mattbloke Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Hi all, im thinking of purchasing a lathe primarily for making spacers as and when I need them. Dosnt need to be commercial standard, but big enough for wheel spacers/spindles/steering stems. I know there is a choice between buying old and accurate or new and cheap. Help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaighn80 Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Buy the biggest you can afford and store, it gets a little frustrating when you can't quite squeeze in the bit your machining, buy lots of tools, you can never have enough tools and if possible buy a recognised name, if you are going to buy a hobby sized lathe go buy a copy of model engineers workshop, there's always ads in there from various companies selling them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbloke Posted March 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Thanks for the reply :-) I get the above already, what im looking for is advice on actual models/type of lathe. As its only going to be used infrequently ideally I don't want to be spending more than a 4-500 quid which rules out most Boxford/myford type lathes.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franky Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 The problem you've got is that all the small hobby type things go for silly money, you're better off with a 3 phase larger machine that most home users are scared of. For £1k you'd get a decent 3 phase machine that'll always do more than you want and you'll not be left wishing you'd got something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayla Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 If you can stretch to £1000 the Warco ones look like good value- http://www.warco.co.uk/metal-lathes-metalworking-lathe-machine/17-wm-250-variable-speed-lathe.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franky Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 This is the sort of thing I'd go for http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOXFORD-LATHE-REDUCED-/201038730008?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item2eced79318 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOXFORD-LATHE-REDUCED-/201038730008?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item2eced79318 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boxford-ME10-centre-lathe-/111251621130?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item19e71d050a you can still buy parts in the UK, they're made in the UK and so much better quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damnthistinleg Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Don't rule out lathes like the Myford ML10. They are still great little things and go for much less than the 7 series. STOP PRESS!!!!! Just looked on ebay and this is up for grabs..... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ATLAS-LATHE-/191110817791?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item2c7f17a7ff I had one before I got my ML7 and it is a cracking tool with a surprisingly large capacity. It is an excellent piece of kit for that money. Edited to add..... Don't be put of by the vintage looks either. After a bit of careful setting up, I could get down to a repeatable accuracy of 0.0002" on mine over a 10" test turning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaighn80 Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 That's cheap, I'd be tempted to phone up and waft the proverbial smell of cash down the phone line Ifn I didn't have three lathes already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porter_jamie Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 stop mincing about some ds+g action http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DEAN-SMITH-GRACE-13-1-Toolroom-Straight-Bed-Lathe-/261381413869?pt=UK_BOI_Metalworking_Milling_Welding_Metalworking_Supplies_ET&hash=item3cdb8bdbed#ht_1274wt_905 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbloke Posted March 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Don't rule out lathes like the Myford ML10. They are still great little things and go for much less than the 7 series. STOP PRESS!!!!! Just looked on ebay and this is up for grabs..... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ATLAS-LATHE-/191110817791?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item2c7f17a7ff I had one before I got my ML7 and it is a cracking tool with a surprisingly large capacity. It is an excellent piece of kit for that money. Edited to add..... Don't be put of by the vintage looks either. After a bit of careful setting up, I could get down to a repeatable accuracy of 0.0002" on mine over a 10" test turning. that looks good! old looks dont put me off, its just getting the most for little money, that will do what i want. well spotted as for the others, thanks for the input but everything else is outside of what i could justify regarding how much i will ever use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damnthistinleg Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Glad you like it! If you haven't done so already, have a look at this..... http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 stop mincing about some ds+g action http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DEAN-SMITH-GRACE-13-1-Toolroom-Straight-Bed-Lathe-/261381413869?pt=UK_BOI_Metalworking_Milling_Welding_Metalworking_Supplies_ET&hash=item3cdb8bdbed#ht_1274wt_905 That is a right piece! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacemonkey Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Love the DSG! Single phase hobby lathes are either tinny crap or premium price. Slightly bigger machines are much nicer and less expensive. I think a Hardinge HLVH would take a lot of beating terms of value for money. Smart and Brown 1024's are nice, and the Colchesters.... Buy one with as much tooling as possible. You won't believe how much stuff you'll need sooner or later and it'll cost you an awful lot to get piecemeal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vfiend Posted March 29, 2014 Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 I'd like a little thing like this: Perfect for spacers, footpegs, crash bungs etc (obviously no good for spindles etc though) Get if off the shelf as and when you need it. Never see them come up second hand though and not as value for money as a proper lathe. Edit: autocorrect fail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbloke Posted March 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 and bought http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ATLAS-LATHE-/191110817791?nma=true&si=GOIU3E%252FgpC9XnwX8SWElbdqPPnQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 cheers damthistinleg, thanks for the recommendation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 stop mincing about some ds+g action http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DEAN-SMITH-GRACE-13-1-Toolroom-Straight-Bed-Lathe-/261381413869?pt=UK_BOI_Metalworking_Milling_Welding_Metalworking_Supplies_ET&hash=item3cdb8bdbed#ht_1274wt_905 Don't forget you need to smoke 20 woodbines whilst operating this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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