On Fri, 6 Jan 2006 23:00:26 +0100, "Steve Lusardi"
wrote:

Okay Al,
I have to play. The 10EE and Rivetts are class acts, but you have to go a
long way to beat a LeBlond or my Lodge & Shipley 18 x 54 Power Turn tool
room lathe. Pumped and filtered lube oil, precision ground gears, precision
ground replaceable ways, horsepower meter, glass piped light gear change and
speed indicators, surface speed calculator drum, every screw thread
imaginable, including gear hob pitches built in., controls on both sides of
the lathe including lead screw reverse at speed without loss of index,
micrometer indicators on every feed control, 2 speed tailstock ram with
built in ball bearing center, D-6 Camlock Spindle with 24 speeds from 21 to
1740 rpm and a 15 HP motor. Super quiet, super powerful, super stiff, super
smooth controls and dead accurate across the whole length of the bed. It
does weigh in around 6 tons though. That's a class act.
Steve

Yes, is is one hell of a machine. Oddly enough..I ran across one
yesterday. The fellow that is rebuilding the heads for my truck has
one. Minty minty minty. And it sits right in front of the biggest
picture window in the machine shop..right where the customers come up
the sidewalk to enter the building.

Good advertising I think

Gunner


"Al MacDonald" wrote in message
news:m0lvf.30109$km.22889@edtnps89...
Greetings,

Thinking about lathes and wondered what feedback I could get by asking the
question "what do you think is one of the best lathes"? I'm especially
interested in the reasons. I've owned a SB 10k for a number of years and
found it to be a good lathe.... great size, robust and well built, quite
accurate, and was supported with a good range of accessories (if I could
afford them!). Recently I got an incredible deal on a Summit lathe so now
I have something to compare, and the weak points of the SB start to show.
Specifically the headstock doesn't incorporate any type of roller
bearings, but instead only bushings. Mine have definitely worn over the
years, likely part due to use of a "force-in" knurling tool. The Summit
incorporates a clutch system that allows me to start/stop the lathe
exactly where I want (if I'm on top of it that day), and I find this
"jogging" feature very handy under certain circumstances. It also allows
me to run the lathe in reverse without the chuck unscrewing due to the
camlock spindle style (now I can bore/thread on the backside, where I can
see better).

Recently I've been thinking about the refacing of a faceplate when
rebuilding an old Willson 16" swing lathe. Surface cutting speeds vary
hugely between the inside and outside of the surface, to the point where
there is no correct RPM setting that will work at both ends, and it showed
in the finish. One book I read suggested stopping part way through and
changing spindle speeds, but I'm sure that would leave a mark also. Ding!
What a person needs is a variable speed arrangement and a spindle tach.
... maybe I could modify the SB. Yes, a VFD on a 3phase motor would work,
but they do tend to make a noise that might drive me crazy. Ok, how about
some variable pulley system like the kind used on the medium sized drill
presses? Maybe. Oh, and a clutch. How about modifying a clutch off the
end of an industrial sewing machine motor? Possibly. I think I'm driving
myself crazy.

A 10" SB with roller bearings on the spindle, variable speed, camlock and
clutch, would be a great machine. Is there anything out there like this
or am I dreaming?

Al MacDonald




The aim of untold millions is to be free to do exactly as they choose
and for someone else to pay when things go wrong.

In the past few decades, a peculiar and distinctive psychology
has emerged in England. Gone are the civility, sturdy independence,
and admirable stoicism that carried the English through the war years
.. It has been replaced by a constant whine of excuses, complaints,
and special pleading. The collapse of the British character has been
as swift and complete as the collapse of British power.

Theodore Dalrymple,