Author Topic: Buying a first lathe?  (Read 1942 times)

Offline DeadNutz

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Buying a first lathe?
« on: July 16, 2021, 08:58:51 AM »
This article is a story of a guy buying his first lathe and things he learned. Not too technical but a good read for anybody wanting to journey into the world of buying their first lathe.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/ownership/five-of-the-most-important-things-i-learned-on-my-first-lathe-a-1925-south-bend/ar-AAMe6JB?ocid=msedgntp

Offline pep

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Re: Buying a first lathe?
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2021, 10:35:47 PM »
I could not encourage anyone to go that route, just scanned the article. Did it say how long it took him to turn the first piece of work ?



1776 ................... what happened!

Offline goodfellow

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Re: Buying a first lathe?
« Reply #2 on: November 07, 2021, 07:54:32 AM »
As I told a young car enthusiast who was inquiring about his first lathe purchase a few years ago; make sure you can grow into the lathe vs growing out of it very quickly. Most guys I know who purchased lathes for automotive restoration and general shop work quickly outgrew their machines within just a few months/years. In addition, many don't realize that the cost of tooling can often exceed the lathe purchase price by multiple factors. That is an expense few new owners take into consideration. For example, I could buy two new lathes for what I spent on tooling for my unit.


Offline DeadNutz

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Re: Buying a first lathe?
« Reply #3 on: November 07, 2021, 10:57:06 AM »
I was fortunate that I was able to keep much of the tooling when the wife closed the shop years back. We had 2 lathes that used the same change gears and I kept both sets for the lathe we kept. I kept all the 5C collets for the collet closer on the lathe. I kept plenty of tool holders and inserts/bits but ended up with a lot more when I bought the contents of a shop here in NV. In the shop purchase I also got tons of material like titanium rounds, stainless rounds, brass hex and rounds and carbon steel rounds. I even have a big round of Waspaloy though I doubt I will ever have a need for it.

Luckily I haven't needed to purchase anything from a catalog to do what work I want to. I have even sold stuff to recoup my money from the purchase of the shop. When the wife brings me catalogs and sales flyers she gets at work I thank goodness that I don't have to buy any tooling.