Machinists, learn me a bit

Nothing for the purpose it is intended which is light home use. It has no place in a business environment. It makes parts just fine. If you CNC convert it then it will still make parts just fine. I just doesn't make them fast or with NASA levels of accuracy and repeatability.

 

Mass is king. The more mass a machine has the more pleasant your machining experience will be.

 

This cannot be stated enough.

 

Hey Dan,
I had another project on 304 stainless that I had to helix in on for a recess. I used the tip you gave of going in with a 2 degree ramp angle and didn't get nearly the squeal like I did before. Thanks again for the info.

 

I seen the metric NOS gears for my old 1970 machine go for $1500, when they popup....

What I did when I needed metric, i would find the closest SAE thread pitch, cut it to approx 80% depth, then lock-in a high-quality/adjustable metric die, and finish the process in the lathe. I precut before the die, to ensure concentric & trueness. I didnt do it much, and was a PITA, but it worked when i did it.
Hope it helps someone in the future.

 

Horrible, just horrible

 

NO!!!!!!!!!!

YES! IF the 'ways' are still good, and the spindle bore is large enuff for the work you want to do. I think a SB 10" has a 5/8" spindle bore??? That is super small fyi.

I would say $3K.....look for tight/maintained machine. Worry about DRO down the road, you wont need it yet. Look for machine w/ TOOLING. (3 jaw, 4 jaw, collet attachment. Chucks/collets/etc. Tool holders. etc. TOOLING!
I dont have a DRO on my machine, but used one at work. MUCH nicer But not neccesity yet. I can do concentric threads to 0.001" depth, and surface of 0.0005" w/out DRO.

Also, you will need a high-qaulity machinist level to set-the bed, after moving the machine. The beds' twist, you adjust/twist the bed to get the machine to cut straight, not taper....this is normal setup and maintenance. You will also have to set tail-stock, etc, after moving machine.

I wouldnt touch a DRO-less lathe for under 3K, unless it was a diamond in a sea of broken glass. Maintained, minimal bed-ways wear, and tooling is what you should be looking for. Hardend ways, are a must.
Clausing, SB, Monarch, etc..... Clausing/SB are going to be the most common/cheapest and easiest for parts.

 

Nice. Sometimes they still squeal and you can chase you tail trying to figure out why, but as long as the parts are nice, and cutters aren't snapping off it's all good. Nice room sign. If I worked in a place that had signs like that, I might have to clean the greasy handprints off the door lol

I just use my Excello as a glorified drillpress too.... Having access to the Haas mills at work I tend to just do all my work there

 

I just looked at the link....That is NICE workhorse machine......lotta tooling, large spindle bore, even has taper attachment. If it is close to you, I would go see it.

I dont think it is a 10", i think it is a 12" cause of the large bore. i could be wrong.

 

It's a drain cover for use at a chemical plant, made it for a mechanical contractor, had to machine an o-ring groove around the edge, funny trying to get specifics from some people(what font size, oring compression %, tolerance, etc), got a hand scribbled drawing, initially said +/- .125"
Ended up tack welding a piece of round stock on the back side so I could hold the part and be able to get to the top and side edge, cut off the stock when done and cleaned up the backside.

 

It's a nice drain cover
That's one of my biggest headaches in this industry. Nobody knows what they want, but they sure know when it's wrong.....

 

This would be decent for what you're looking for if you can work the price a little?
https://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/tld/d/auburn-jet-13x40-belt-drive-lathe-stand/6823388911.html
You can add a DRO later, has power feed in the X and Z, can do metric threads with a quick gear change, single phase power

 

I would not get anything under 12x36 and 1.5" bore.
I have 14x40 with 2" bore and it covers pretty much everything I need. It is one of the Taiwan machines similar to all other imports. Bought it new about 8 years ago.
Came with dro shipped to me fro $5k. Never had single issue with it. I did replace motor with 3 face and VFD.
Best $5k I ever spent.

 

Tawanese machine Much better than chinese machine.

That Jet (GRH) pretty good chicom machine. https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200712988_200712988

 

This is the one I have
https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-1440e-lb/

 

Precision Mathews makes some good/quality low(er) cost stuff/options. I have some of their milling tooling, and all good spec/quality.

 

Better then buying some old used stuff that needs fixing. Then buying dro for it and you end up spending same money as new one.

 

Be realistic about your needs. What do you want to make. If I had space I'd be fine with a small Logan and I have seen some very high quality work done on a mill/drill. ( by some quite skilled toolmakers )
If you have the space.. LOL ( this one is quite a bit bigger than our FPT 5axis horizontal mill )

 

Here you go. Tons of machine tools from a liquidation. A little far from SEA but thats what shipping is for....

https://www.hilcoind.com/sale/ab-machining/featured

 

Don't worry about where to put it. Dig up your driveway pour a big foundation for it and park your cars on the table. I'd love to have that machine for some of the work we do.

That reminds me of the time I almost bought an overhead crane at an auction for $1000. It came with a paint booth that was itself a red iron building built around it, and was 20'x40'x20' high. They had pretty unreasonable removal deadlines and restrictions that I had no way of meeting so I kept my hands in my pocket. But I still think it would have been a fun adventure..... Might have cost me 10k to dissemble and move, then another 10-15 for a slab and foundation at my house, but I would have had a 20x40 shop with a crane at the end. Can't even put up a Quonset hut for that....

Big stuff and cheap price = Big gamble with big rewards.....or big headaches and big losses.....