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JWho wrote:
How is a lathe measured? I see one that is 7" x 10", then another more
expensive one that is 8" x 12". Where are such measurements taken and
what
would be the differences?

In the US, the first number is the maximum diameter workpiece that can
be rotated over the bed, in the UK it's apparently the radius. Note
that this dimension may shrink when you crank the carriage in close to
the work - there's a smaller number for swing over the cross slide.

Hi. Thank you for the reply. I understand what you mean on the diameter of
the workpiece. I am in AL, USA, by the way.


The second number is the maximum length of workpiece that can be held
between centers, one on the headstock and one on the tailstock, like on
a wood lathe. If you install a chuck on the headstock this distance
will shrink some.

When you say chuck, is that similar to a chuck on a cordless/electrical
drill, just special for a lathe? It's for holding a tube or rod or similar,
correct?



Another number often hidden in the specs but of great importance is the
size of the through hole in the headstock. This governs what size
barstock you can feed through, allowing only a little bit to hang out
of the chuck where you can work on it easily. While you can saw off
chunks for each part, that's very wastefull. For your bushings for
example, you'd probably want a lathe with at least 1" through hole. In
practice, smaller 9" swing bench top lathes are usually just over 3/4",
while larger 12-13" swing models can usually handle something like 1
3/8". Some of the little tabletop lathes like the sherline have a
through hole less than 1/2", a major annoyance since 1/2" stock is so
usefull.

Here is the one I am referring to.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=33684

At the bottom, it has, "Through chuck capacity: 5/8" ". Is that the same as
"through hole in the headstock" that you mentioned? Would that make it
unable to use some size of solid rod, or would it just make it less
convenient or use more rod?? I am not 100% sure what that means to me.

Thanks! This newsgroup is great!