Lathe noob question

SONICJK

SONICJK

Reminds me of...me No, I'm sure of it. I hate him
Hey,
So I am in the market for a lathe, I am tired of not having one.
I am a big fan of older, bigger heavier, REAL machinery.

SO my question is can I do small things on a big lathe?
Example:
http://nashville.craigslist.org/tls/4245553946.html
 
Christ, that takes up as much space as my whole workspace...

Anyways, in my experience, the answer is yes. Mind you my experience is very limited, but I've used a lathe about that size to reduce a small piece of bar stock. I assume it could have easily made small spacers and the like
 
plagrone said:
Christ, that takes up as much space as my whole workspace...

Anyways, in my experience, the answer is yes. Mind you my experience is very limited, but I've used a lathe about that size to reduce a small piece of bar stock. I assume it could have easily made small spacers and the like
Click to expand...

Space, I don't have an issue with :D
 
2000 lbs :eek:

I feel sorry for your friends who are going to just help you "load" something into your truck.

HAHA ;D
 
Mr_Dunev said:
2000 lbs :eek:

I feel sorry for your friends who are going to just help you "load" something into your truck.

HAHA ;D
Click to expand...

I don't have that many friends! :-[ hahaha
Tractor is more likely
 
wooo !! nice find git it ! git it now !!!
i learned my trade on such flat belt machines ;D
you can do small work on it,but a lot of small work is best with high spindle speeds as long as you aren't trying to be in a hurry you will be fine
the shop i was in we had at least 2 of those old flat belt drive jobs with an automobile manual transmission lashed into the drive system up high there... it was cool jamming gears !!
 
yes, you can do small things on a big lathe, in fact, doing small things with probably higher tolerance requirements than large things is better done on a large, more rigid machine. bear in mind you'll be looking at buying a lot of tools required to do work, so the money you have saved for a lathe should also consider a good deal of measuring and cutting tools
 
Roc City Cafe said:
yes, you can do small things on a big lathe, in fact, doing small things with probably higher tolerance requirements than large things is better done on a large, more rigid machine. bear in mind you'll be looking at buying a lot of tools required to do work, so the money you have saved for a lathe should also consider a good deal of measuring and cutting tools
Click to expand...

Roc, I had you in mind with this question because I saw a video of you doing something on a lathe and I thought to myself "that fuckers huge".

I couldn't care less about speed I'm in no hurry. Hell I tig weld things that I could mig in 1/4 the time.

Could someone school me on what the basic cutting tools I would need would be?
Say I picked that big bad boy up, what would I need to get to be able to say turn an axle, make spacers, maybe turn a steering stem etc
 
THoughts........
http://louisville.craigslist.org/tls/4205904601.html

A little more manageable
 
to do an axle you really want a lathe with gearing set up for thread turning, otherwise it's a real bitch to try to make threads with a die on something that big. other than that, you need a tailstock, basic left and right hand cutter holders, live center, and a good dial indicator and holder to make sure things are lined up, that and mics to measure with of course
 
Well plan changed haha.
Headed now to grab a really old school much smaller lathe that should be just fine for my needs. If I need a bigger one ill find one later.

Ill post pics later for anyone interested
 
you will have fun no matter what you get, remember those older jobs need careful attention to lube, everything is total loss lubrication
if you want to make threads to match motersikle parts you really need to get a lathe with a metric gearbox
then learn single point threading, a fine art that is dying out i am sure
 
I used to have one of those little south bends, exactly like that one. It's a very good reliable machine, but you cant take much of a cut with it. If you're trying to remove much material it takes a long time. Now I have a huge 17" southbend and can do SOOOOOOO much more and faster. I also paid nearly nothing for it. Transport is usually the biggest problem. thankfully I have a pretty heavy duty trailer, but I did have to rent a forklift to unload and get it into place. I'm pretty sure that one in the first post weighs a lot more than 2000lbs. Mine maxed out a 5k lb forklift.

Belt drives aren't terrible, but if you can get a gear head you'll be much happier in the long run. Easier to change speeds, more available speeds, and usually much easier to pick a gear for threading.
 
Well here we go:
http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=56658

Once I outgrow this one and its all restored and pretty maybe I'll snag a huge one ;D
 
Here's something you'd probably like...no belts...
 

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I don't know much about lathes, but I do know someone that bought one and was cracked down the back side, worst part about it is they painted it so good to cover the crack, the really bad part about it the vibration because of the crack deemed the machine to be useless because of the size of screws they were making. Something else I learned is that you need a special type of microscope when making specialty screws.
 
That old addage, "You get what you pay for" comes to mind... 800$ sounds like a dream price for a 14" lathe. You say you won't be in a hurry, that'll change within 10 minutes of having to run a lathe at 50rpm's. Save your money, or get a loan for 10k, and buy a decent gear drive, good quality lathe. Tooling will run you upwards of a grand for holders and bits and cutters and live centers and measuring tools. Fork over the money now for a decent piece of equipment or pay 3X as much over the next year fixing and replacing broken or missing pieces that are impossible to find because your trying to get them for a dinosaur. Just my .02

Jet lathes makes machines from 3" chuck all the way to 14". They have helical cut metal gearing and tapered head bearings and run on 220/230V power. That, and the fact that replacement and additional accessory parts are easy to come by. I'm not saying they're the best out there, not by a long shot, but unless you'e wanting to shave off 1/2" at a time on a part that weighs 800lbs (I've done this) It's decent quality for a decent price. This is just one of their mid/large size machines.

http://www.google.com/shopping/product/7570090423105380034?q=jet+lathes&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.59568121,d.cGU,pv.xjs.s.en_US.1EneOJbgwUk.O&biw=1280&bih=680&tch=1&ech=1&psi=0sDaUsvAA8vvoATD2YKoCA.1390067922794.3&ei=5cDaUq3cMMzyoATSsoAY&ved=0CPkBEKYrMAg
 
Grizzly machine also sells it's own line of lathes. I mean, they're made in China/Taiwan, but they're also ISO9001 certified, so think what you will...
www.Grizzly.com
 
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