I suggested a lathe that doesn't need gear changing because gunsmithing requires threading different things like receiver threads, muzzle brake threads etc. and not having to change gears every time would ,I think, be nice, no? If you enjoy changing gears that's great, but if the OP is buying a lathe anyhow , why not get one that makes the job quicker and easier. The OP did not say that he liked changing gears.
My add about my own wishes was just expressing my preferences. Only the beginning of my post was about the gunsmithing question.
You might not know that gunsmithing was my first machining love. It might be my last too. We will see.
My question on your post was really only about your comment that "
If you are gunsmithing I would strongly advise getting a lathe that doesn't require gear changing."
I just don't see why gunsmithing dictates the need to avoid changing gears any more than other areas of interest.
Perhaps it would have been better if you had simply said "I strongly advise getting a lathe that doesn't require gear changing." At that point I would have only said "fair enough, each to their own. We can agree to disagree". I'm a masochist and you are not.
I suppose for those who believe that gunsmithing is only about threading barrels and muzzle brakes, that might be true. But smithing involves many many many other activities, the vast majority of which don't involve threading on a lathe at all. I'd also submit that the actual barrel threading process itself is trivial compared to the setup and other work that needs to be done before a threading tool even touches the work. By the same token, changing gears prior to threading a barrel at either end is trivial by comparison too.
That said...... And this is important. Although I have change gears on my lathe, I also have 16 different positions of different gear ratios that can be selected internally. In other words I can select 16 times the number of gear combinations. And furthermore, if that didn't cover all the bases, I can make or buy another gear to get 16 more combinations.
The vast majority of standard thread pitches can be cut on my lathe without changing gears. I think (but I'm not positive) that this is true of most lathes with quick change gear boxes and a pair of gears that can be changed on the back of the headstock. What gears do for you is totally escape the limitations of a gear box with a fixed set of internal gears. There is no such thing as a thread pitch I cannot cut. The same cannot be said for a lathe without change gears. (Unless it has els or some other continuously variable leade screw ratio mechanism.)
But basically, I was only wondering why you thought smithing dictated a higher need than other interests to avoid a lathe with a change gear setup. You have answered that but I respectfully disagree.
I had to cut a 24tpi thread a couple days ago. All I had to do was shift one lever to engage the lead screw, shift 2 more for the gear box setting and away I went. Cut a 3/8 long 24tpi thread in a few minutes , quick and easy.
I can do the same.
I think there is a common misconception that modern lathes with change gears require a gear change for every thread pitch there is. That was certainly the case for the early lathes and may be true for some of the newer basic lathes too. But it is not the case for the many of the newer change gear lathes. Newer lathes like mine have both change gears AND a quick change gear box. Although that is no ELS, it does give you access to every single thread pitch that exists as opposed to just the ones that the manufacture thought were the most popular.
Edit - I didn't see
@DPittman's post on this same issue. If I had, it would have saved my thumb some exercise.
Mainly I want to thread 1 1/16 x16 and 5/8x24, and I don’t want to be switching gears every time i do a barrel.
Sounds like a Remington with a muzzle brake.
I have change gears, but switching between 16 and 24 tpi does not require changing gears. It is as simple as flipping a lever.
At the risk of repetition, if you think that changing gears is a hassle whenever you want to switch between 16 and 24 tpi, wait until you do the setup required to do that. You will quickly find yourself wishing that everything was as easy as changing gears.
For me, dialing in a barrel so its axis is as perfectly concentric with the axis of my spindle, timing (or clocking) the components so they are both aesthetically and functionally perfect, setting my headspace perfectly, eliminating microscopic burrs, etc etc etc are all labours of love. Changing a pair of gears, for those few times when it is required, is total peanuts in the big picture of all that work. Put another way, almost anyone can change gears but you have to be a bit of a perfectionist to chamber a barrel in a way that is superior to a factory setup.
On the other hand, if all you are doing is other non-smithing threading, you might prefer a lathe without change gears..... (just poking fun with that one).
