On Tue, 27 Sep 2005 09:42:48 -0600, Tim Killian
wrote:

We recently bought one of the 9x20 Chinese lathes for a specific,
recurring job that involves turning down the OD of HRS rings. It's a
simple, one tool task that requires a couple of passes to get the proper
average OD. We used to send these parts to an outside shop where they
turned them for us at $10 each. They upped their price to $18, and at
that point we decided to bring the work inside. The BD920 clone we are
using cost under $1K and it does just as good a job as the other shop's
$90K turning center on these simple parts. Even with the added cost for
labor, our machine will pay for itself in less than a year.

Would a 30 year old SB or Hardinge for $1500 be a better lathe? Sure,
but when you factor in the cost to find, check out, deliver, and install
one of these old machines, the final price is more like $5K. And the
price of spares (if you can find them) for those dinosaurs is usually
outrageous as well. In raw dollars and cents terms, the $1K lathes are
not a bad investment for simple tasks.



Spares for import machines, two years after purchase?
----
Depends on required tolerances. I would think pins for fixtures
would need to be pretty accurate. Accuracy comes, in part, from
rigidity. You can work to .0005 tolerance on a springy lathe, but
it takes a lot longer.

Might be better to use stock sizes of ground rod or dowel pins and
ream the holes; then you don't need a lathe at all except perhaps to
cut stock to length and chamfer the ends.

Check out the Sheldon Gunner noted in another post.