Lathe noob question

[SONICJK]

I have one piece of grizzly machinery in my shop. Never again.

 

[irk miller]

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

I'm not going to argue with the work you can do with a better lathe, especially an auto feed. I also have no argument that certain old lathes may be difficult to get holders for. But who is going to take out a loan and commit $10 grand to something that is not part of their business? Besides, there are plenty of quality used lathes and mills on eBay and Craigslist all of the time. Companies replace equipment or go out of business and liquidate their assets. I've seen the very Schumacher lathe I ran when I machined pistons for Homelite sell for only a $3000. Nothing wrong with it, they just closed that plant. Half the time, those ads sell the tooling and equipment together.

 

[my-79-750-k]

I have one piece of grizzly machinery in my shop. Never again.

The shop I work in has several pieces of Grizzly machinery, nothing wrong with them at all. Maybe you just got a bad piece?

And yes, I'm not saying that everyone who wants to make their own pegs should run out and buy a 10k$ lathe, I was just showing that one for reference that a brand new quality lathe doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. There are plenty of good used machines out there for a couple grand, you just need to take someone with you who knows what to look for when you scope a used machine.

 

[J-Rod10]

That is the key. Take someone who knows exactly what they're looking for/at when buying used machinery.

 

[StinkBug]

I paid $1000 for my 17" SouthBend AND a short bed 12" Logan. Both in great shape, both gear head with nice tool posts. The Logan even had a 5C collet closer on it. Machine shop had converted to CNC years ago and they had just been sitting and they needed the space. I ended up selling the little one for what I paid for both and ended up with a really nice lathe for the cost of a forklift rental and some gas.

You definitely dont need to spend an arm and a leg, though my story is definitely not common. Also there is a ton of older stuff out there that is a hell of a lot better than just about anything new. They weren't afraid to build heavy back when this country actually produced things. Stuff was made to last, and be used all day every day. That's hard to find now.