LF Comments- Craftex lathes/ Busy Bee Tools
 

Having run into delays in my plans to build a Gingery lathe & with
other projects in the works that I could use a lathe on I'm
considering wimping out & buying one :(.

I'm looking at the Craftex unit sold by Busy Bee tools
(http://www.busybeetools.com/), mainly cause they got a local outlet.
Specifically I'm thinking about their 9x19 (CT039) or maybe the 10x18
(B2227L).

I was also looking at thier lathe mill combo ( B2229 ) a year or so
ago. I"m limited for space so this seems like a good idea but I'm
concerned that the milling head might not be sturdy enough to do
reasonably useful work (fill in your own definition of "reasonable"),
it seems like a long way to the table, not to mention the height of
the lathe spindle relative to the bed width.

Now obviously these arn't top quality machines but looking at the
lathes today in person they didn't strike me as being total junk, so,
anyone here have any experience good/bad with these units?

All replies appreaciated :).

Thanks,

Howard.

I have had pretty good luck with the busybee stuff. I just sold off my
bench top mill(moving), their model B1977 I was thinking of getting one
of the lathes, the CT043 12x36 but will have to pass until I get settled
again.
The mill worked great for the job I got it for, I had to tune it up a
bit, I put better v-belts on and did some tightening on the gibs. The
cheap chinese belts had a bend in them and caused a lot of vibration,
you could see the difference in the finish.

Howard Eisenhauer wrote:

Having run into delays in my plans to build a Gingery lathe & with
other projects in the works that I could use a lathe on I'm
considering wimping out & buying one :(.

I'm looking at the Craftex unit sold by Busy Bee tools
(http://www.busybeetools.com/), mainly cause they got a local outlet.
Specifically I'm thinking about their 9x19 (CT039) or maybe the 10x18
(B2227L).

I was also looking at thier lathe mill combo ( B2229 ) a year or so
ago. I"m limited for space so this seems like a good idea but I'm
concerned that the milling head might not be sturdy enough to do
reasonably useful work (fill in your own definition of "reasonable"),
it seems like a long way to the table, not to mention the height of
the lathe spindle relative to the bed width.

Now obviously these arn't top quality machines but looking at the
lathes today in person they didn't strike me as being total junk, so,
anyone here have any experience good/bad with these units?

All replies appreaciated :).

Thanks,

Howard.

I would stay away from that combo machine-it has a lot of problems and the
design is way too complicated- cross slide has power feed, but only in 1
direction- you have to reverse the motor to bring it back- lots of flex in
the mill head- Smithy sold that same unit under the name Midas 17-20 and
dropped it from their line after a short time.

"Howard Eisenhauer" wrote in message
...
Having run into delays in my plans to build a Gingery lathe & with
other projects in the works that I could use a lathe on I'm
considering wimping out & buying one :(.

I'm looking at the Craftex unit sold by Busy Bee tools
(http://www.busybeetools.com/), mainly cause they got a local outlet.
Specifically I'm thinking about their 9x19 (CT039) or maybe the 10x18
(B2227L).

I was also looking at thier lathe mill combo ( B2229 ) a year or so
ago. I"m limited for space so this seems like a good idea but I'm
concerned that the milling head might not be sturdy enough to do
reasonably useful work (fill in your own definition of "reasonable"),
it seems like a long way to the table, not to mention the height of
the lathe spindle relative to the bed width.

Now obviously these arn't top quality machines but looking at the
lathes today in person they didn't strike me as being total junk, so,
anyone here have any experience good/bad with these units?

All replies appreaciated :).

Thanks,

Howard.

Making Chips! was- LF Comments- Craftex lathes/ Busy Bee Tools
 

For those of you who kindly gave your advice to my questions a few
months back I've finally got my lathe installed & set up.

For those interested details are here-

http://users.eastlink.ca/~howarde/Tools.html

Thanks again,

Howard.


Howard Eisenhauer wrote:

Having run into delays in my plans to build a Gingery lathe & with
other projects in the works that I could use a lathe on I'm
considering wimping out & buying one :(.

I'm looking at the Craftex unit sold by Busy Bee tools
(http://www.busybeetools.com/), mainly cause they got a local outlet.
Specifically I'm thinking about their 9x19 (CT039) or maybe the 10x18
(B2227L).

I was also looking at thier lathe mill combo ( B2229 ) a year or so
ago. I"m limited for space so this seems like a good idea but I'm
concerned that the milling head might not be sturdy enough to do
reasonably useful work (fill in your own definition of "reasonable"),
it seems like a long way to the table, not to mention the height of
the lathe spindle relative to the bed width.

Now obviously these arn't top quality machines but looking at the
lathes today in person they didn't strike me as being total junk, so,
anyone here have any experience good/bad with these units?

All replies appreaciated :).

Thanks,

Howard.

Making Chips! was- LF Comments- Craftex lathes/ Busy Bee Tools
 

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 05:52:45 GMT, Howard Eisenhauer
wrote:

For those of you who kindly gave your advice to my questions a few
months back I've finally got my lathe installed & set up.

For those interested details are here-

http://users.eastlink.ca/~howarde/Tools.html

Thanks again,

Howard.

Marvelous splash guard. Very nicely implimented. And I like your
writing style G

Good Job.

Gunner



Howard Eisenhauer wrote:

Having run into delays in my plans to build a Gingery lathe & with
other projects in the works that I could use a lathe on I'm
considering wimping out & buying one :(.

I'm looking at the Craftex unit sold by Busy Bee tools
(http://www.busybeetools.com/), mainly cause they got a local outlet.
Specifically I'm thinking about their 9x19 (CT039) or maybe the 10x18
(B2227L).

I was also looking at thier lathe mill combo ( B2229 ) a year or so
ago. I"m limited for space so this seems like a good idea but I'm
concerned that the milling head might not be sturdy enough to do
reasonably useful work (fill in your own definition of "reasonable"),
it seems like a long way to the table, not to mention the height of
the lathe spindle relative to the bed width.

Now obviously these arn't top quality machines but looking at the
lathes today in person they didn't strike me as being total junk, so,
anyone here have any experience good/bad with these units?

All replies appreaciated :).

Thanks,

Howard.



"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner

Making Chips! was- LF Comments- Craftex lathes/ Busy Bee Tools
 

"Ignoramus29245" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 05:52:45 GMT, Howard Eisenhauer
wrote:
For those of you who kindly gave your advice to my questions a few
months back I've finally got my lathe installed & set up.

For those interested details are here-

http://users.eastlink.ca/~howarde/Tools.html

I like your air compressor and the comment "All in all I figure I
didn't spend more than 150% of the cost of a new commercial unit. For
me that's doing pretty good". This remark resembles me, especially
when the cost of time is considered. The compressor looks very nice.

The lathe looks new and shiny!

i



I liked the comment about not being a welder, but rather being a guy with a
welder. That's me. :)