On 24 Dec 2004 22:21:34 -0800, "Snyper1982"
wrote:


What are some good brands of lathe? are Jets good, cause i was looking
around a bit and i saw a jet that was about $1,000 brand new. Well
thanks for reading, hope to get some good answers from you guys, as id
like to get into metal working.

First, http://www.lindsaybks.com

He has reprints of many of the older lathe manuals, any of them will
give a ton of information. Trade school texts from the second hand
stores will also have a lot that is of use.

Jet lathes, still imported and not better than any other import, just
more expensive. Enco, Harbor Freight, almost any of the importers
sell what is basically the same machine. You mention the $1000,
tells me you're looking at the 9 X 20. These, and the smaller 7 X xx
machines are light duty machines. They do work, and if you have
patience, will work well. However, that's not the first item to look
at.

To make them work well, you have to do some work on them. These, all
of the imports, are kits for all practical purposes. Disassembly and
cleaning, then stoning the burrs off and doing the adjustments when
you put it back together are a must. I don't see this as a problem,
you didn't pay for American iron, and you didn't get it. A couple of
hours work will pay off.

The 9 X 20 lathes do not have a reverse on the lead screw, as they
come, they will not cut left hand threads. For most people, this
isn't a problem. The 7 X xx will, But they probably require a higher
level of skill to thread on. Until you're up to at least 12 inch
swing, the low speeds are still too fast to be comfortable threading.
It can be done, but it isn't comfortable.

Import vs old American iron, this can work both ways, especially with
a beginner. You WILL crash the machine sooner or later, maybe doing
damage that requires repair parts. With a lot of machines, this
leaves the great American rip, ebay, as the parts source. There are
also many cases where even ebay will fall flat, depending on the
machine and it's age. This is where one of the benefits of the
imports come in, they have parts available cheaply enough that when
you crash it, you aren't destroying something that can't be replaced.

Old American iron that's nice and resplendent in it's new paint
doesn't mean anything, it could have been used on production for the
last thirty years before it was cleaned and painted, worn out to the
point of being useless. Unless you know what to look for, you won't
know. On the other hand, it's possible, although I haven't had it
happen yet, to get an import that simply is so bad it can't be made to
work well. The only way anyone finds out is when they try to use it.
The better chance is that it will need to be cleaned, deburred and
adjusted, then will work ok.

Smaller machines, check out Taig and Sherline, both are excellent if
somewhat limited machines, but can be pricey to have a running
machine. Just be aware that they are tiny, and made for small, very
precise work, not hogging 1 inch stock down to 1/4 inch. They can do
it, but it's the death of 1000 cuts. Base price on a new Taig is less
than $150, but for that, by the time you triple it, you have a running
machine. It's still probably the most bang for the buck if you can
get along with a small machine.