videos and the way you explain your process would be interesting to see and get some pointers from :)
Grizzly Industrial G4003G - 12" x 36". There ya go, that's the exact lathe you want for a home workshop. It is purpose built for GUNSMITHING, which means that it can handle large diameters in the spindle bore because gun barrels run over inch and half sometimes. I don't know if can get one of these in Australia or Europe, but for North America this is the one.
Perhaps a bit hard to source one in Australia. And since we do not own guns (illegal) not much use for this exact purpose.
Available as AL336 from H&F.. OEM is Liang Dei in Taiwan.
If u need metric LS - ask - they can do that as the OEM offers that option.
I also have an AL250 and agree with most your comments, except. 2 people 2 days to install, I did it by myself in about an hour. Chuck mounting is a real pain with them, to solve this change the bolts to front mounting and drill and tap new holes into the face plate (for 3 & 4 jaw chucks), it's a total game changer. I am also looking at changing the motor to 3 phase and a VFD to make it adjustable to fill the gap between the gears.
I think he said that he/the friends had to get it down into the basement.
I'm sure that would have contributed to much of the time issue. Going downstairs never sounds like much fun.
@@doc1701 he said "down to the workshop", basements are rather rare in au
I had to use a winch to get the pallet down to the workshop since it’s not accessible by road and it’s not paved. That took a few hours. And I had to rent the engine hoist, pick it up get the lathe hoisted up and return it. That took a full day.
@@graemetho9805 I live in Oz (SA) and my last place had a basement.
Used to keep all the preserves down there ;-)
@@doc1701 I didn't say non existent, just rare.
Thank you for the information, I for one am interested in seeing a gearbox teardown for maintenance...keep being awesome and I hope the finger is doing better!
8:30 there are finishing inserts that at its lowest feed can keep a good surface even in the lowest diameter, an insert like the CNMG 12 04 04-MF 1125, any MF for that matter
He uses them occasionally.. they are for Aluminum and don't last very long in steel.
Like your vids and actually use the same Hafco lathe.
Lathe nomenclature using swing and length is a means to somewhat compare highly variable machines. All machinist understand that this is Not specifying the max working size. All machinists understand that their choice of head stocks, holding points and cutting tools will significantly limit the maximum working size.
If you want to work on pieces 250dia x 500 length all machinist will suggest you need a much bigger lathe, and we haven't even started talking about useful power.
My point is that the lathe sizing standard is not misleading but just a generalised nomenclature to assist comparing machines.
Yes the video was useful- in confirming what I already suspected. I should've got the Hafco instead of the Opti- the DC motor stuff drives me crazy!🤪
I swapped my geared lathe for a belt driven one, and I couldn't be happier. Sure, it can't make big cuts - but on the flipside, whenever the tool digs in while parting off, the belt just slips - as opposed to stalling the lathe and burning the fuse.
I have a 14x40 Chinese lathe. For some reason I have never had parting tool digging in or problems with chatter. I have had thin parting blades wander cutting off 2” stock, or being careless snapping the blade off.
@@glennwright9747 my 7x12 did that often. Granted, it was probably my lack of skill - in any case I prefer to have the belt slip, than trying to figure out where to get a 5A fuse at 1am 😆
Running on 10th year, an "old" 1976 Boxford AUD III with threaded spindlenose, I have yet to see my chuck being turned loose or off the spindlenose, despide the fact that I from time to time do take cuts of 10mm depth and 0.5mm in reverse
My priorities are;
1) Do not buy a lathe where the carriage can not be disengaged from the leadscrew - it will drive you absolutely insane! It will invite you to loose temper, and try shortcuts.
2) If possible, choose a lathe where the tailstock is locked down with a lever, rather than a nut. Especially when you have a short lathe bed, this really helps to change tools in the tailstock.
3) Seriously consider going for a longer lathe bed. The video shows why this is important, but it really matters a lot. Having to change tools in the tailstock is a frequent thing, so having a bit of travel to work with, will cut a lot of time.
4) Spindle and tailstock should use Morse tapers 2 & 3. Thieese are the most common in hobby use, and also in professional. So tooling will be cheaper - and is more likely to be useful, if (when!) you get another lathe - or a mill! Tooling is in the end, the greater cost, compared to the lathe or milling machine in it self. Over time, collecting toolingnis a lifetime thing, and is more important than what lathe you have for the time beeing. (When I was in to my 2:nd lathe, I also got a mill. And then I was very happy, that I always considered Morse tapers 2 & 3 the thing to work with. I can use the collet chuck in both machines.😉
The other considerations pointed out in the video, are also genuinely valid.
If you don't think you will ever get a mill, then T-slots in the cross slide & a vertical slide will allow minor milling operations. That may be enough!
I've got a vertical slide, but it's really bad and I don't recommend it because the workholding is not stable.
The one thing I don’t like about your lathe is that it’s the thread drive as a carriage Drive too. I prefer having a separate carriage drive shaft, to reduce the ware on the threaded shaft
My back plate quick release works on all three of my chucks and the surface plate.
I NEVER use the clock gauge anymore, if you have to thread, just keep it on the half nut and reverse the machine. If you have to pick up the thread again, re-engage the half nut, with the machine off just align the cutter with the existing thread using the cross slide. If you have to index, use a dial gauge and actually get some accuracy.
Avoid DC motors altogether, if you want speed control, get a variable frequency drive and control the ac motor.
Just curious what about VFDs and CVTs? I know some machines like the Hardange lathes or equivalent used CVTs similar to Bridgeport series 2 mills. There was also a lathe in college that had a gearbox plus a VFD which was very nice.
When one decides to get into having a machine shop, the idea of spending money is something that has to gotten used to. I definitely do not recommend a beginner try to make a D1-x series backplate. Just give in and buy one with your chuck if it doesn’t come with one. Believe me, you will be much happier in the long run. Most 4 jaw chucks come with the backplate built in, so you shouldn’t need to buy one. If you’re buying a better quality, larger lathe, you might be able to get it with a VFD and 3 phase motor at some additional cost. It’s well worth it. They are much quieter, have plenty of power at low speeds and have a wide, infinite range that can be adjusted on the fly. They shouldn’t be compared with the cheap DC variable drive found in smaller, cheap lathes. It’s expensive having a metal working shop. Believe me, I know. Whatever your machines cost, you will be spending at least that amount over some time on accessories of various types. Sometimes, you can name them, but mostly, you have to buy them.
I wish there was a D1 camlock system for the mini-lathes AND widely adopted.. it's a real pita to change chucks on those small machines.
@@joansparky4439 it’s a terrible method, using those screws. But it’s cheap to produce and the entire point to mini lathes is that they’re cheap.
@@melgross no, I meant there doesn't seem to be a ready-to-go D1 cam system in the mini lathe size. I checked. D1-3 is the smallest defined and already puts the cams within the tapered part of the spindle nose while it's destined for chuck sizes of 125mm+ at least.
@@joansparky4439 I know exactly what you said. I’m not disagreeing with you. I’m just saying you won’t see that. By the was a D1-3 is much better for a smaller lathe than a D1-4. The South Bend began to come with a D1-4 some time ago. That’s a 10” industrial model. That was really too big for it.
@@melgross sure, but there isn't even an option to aftermarket or DIY a D1 for the minis.. unless u design it completely (and trust ur choices to work).
For the sizes of machines those D1 cams exists - yes, get it and if not versed in making precision stuff - buy it, fully agree.
The one thing I don’t like about your lathe is that it’s the thread drive as a carriage Drive too. I prefer having a separate carriage drive shaft, to reduce the ware on the threaded shaft “proper power feed” as you put it. I’m also a gear head guy. Like minds and all of that.😅
I think threaded spindle noses get a lot of undeserved disrespect. I'd prefer a camlock, sure, but my threaded spindle nose has served me well for forty years. It's maintained its accuracy better than I expected, and I can make my own spindle tooling. I often run in reverse, and it's never come loose. I'm careful about it, of course. I'd never power tap with a large left-hand tap, for instance. There are ways to secure a threaded chuck, too. I've asked around, and I've heard of a few cases where a chuck has come loose, so it's certainly possible, but saying "they will unscrew" is a bit strong, IMHO. My point is, if you find a nice old lathe that you're considering buying, don't let a threaded spindle nose be a deal breaker. I've never dealt with a "direct mount" as described, but I'd be very reluctant to buy one.
I got given a lathe with a threaded spindle recently. I'm still getting it set up, but one thing I'm trying to find is another backplate . This should be relatively straight forward, except I can't actually figure out what the thread is 😑. It's 8tpi with 55 degree threads, but the diameter measures around 1.18" which is bigger than 1-1/8" and smaller than 1-1/4". The lathe has no markings whatsoever on it, so I can't look up based on that. I think the design is inspired by several different lathes - I can't even find a similar picture trawling lathes .co .uk. I will keep trying, eventually I'll figure it out 🙃
@@corey_nz It might be 30mm-8TPI. My 50y/o Taiwan lathe has an oddball 50mm-8TPI nose. You may have to make a backplate from scratch. Start by making a dummy spindle nose exactly like the real one, as close as you can. Measure the thread pitch diameter by the three wire method, and match it on the dummy. Then use that as a check gage when you thread your new backplate.
@@randyshoquist7726 yeah, it's looking like I'm going to have to make one. Is that a thing, mixing metric diameter and threads per inch? It's the only logical conclusion I've come to. My other theory is that at some point in my lathes life the spindle threads were damaged, so they went smaller taking as little off as possible and ending up with a custom thread
@@corey_nz I've heard speculation that Asian lathes, while largely metric, may use an Imperial pitch on the spindle, if they have an Imperial lead screw, so that owners like us can make our own spindle tooling. I've no idea if that's true, but it's a nice idea.
I made a couple of big mistakes buying my AL51G lathe.
While I bought the biggest lathe i could afford, it struggles with any sort of a decent cut in steel, I should have just saved up for another year or so before making my purchase. So first mistake was being to keen I suppose.
The second and biggest mistake I made being it never occurred to me that in this day and age in Australia, they would be still be selling lathes that are imperial. I mean fair dinkum, it is 50 years since we abandoned the imperial measurement system. But yeah, imperial lead screw, and dials that also have imperial screws with dodgy "metric" faces on them, so the measurements they indicate are just slightly wrong... So cutting threads on this lathe is a pain in the arse, and any finishing work needs to be done with a dial gauge. I should have bought the similar sized Optimum lathe that was available.
That is just a 'training lathe'. I'd chalk that up to learning how it works - I bet in good condition u can sell it for 50% of it's org value if the mods u did to it are worthwhile and an improvement over 'out of the box'. I got me a Opti TU2004v for training myself and family.. can do some stuff, but won't be able to end one easily if something goes wrong. _I'll get a AL336 later.._
To move big heavy machine use a tow jack to lift corners and put dollies under.
Doesn’t help me when there isn’t a pathway to the workshop.
@@artisanmakes XD no it doesn't, moving around in your shop was the idea. I didn't get what you needed.
Too short table is common in many older heavy lathes too
Thanks a bunch for all the info and tips, dude! 😊
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
I seriously suspect that this is This Old Tony after he's time travelled with accidentally wrong settings on his time travel lathe and it broke so now he's stuck in the present without his time travel lathe and a new aussie accent. The absolutely only reason he's got that lathe now is to travel back to his time and fix the accent. Also, inheritance machining is clearly his grandson.
At 0:30, 8:00, and other points, you are touching your freshly machined steel collet chuck with your bare hands. How do you keep rusty fingerprints from showing up on your tools and parts? Your hands don't look like they are dripping with oil and I don't see you using oily rags so how do you avoid getting rusty fingerprints?
Australia isn't as extremely humid as the near-equator countries (like Costa Rica, in my case) where any and all plain carbon steels are going to oxidize by simply being exposed to humidity in a normal room
@@gregoryartaviasalazar426 I'm in Queensland Australia, and it IS hot and humid here.
Typically 50% to 75% humidity.
Everything rusts, and that is inside the house. Don't even think about leaving steel outside!
Didn't he use stainless?
@@wizrom3046 we're talking never under 80% humidity where I live, even 90% all day
@@untamedhacker collet chuck was a piece of 1045, stainless (304 and 316) is trash for everything except corrosive environments and sanitized applications
I love that you're so anal about things. Over 20 years of cnc and much of what you say transfers to my field. Love watching you grow kid.
Nice infromational video!! Cheers!!
Would it be possible to somehow make a quick release for the chucks?
I've never been able to single cut threads on my lathe. It's an old Logan 400 that only came with like 3 gears. I could buy individual gears off Ebay but considering I need somewhere around 14 different gears, that would cost me more than the whole lathe.
Surprisingly you can 3d print them in PLA and they still last rather long. Of course it depends on whether you have a 3d printer, which need not cost more than 200 euro / USD now.
@ruudsmits907 I did notice people selling 3d printed Logan change gears a while back when I was looking. I came close to buying a 3d printer a few times. I just got overwhelmed a bit because I knew very little about them and didn't want to waste money buying one type when I should've bought a different type.
Have you considered making/using electronic leadscrew?
I've been enjoying watching Not An Engineer recently put his together
Seems a bit pointless to do it here when the gearbox does all the threads I need it to. Plus electronics aren't an area im hugely interested in. cheers
@@artisanmakes no messing around trying to find exact gear ratio plus doubles as power feed with variable speed and DRO
keep an eye on 2nd hand machines aswell guys, some good ones pop up fairly often for a decent price
When you get a big lathe, you have to think if you will like the cost of transporting it and moving it in. I was lucky that my dads mate had a hiabb truck and the the moving equipment that saved me $2.5k. I a big lathe guy and the small lathes a too small. I was lucky to get a good deal but a a lot of work to referb.
Just in time as looking for a lathe to buy
Last count I had 11 lathes 4 in NSW and 7 in Western Australia.
Russian KN
German VDF
JF__
Macson
2 triumph 2000s
A small Taiwanese no idea what brand
Another Macson
Knockoff Colchester mastiff
And an oil country with a 12” spindle bore 😅
Ah and a Chinese one there too. 3m bed.
The perfect lathe has never been built, its always been what combination of compromises the manufacturer chose. Mine is regarded by many as one of the best, but its still not perfect.
Very informative. Thank you!
Great Video! Thank you. It's helps me a lot.
This is really helpful, thank you for putting it together. An advantage to having more info is that you go into a purchase more aware of what you're getting into, and even if that means you don't get exactly what you want, you set your expectations to fit your choice, and then you can adjust accordingly.
For the crossslide scales, I recommend the Sino KA500 with 1 micron resolution. It really helps to have the increased resolution on that axis. Also, the KA500 is a small version, which reduces the wasted space. Also, install it on the left side of the crossslide - at least for me, I found that I'm much more likely to need to push the tailstock right up to the carriage, than the carriage to the chuck. Also, TouchDRO is nice. Also, replace the motor with a 6-pole 3-phase one, and use a VFD. 6 poles gives you more torque at lower speeds.
If no optical scale will fit (KA300 is normal, KA500 is slim, KA200 is super slim & expensive) - the magnetic ones are even slimmer and cost roughly what the KA300 scales cost for 1 um res - just swarf protection then must be top notch if mounted at the left of the CS, as the mag strip attracts ferro-bits like crazy.
I can at least give you some perspective from the big boy stuff: When you buy an industrial machine in very good condition, you can expect to spend about two to three times what the machine cost in tooling, so all you can get included is probably worth it. E.g. the live tooling blocks for our CNC lathe cost about 2000 bucks per piece new. The revolver has twelve stations. You might not need twelve, but zero is too little. Businesses have much the same nuisances as hobbyists, just a different flavour and maybe a couple more zeroes. When you have a 5-ton forklift, your new machine weighs six tons. Or doesnt fit through the door. 😂
do they sell this lathe in the US?
Regarding the mounting chucks, my lathe uses the same mounting system as yours with bolts from the back. I added a larger chuck and drilled through the face of the chuck and into the new backing plate. This allows me easy access to the bolts from the face of the chuck which is much less of a hassle. Thanks for the video.
One other kinda misleading thing to keep an eye out for sizing as well isn't just the swing but the part that's more importanter there is the swing over the carriage, swing and swing over the carriage are very rarely the same, I've been caught out by that before
he mentioned swing over carriage, but... used perhaps unobvious verbiage.
@@felderup Yeah, watching it when more awake I did notice that he'd touched on it in a wording I wasn't expecting
It isnt misleading, or only misleading if you dont know what these numbers mean
@@wolf310ii for a first time lathe purchaser... it could be a particularly annoying not misleading.
I have the same lathe but without threading dail can you give me the specs so i can make one .thank you
You’ll need two gears for the threading dial. A 32 and a 35 tooth. They are module 1 worm gears made to suit a 20mm screw. There should be a chart in your manual which lists which gears are used for which thread pitches. The rest of the specs aren’t important. Just make sure the gear meshes and d you have 8 divisions.
I'm not a machinist. What metals need the higher speeds?
It`s not what metals, it`s which diameters... The larger the diameter of the piece being worked, the higher the surface speed of the cut, and inverse of that for smaller diameters... Essentially the principle of the lever, but translated from a pole to a round body...
It ultimately depends on what you are turning as in which diameter it is, as well as which operation you are performing... Roughing cuts are done with fast traversing, deep cutting and slow turning when compared to finishing passes - regardless of the diameter, or maybe better said, scaled appropriately depending on the diameter...
It also greatly depends on cutter material and production setting... HSS tools are steel, and even when cobalted to 15% they still dislike high temperatures generated by high speed cutting... Carbide, special ceramic and CBN cutters tolerate heat immensely well and demand either constant cooling to keep shit - again - constant, or you go dry and modulate the max temperature of the cut with RPM and other factors(proper chip formation can take away an immense amount of heat) to keep the cutters happy(sudden cooling = cracked and ruined cutters)... The diamond cutters are their own can of worms and as such are outside the scope of this comment... Needless to say that HSS in itself is a vast field of specialty steel alloys that could have a small book written on it, and likely has, so there are steels that make some really supreme cutters that can tolerate remarkable heat for steel, but they are not able to beat carbide, ceramics and CBN, neither in heat tolerance nor hardness(while remaining functional), but again, some alloys come very close in some regards...
All the best!
Steuss
good points
How about NUMOBAMS?
The most knowledgeable person on UA-cam when it comes to small lathes
RotarySMP rebuilt one for CNC, Blondihacks runs one in that size as well for years now, then there is Clickspring with some info on his two machines in that size and Richard Moore has also rebuild one of them and provides details on that, to name the ones that I found over the years..
PS: Gotteswinter started out with a 250x500 as well.
What about .. Blondihacks? Gotteswinter (early vids)? We can do that better? Clickspring? David Moore? RotarySMP (refurbing a mini for CNC)?
Of cause for $1500 more you can buy a large lathe. But moving & installing is the big issue.
How noisy is it actually ?