What Size Lathe to Buy? What do You have?

[Keith 21]

The Atlas is light but I think you'll like it.  I believe tubalcain on YouTube has a 12 inch atlas.   Facebook Markeplace is a good alternative to c/l.  Lots of garden tractors listed there.   For some reason Facebook locates me as ,200 miles from my actual location but Texas is big anyway. Any lathe is better than no lathe.   Tooling for the popular Sears lathe is easy to find on eBay but many hobby owners of these didn't know what some accessories were used for and didn't purchase much except the basic lathe.

 

Tim

[bc.gold 3,399]

I had a popular 14"x40" offshore which are painted various colours and sold under a number of brand names, the main spindle shaft inside the head-stock has one long key-way cut with a long key for the gears to slide when changing gear speed etc.

 

This long key is prone to shifting in a similar manor that a key may shift on a flywheel changing the timing so that the engine will no longer start. When the key is cocked and offset in the lathe the gears no longer mesh proper;y and you end up with a bunch of swarf that take out every gear and bearing in the head stock.

 

Since the lathe was only a few months old the manufacture after fight with them then posting a video online with the horrible noise coming from the head stock they eventually agreed to send a full set of bearngs along with all the shafts and gears. Since it would have been a 10 hour round trip to deliver the lathe to the place where it had been purchased I was just as happy to receive the parts doing the repair myself.

 

And how it happened was by applying the foot brake to aggressively while having a heavy piece mounted in the chuck, the key could not withstand the sudden stop. Had they cut a proper sliding transmission spline, I would have kept the lathe. Knowing its weakness bailed out at a lose.

 

I no longer need a lathe in my shop as the Farm ( Chinese Lathe ) and an AG repair shop nearby ( Big American lathe ) both let me use theirs anytime I have a project that requires turning.

 

The lathe at the farm is probably 20 years old and is showing its age while the lathe at the AG repair shop is probably 50/60 years old and still has close tolerances. If Vern ever decides to retire that is the machine that I would love to have in my shop.

 

Not my thread but your find a few hundred Chinese lathes with the same problem, and yes mine was the same brand as the one being discussed in this thread below just a bit larger.

 

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/lathe-gears-noisy-possible-reasons-253500/

Thread: Lathe gears noisy. Possible reasons.

I posted earlier about as King Lathe i just purchased with a noisy gearbox. The thread was closed for some reason. Perhaps because somewone started with insults. To that person., I have a piece of paper hanging on the wall from the Ontario Goverrnment that says "Certificate of Qualification General Machinist " To me that means certified machinist.But I never said I was a Millwright.

 

Anyways, Im asking for input. the factoy tech was at my house and heard the whine, he really didnt have a lot of experience and wasnt sure if it was "normal". He said it would be nice if I could listen to another lathe to compare. I never got to listen to a King lathe before purchase, as there were none available to see or hear. The dealer ordered it form a catalogue for me. I bought a King, because the school where I worked for some of my career purchased 2 King mills for my shop a few years ago, and they were descent machines.

 

The lathe has some good points, it doesnt cut too bad, is fairly well finished, fits are good. But at some speeds, particularly in the 400-750 rpm range, the gear whine is pretty loud. It whines in forward, not in reverse. Whines a lot louder when the feed shafts are engaged.( feed turned on at headstock, louder in one direction than the other as well). We had the cover off the headstock, and the gears look ok. At this point not sure if it is backlash or bearing problems. Any opinions as to what might be causing the noise ? I would appreciate any positive input at is time.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2019 by bcgold

[bc.gold 3,399]

Neither are mine but can use whenever I need one, this is the one I prefer to use. The other is an older made in Taiwan 14x40 which is six steps better than one coming out of mainland China.