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
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.