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ISO: Starter Benchtop Lathe

L

Luthi

New Member
Hi all! I'm new here but I've been keeping an eye open for some smaller benchtop lathes. If anyone in the Airdrie/Calgary area knows of anyone selling a small set up that maybe has some tooling with it, I'd be very interested in coming to take a look! I'm also willing to travel anywhere in Alberta if there's something available. I don't care much for the cosmetic condition but would prefer a unit functioning properly to learn on. Thanks in advance!
 
Well, you can have one of my old SB 13 lathes. Not exactly benchtop and around 1300-1400 lbs. On the plus side cheap. One is fully functional. It has some noticeable wear through.
 
What kind of wear does it have? Is it something that could be repaired/replaced simply enough? I don't mind putting effort into fixing something mechanically so long as its within the realm of reason for a novice!
 
You cannot fix wear on most machines economically so you simply live with it. All lathes that are used have wear. When machining you simply have to account for wear when making precision parts. In practice all short things you make are of no issue as bed is flat on short distance. All things that are full length of bed - very rare to do over say 2" are of no issue again as actual difference is around 0.0001 of an inch - easily other factors will make your rod +- 0.001. Problem starts with say 1/2" wide rod that is 20" long. Now if you want to make it to say 0.001 you need to either twist your lathe (set it uneven) or do a taper cut with the tailstock.

In practice main issue is that you will have far lesser bragging rights then others having a clunker & always in the back of your head you will have a question - is it the wear? Also looking at your bed is a turn off when others have perfect one.
 
I really appreciate the offer but as I'm still very new I would like to eliminate as many "is it the wear?" Scenarios as possible. I figure if the machine is MOSTLY wear free, all ill have to blame is my machining practices, instead of constantly second guessing. If the wear was in bearings/gears or something i would probably take a crack at the repairs, but I'm not sure where I would start with bed wear.
 
Actually no. If the machine is brand new you still most likely have a long set of possible "ifs" Is it the chuck? Is it "deflection" etc. Is my machine aligned? Is there manufacturing defect? Etc.

Main advantage of a clunker over a brand new lathe is price followed by not having to worry about crashes, mistakes, abuse etc. Imagine if you are a beginner and you got a used but in good shape precise Hardinge lathe with 6 jaw chuck from Bison. Lathe say 10000 and chuck say 1500. You are parting and you accidentally set tool to low, part rides on a chuck, breaks parting tool and twists off the chuck. Your chuck is now ruined for accuracy and you have a large ding in your freshly ground bed.
 
Oh I definitely see the advantage of a used machine in that sense! I'm by no means looking for anything new, I would actually love something that I could repair as it would allow me to learn. But as far as my understanding goes, getting a bed back to true takes a rather extensive amount of knowledge?

With that said what are you asking for it price wise? If it makes economical sense it may be something I could tinker with for the time being!
 
Sure, can you make it today? It is better to view it in daylight hours as I doubt you see much at night.

I PM you my address and hone number. I am trying to setup one guy today for 3pm.
 
Tom Kitta said:
You cannot fix wear on most machines economically so you simply live with it. All lathes that are used have wear. When machining you simply have to account for wear when making precision parts. In practice all short things you make are of no issue as bed is flat on short distance. All things that are full length of bed - very rare to do over say 2" are of no issue again as actual difference is around 0.0001 of an inch - easily other factors will make your rod +- 0.001. Problem starts with say 1/2" wide rod that is 20" long. Now if you want to make it to say 0.001 you need to either twist your lathe (set it uneven) or do a taper cut with the tailstock.

In practice main issue is that you will have far lesser bragging rights then others having a clunker & always in the back of your head you will have a question - is it the wear? Also looking at your bed is a turn off when others have perfect one.
Click to expand...
Do you still have the lathe?
 
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