http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/tls/3516112565.html ........seems like a good deal on a repair lathe
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jet lathe
- Thread starter bolas
- Start date
It looks like a real good buy for someone in need of a lathe. It is an engine lathe, not a bench lathe.
Dick
Not a good deal at all!!
I could not disagree more, that's not a good price on a GH at all. This clown has had that thing listed for months, since at least July. That lathe should sell for no more than $2200 in the condition it's in. You would be kind of foolish to pay that much for a GH in all actuality. You can get a slightly older 1240PD which were manufactured by Jesco in Taiwan, and they're 15 times the machine a GH is. Jesco still builds the same identical machine today sold by Grizzly, Prince, MSC/Vectrax. And, you can buy the PD's these days for $1500 or less usually. So, $3300 is a ridiculous price for what this machine is. And those are the real facts! So, for the new cue builder hanging around seeing this post, KEEP LOOKING, you'll find much better deals elsewhere.
I could not disagree more, that's not a good price on a GH at all. This clown has had that thing listed for months, since at least July. That lathe should sell for no more than $2200 in the condition it's in. You would be kind of foolish to pay that much for a GH in all actuality. You can get a slightly older 1240PD which were manufactured by Jesco in Taiwan, and they're 15 times the machine a GH is. Jesco still builds the same identical machine today sold by Grizzly, Prince, MSC/Vectrax. And, you can buy the PD's these days for $1500 or less usually. So, $3300 is a ridiculous price for what this machine is. And those are the real facts! So, for the new cue builder hanging around seeing this post, KEEP LOOKING, you'll find much better deals elsewhere.
Great tip. I wouldn't want to touch China made lathe now as well.
Taiwan made ones are a ton better .
Eisen is the big Taiwan brand here now.
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I spent 3k on a Microweilly 4 years ago and feel(well now) that I paid too much. It is a nice lathe, but I went with a dealer.
BTW that was my first, and last, experience with a dealer. I wouldn't piss on one if they were on fire.
All it takes is some patience and research. Don't buy a machine without knowing if there will be a supply of parts or support if something should break or go wrong..
I just inquired about a 1.5 cutter for the Lobo doweling mill I bought. I was told a MONTH to get it.
BTW that was my first, and last, experience with a dealer. I wouldn't piss on one if they were on fire.
All it takes is some patience and research. Don't buy a machine without knowing if there will be a supply of parts or support if something should break or go wrong..
I just inquired about a 1.5 cutter for the Lobo doweling mill I bought. I was told a MONTH to get it.
This area is prime for the pickin!
The thing about the Chicagoland area is, we have a ridiculous amount of machine and machine tool shops that have closed down in recent years. So, there is an influx of used machine tools coming to market. Everything from old junk to almost new machines of any and every type. I regularly go to auctions around the area and pick up machines at a fraction of the cost of retail on the same used machine. There is no shortage of greedy dealers around here too though, so sometimes it can be tricky trying to get them to not run up the cost on ya. But, they can buy the machines around here and sell em out on the east or west coast for much more than they are worth around here, just because of supply and demand. I have several lathes just hanging around my shop waiting to clean up and get sold.
If anyone is ever looking for anything machine related, let me know, there is a good chance I could source it for you in this area.
Jon
The thing about the Chicagoland area is, we have a ridiculous amount of machine and machine tool shops that have closed down in recent years. So, there is an influx of used machine tools coming to market. Everything from old junk to almost new machines of any and every type. I regularly go to auctions around the area and pick up machines at a fraction of the cost of retail on the same used machine. There is no shortage of greedy dealers around here too though, so sometimes it can be tricky trying to get them to not run up the cost on ya. But, they can buy the machines around here and sell em out on the east or west coast for much more than they are worth around here, just because of supply and demand. I have several lathes just hanging around my shop waiting to clean up and get sold.
If anyone is ever looking for anything machine related, let me know, there is a good chance I could source it for you in this area.
Jon
There is a dealer in Los Angeles that is big on Ebay. Let's call them unreliable Tools. I witnessed an auction where they bid up a belt driven 12x36 Jet to near 3,000.00. Now, that lathe isn't worth as much as the one listed by the OP. You can tell me something isn't going on between the auction guys or sellers, but I will never believe you.
I've purchased TWO things from them. One was a Lista bench, which ended up being nice. Another was a Sharp mill that was a complete mess. As they ALWAYS do, there listing said NICE. If nice means a busted DRO(y didn't work), worn out bearings and a bad pulley, then I guess it was nice. They ended up giving me back 600.00, so I won't complain too much about having to tear the thing apart, but be aware that, IMO, machinery dealers are POS.
For about the same money you can buy a brand new grizzly or enco lathe. I know those are probably made in China, but I would hope that Grizzly would have some kind of inspection and standards when they slap their name on it.
Joe
Joe
A new $3000 bench or engine lathe by any maker is a complete POS compared to this GH the op listed, not comparable at all. The GH is a decent machine, but like too many Jet lathes in the past after a short period of time the parts are unavailable. That was why I mentioned the 1240PD's, the same machines are still built by Jesco and parts are still available directly though them for a very reasonable price. I just replaced the cross slide screw and nut on 2 of my PD's for $50.00 per machine. That's ridiculously cheap for a screw and nut. I put a new spindle on another PD, only because I wanted to make the machine TIR Zero, the new spindle, bearings, keys, $390 from Jesco. That lathe with a Pratt Burnerd KC-20 collet chuck I have repeatable .0001 TIR. That's as a accurate as any machine I've seen in 25 years in machine shops.
Also, another note on the PD's if the machine series number ends in 33 they came from the factory with Reischauer hardened gears in the head, which make these Taiwanese machines on par with any American or European made lathe.
PD's make unbelievable cue lathes....
Just a little FYI..
Jon
Thanks for the info. I must admit that I don't know what PD stands for though? I'm assuming GH is gear head. I have an ancient south bend that still holds less that half a thou run out that I use and its a war horse. I've had to replace the motor, and the change gears, but this old animal won't die.
Joe
The letters after the name in a Jet lathe are a reference to the factory they were built in, so no, the GH does not stand for gear head. The PD's are also gear head machines.
The old "war horse" machines from South Bend, Clausing, Logan, Sheldon and many others are all good machines if they have been properly maintained. That's not to say that the some of the Taiwanese machines aren't just as good. The half a thou, or .0005 you say your machine maintains is not very close at all in respect to a high precision lathe. .0005 is plenty close for cue building though, so I'm sure it works great for you.
The PD I replaced the spindle on had a TIR of about a .0005 too, which wasn't close enough. You only get about 3-4 small cuts on the face of a D1-4 chuck mount to true it up before the cam locks no longer work properly. So that's why I changed the spindle, which netted me a <.0001 TIR on the spindle with new bearings. I doubt very highly that you could make the old south bend that close regardless of what you do to it, but like I said, it's not necessary, it's plenty close for building cues and I'm sure it's a nice old machine.