66164-0vga

pescadoman

pescadoman

Randy
Silver Member
J.T.450r said:
Harbor freight central machinery 13"x40" gear head gap bed metal lathe. does anyone use this lathe? Is this lathe going to be okay for main lathe? I read the pdf Manuel but cant tell does this lathe have offset tailstock for tapers? Any help appreciated thanks J.T.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=66164
Click to expand...

I have a HF here locally and would avoid their lathes. They don't have the floor model up anymore, but what I have seen was junk.

This seem so be the Grizzly equiv:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/13-1-2-x-40-Gear-Head-Lathe-w-Stand/G4016

I suggest grizzly because IMO, their CS is OUSTANDING. Not only did they advise me when I had some minor issues(I really should read the manuals before turning stuff on), but they actually called me a few days later to check up on me!! Furthermore, and this is pretty important, you can get parts easily should something break. I also own a 8 inch jointer and 18 inch bandsaw from them, both being good quality.

I can say Jet has good CS as well. The lathe I ultimately bought was once sold by them under the Wilton name. I spoke to someone today for about 30 mins and he was able to answer most of my questions on a machine they haven't sold in 10 years.

I guess it comes down to how much money do you have to spend. I researched and looked for 6 months. The day after I brought the thing home, a NICE Clausing Colchester came up for sale 2 miles away for the same price. That still pisses me off to no end, but what can you do?

For the 2500.00 you can also find a nice used lathe if you know what to look for. Keep in mind that the lathe is just a start. The is a lot of tooling to buy as well.


You will never regret spending more on quality as you will trying to get "the best deal out there" and it is ALWAYS smart to buy a little more machine than you think you will need than discover the one you bought isn't enough.
 
MVPCues

MVPCues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Jet lathes have a 2 year warranty, which includes on site. Grizzly has no on site service. If something goes wrong and you are inexperienced, assuming it is a warranty issue, the onsite is hard to beat. Also, Jet is generally considered better than Grizzly, though individual results may vary. They are more expensive though.

Kelly
 
dave sutton

dave sutton

Banned
im not a metal lathe user but u would have to buy the taper attachments to do tapers

search lathe taper attachment on grizzys sire. around $350 more
 
P

pdcue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
dave sutton said:
im not a metal lathe user but u would have to buy the taper attachments to do tapers

search lathe taper attachment on grizzys sire. around $350 more
Click to expand...

FWIW - you can't use a standard taper atachment to cut butts. Most only
cut 12 to 18 inches.

You can taper a butt by offsetting the tailstock.

HTH -YMMV

Dale
 
RBC

RBC

Deceased
JT

The thing to remember is that most of these machines are all made in the same plant and by the same company.

No, they are not the iron beasts that used to be made here in the US, but ther are good machines. I tend to be a Buy American guy, but I do have one lathe I bought from Harbor Freight about 20 years ago and it is still working for me. It's not what it used to be, but we still use it.

Grizzly, by my experience at least, has the best customer service and parts system of any of the importers. I have even bought parts from them for my other machine.

As far as tapering goes, you can just offset the tail stock. I actually, before I built a cnc tapering machine, mounted a live center in a small mill boring head with a morse taper adapter for my tail stock. That way I would not have to reset the tail stock every time I tapered something. I could also just dial in the offset I wanted. It worked really well.

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
 
macguy

macguy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
J.T.450r said:
Harbor freight central machinery 13"x40" gear head gap bed metal lathe. does anyone use this lathe? Is this lathe going to be okay for main lathe? I read the pdf Manuel but cant tell does this lathe have offset tailstock for tapers? Any help appreciated thanks J.T.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=66164
Click to expand...

I think with the budget you have you can get a really nice used lathe. In fact you will probably spend less and end up with lots of extras that you will have to buy anyway. The last lathe I bought came with a taper attachment and 6 jaw Buck chuck worth more then I was paying for the whole deal. Not to mention a box full of tooling and attachments.

I took a quick look at Craig's list in your area and there are a few on there. I looked at the Baltimore area. I would suggest you not be in a hurry and look around a little first. Give the guy a call with the Logan on there. Logan lathes make nice cue lathes. They come with big bores and are top quality lathes. You would be shocked the problems you can have with a new chinese thing. I have a friend who got a Jet and they had to service the thing three times in the first month and it still is not right. I like good old American iron.
Just some food for thought.
 
JoeyInCali

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Find a Logan or South Bend.
IF you find a Clausing that is in great shape, get it.
 
RBC

RBC

Deceased
Macguy is right, the old US made lathes are far superior.

My old import is still going, but an old Logan or Clausing is fantastic.

Just make sure it is in good shape.

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
 
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