I'm still looking at lathes w/ snap handle collet closers, and am getting
mixed reports.
As some have noted here, the variable speed Clausings are nice (5900, 6900
series), but the hydraulic actuator of the variable speed can be dicey, and
expensive to fix. In fact, I saw one fail right before my eyes.
I'm wondering if the hydraulic actuator can't be replaced w/ some other
threaded/levered actuator, eg the Rockwell variable speed system.

A coupla guys swear by Harrisons, one guy saying his Harrison held .0005 w/
no problem at all. Another guy says Harrisons are crap because they have
"weak gears". Yet another says he worked in an airplane hangar that housed
both Harrison and Clausing-Colchester companies, and that the Harrison was
distinctly better, altho both were good. Indeed, the Clausing-Colchesters
I've worked on (round heads, 13 and 15") are real workhorses, take a lot of
abuse.

Another machine being offered is a square head Clausing Colchester, but the
clutches on those machines are squirrely, and real expensive to fix/replace
(altho I've talked a person or two who say they can get the clutch plates
real cheap--forgot who, tho).

I'm also looking at a nicely set up 11-12" rockwell, real cheap cuz its back
gears are stripped.

Any comments on these or other good economical engine lathes? I like
variable speed, but since I got a couple of Rockwell variable speed drill
press heads, I think I've been cured of that romance, and gears are quite
OK. Not crazy about belt changing on a lathe, tho.

I'm in the NY/NJ/CT/LI/PA area, so anyone thereabouts w/ a 10-14" machine
available can drop me a line.

Thanks.
--
----------------------------
Mr. P.V.'d
formerly Droll Troll

In article , HoloBarre©® says...

Any comments on these or other good economical engine lathes? I like
variable speed, but since I got a couple of Rockwell variable speed drill
press heads, I think I've been cured of that romance, and gears are quite
OK. Not crazy about belt changing on a lathe, tho.

If I really wanted a *true* variable speed lathe, I would purchase
a cone pulley machine and fit it with a three phase motor and a VFD.

The variable speed feature that a VFD provides is hands-down better
than the mechanical contrivances found in, especially used, machinery.

The machine would be less expensive, less to go wrong, and it
will work better in the end.

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

If I really wanted a *true* variable speed lathe, I would purchase
a cone pulley machine and fit it with a three phase motor and a VFD.



I can't name a single cone drive lathe ever made. I know there were
cone drives made about 100 years ago but hardly think that is what you
are suggesting. By any chance are you refering to Reeves drives with
variable width pulleys? Leigh at MarMachine

wrote:


If I really wanted a *true* variable speed lathe, I would purchase
a cone pulley machine and fit it with a three phase motor and a VFD.


I can't name a single cone drive lathe ever made. I know there were
cone drives made about 100 years ago but hardly think that is what you
are suggesting. By any chance are you refering to Reeves drives with
variable width pulleys? Leigh at MarMachine

Never seen a South Bend? The majority of them were cone pulley
lathes..

Tom

On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 17:29:28 -0800, Tom wrote:

wrote:


If I really wanted a *true* variable speed lathe, I would purchase
a cone pulley machine and fit it with a three phase motor and a VFD.


I can't name a single cone drive lathe ever made. I know there were
cone drives made about 100 years ago but hardly think that is what you
are suggesting. By any chance are you refering to Reeves drives with
variable width pulleys? Leigh at MarMachine

Never seen a South Bend? The majority of them were cone pulley
lathes..

Tom

Cone pulleys are NOT cone drives Tom...a horse of a much different
color.

Gunner



" We have all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million
typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of
Shakespeare...Thanks to AOL and WebTv, we know this is not possible."

Gunner wrote:

On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 17:29:28 -0800, Tom wrote:

wrote:


If I really wanted a *true* variable speed lathe, I would purchase
a cone pulley machine and fit it with a three phase motor and a VFD.


I can't name a single cone drive lathe ever made. I know there were
cone drives made about 100 years ago but hardly think that is what you
are suggesting. By any chance are you refering to Reeves drives with
variable width pulleys? Leigh at MarMachine

Never seen a South Bend? The majority of them were cone pulley
lathes..

Tom

Cone pulleys are NOT cone drives Tom...a horse of a much different
color.

Gunner

Like the person who brought cone drives you can't read what Jim posted!

He posted:
"If I really wanted a *true* variable speed lathe, I would purchase
a cone pulley machine and fit it with a three phase motor and a VFD."

Tom

In article . com,
says...

I can't name a single cone drive lathe ever made.

I was actually talking about cone *pulley* lathes - machines
with plain step pulleys. Not a cone-friction drive.

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

"HoloBarre©®" wrote in message
...

A coupla guys swear by Harrisons, one guy saying his Harrison held .0005
w/ no problem at all. Another guy says Harrisons are crap because they
have "weak gears". Yet another says he worked in an airplane hangar that
housed both Harrison and Clausing-Colchester companies, and that the
Harrison was distinctly better, altho both were good.

You have to take the opinions of pros with discretion.

Some guys make their machines dance, using every last horsepower available.
Others finesse their machines.

Hardinge HLV-H is very capable as far as accuracy is concerned.
Unfortunately they are not made for heavy machining and are mostly incapable
of taking really heavy cuts (the slides start to move, so I've heard).

I've used a Harrison M300 and a Colchester Master 2500. Both are very nice
machines. I'd be happy with either brand...

Regards,

Robin

HoloBarre©® wrote:

I'm still looking at lathes w/ snap handle collet closers, and am getting
mixed reports.

Any comments on these or other good economical engine lathes? I like
variable speed, but since I got a couple of Rockwell variable speed drill
press heads, I think I've been cured of that romance, and gears are quite
OK. Not crazy about belt changing on a lathe, tho.


A few years ago I bought a Sheldon R15-6. I got it fairly cheap, and
wouldn't
have paid a high price for it sight unseen. As expected, it had heavy
wear, and I
had to repair the bed. After that, however, the lathe has been totally
fantastic!
It is not vari-speed, but I didn't care. I fitted it with a VFD, and it
is very easy
to dial the speed up and down as needed. The VFD added a feature the lathe
normally lacks, which is a brake. Very nice!

This is a 3500 Lb machine, so may not be in the class you are looking for.
It has a D1-6 spindle, so any collet chuck you want can be set up on it.
It has a 2.25" spindle through hole, which was a significant factor in my
decision.

I bought it from Machinery Values in Harrison NJ. But, due to a litany of
problems, I would never buy anything from them again without personal
inspection.
They said this machine was in "excellent condition"! I don't consider .013"
of wear on the front way ONLY, to be excellent. I figured that would
give about a .032" barrel (by diameter) in a 1" workpiece!
But, you are apparently close enough to inspect a machine there.
If you do look at a Sheldon R-series, don't assume that wear will be
evidenced by a
"ridge" in the bed. The way the Sheldon carriage is made, it sweeps the
ENTIRE
width of the ways, and leaves no obvious ridge.

I have not done a lot of actual precision work on it, but have cut a few
parts to
high precision just to see what it could do, and I'm plenty happy with it.
It is the most solid lathe I've ever used, and I have used some good lathes
on occasion. One place it really showed its capabilities was making some
1" ball joint sockets. I made a form tool out of a 1/2" square tool
bit, in the
shape of one side of a 1" radius. I drilled the hole with a 7/8" Morse
drill,
adjusted the form tool to the right radius and just plowed it into the hole.
I had no idea what to expect. What I got was a soft crinkling sound of the
chips coming off the tool. Absolutely no sign of vibration, no matter how
hard I pushed it. Oh, this was in 1018 steel, too!

The tailstock is hard for me to pick up, even if I separate the upper
half from
the bottom half, I can barely lift either part! A REAL lathe!

Jon

I bought it from Machinery Values in Harrison NJ. But, due to a litany of
problems, I would never buy anything from them again without personal
inspection.
They said this machine was in "excellent condition"! I don't consider .013"
of wear on the front way ONLY, to be excellent. I figured that would
give about a .032" barrel (by diameter) in a 1" workpiece!
But, you are apparently close enough to inspect a machine there.
If you do look at a Sheldon R-series, don't assume that wear will be
evidenced by a
"ridge" in the bed. The way the Sheldon carriage is made, it sweeps the
ENTIRE
width of the ways, and leaves no obvious ridge.

Years ago my kids would file and finish stone the ridge on worn lathe beds,
paint what needed and polish the bright work to factory new appearance.
Doing good deeds and paying the rent is the name of the internet machinery
sales game and I taught my kids good survival skills and values.
I Invented a hot liquid process for resharpening cutting tools using only a
wirebrush, hot plate and plastic dip pot.
My business card is plainly marked "caveat emptor" which has me covered. It's
always best to be up front with the public like this.
Honest Al

Don't buy a Rockwell with bad gears as there are no factory replacement
parts available. You might score what you need from an individual but
that is chancey. If you would be interested in a 13" Harrison A-A or
M300 I have both available and will quote a decent price fob a loading
dock near you. Leighat Marmachine

Don't buy a Rockwell with bad gears as there are no factory replacement
parts available. You might score what you need from an individual but
that is chancey. If you would be interested in a 13" Harrison A-A or
M300 I have both available and will quote a decent price fob a loading
dock near you. Leigh at Marmachine

HoloBarre©® writes:

Any comments on these or other good economical engine lathes?

My 11" Logan 1957 has a collet closer that works great. I can't believe
you'd need anything more than this kind of lathe if you're working on bar
stock that will fit in a collet.

"HoloBarre©®" wrote in message
...
I'm still looking at lathes w/ snap handle collet closers, and am getting
mixed reports.
As some have noted here, the variable speed Clausings are nice (5900, 6900
series), but the hydraulic actuator of the variable speed can be dicey,
and
expensive to fix. In fact, I saw one fail right before my eyes.
I'm wondering if the hydraulic actuator can't be replaced w/ some other
threaded/levered actuator, eg the Rockwell variable speed system.

A coupla guys swear by Harrisons, one guy saying his Harrison held .0005
w/
no problem at all. Another guy says Harrisons are crap because they have
"weak gears". Yet another says he worked in an airplane hangar that
housed
both Harrison and Clausing-Colchester companies, and that the Harrison was
distinctly better, altho both were good. Indeed, the Clausing-Colchesters
I've worked on (round heads, 13 and 15") are real workhorses, take a lot
of
abuse.


I have a Harrison 13" AA vs speed lathe, and I'm more than happy with it.
The only down side is that the parts are very $$$$$ for it in the US, I
think that you can get the stuff for a lot cheaper in the UK. The local
distributor (REM sales) is very proud of the new stuff, that said, they can
however still get all most any part for it and that's a nice feature too.

William.....

Another machine being offered is a square head Clausing Colchester, but
the
clutches on those machines are squirrely, and real expensive to
fix/replace
(altho I've talked a person or two who say they can get the clutch plates
real cheap--forgot who, tho).

I'm also looking at a nicely set up 11-12" rockwell, real cheap cuz its
back
gears are stripped.

Any comments on these or other good economical engine lathes? I like
variable speed, but since I got a couple of Rockwell variable speed drill
press heads, I think I've been cured of that romance, and gears are quite
OK. Not crazy about belt changing on a lathe, tho.

I'm in the NY/NJ/CT/LI/PA area, so anyone thereabouts w/ a 10-14" machine
available can drop me a line.

Thanks.
--
----------------------------
Mr. P.V.'d
formerly Droll Troll

Whats your budget??

"HoloBarre©®" wrote in message
...
I'm still looking at lathes w/ snap handle collet closers, and am getting
mixed reports.
As some have noted here, the variable speed Clausings are nice (5900, 6900
series), but the hydraulic actuator of the variable speed can be dicey,
and expensive to fix. In fact, I saw one fail right before my eyes.
I'm wondering if the hydraulic actuator can't be replaced w/ some other
threaded/levered actuator, eg the Rockwell variable speed system.

A coupla guys swear by Harrisons, one guy saying his Harrison held .0005
w/ no problem at all. Another guy says Harrisons are crap because they
have "weak gears". Yet another says he worked in an airplane hangar that
housed both Harrison and Clausing-Colchester companies, and that the
Harrison was distinctly better, altho both were good. Indeed, the
Clausing-Colchesters I've worked on (round heads, 13 and 15") are real
workhorses, take a lot of abuse.

Another machine being offered is a square head Clausing Colchester, but
the clutches on those machines are squirrely, and real expensive to
fix/replace (altho I've talked a person or two who say they can get the
clutch plates real cheap--forgot who, tho).

I'm also looking at a nicely set up 11-12" rockwell, real cheap cuz its
back gears are stripped.

Any comments on these or other good economical engine lathes? I like
variable speed, but since I got a couple of Rockwell variable speed drill
press heads, I think I've been cured of that romance, and gears are quite
OK. Not crazy about belt changing on a lathe, tho.

I'm in the NY/NJ/CT/LI/PA area, so anyone thereabouts w/ a 10-14" machine
available can drop me a line.

Thanks.
--
----------------------------
Mr. P.V.'d
formerly Droll Troll