Hello all,
I am in need of a new lathe and i thought that as this is the largest model engineering magazine that you guys might be able to help.
My previous lathe was a Warco super mini which was a great little lathe but even i soon reached its limitations. I should explain that I'm not an engineer I'm just have a keen interest in engineering its self, always loved making things and now i have access to a large garage (ish) i wanted to create a small workshop.
The main use for the lathe will be to simply turn brass and aluminium occasionally nylon and steel (ok i know that covers most things) but its main purpose will be aluminium. I intend to make air rifle parts as i am a target shooter and i thought i might be able to help out other shooters
Ok so thus far i have considered the following;
1) Chester DB11VS
2) Warco WM 280V
3) Colchester Student Lathe
4) Colchester Bantam
5) Axminster SC8
There are a few things that i would like out of my new lathe, powered cross feed for parting off which rules the chester out, 26mm/ 1" + spindle bore and 500mm/ 20" + distance between centres.
What i would like to know am i better of going for new or old? The old British lathes look very well made and hold there value well but most or 30 years old, is this a bad thing? And if old is best then where should i go to find a decent second hand British lathe? Ex Demo Chester and Warco lathes go between £900-£1300 where as a 30 year old Colchester is £900 upwards so does this go to show that the old dogs are still the best?
Basically i am trying to get the best bang for buck and a lathe that will last me for many years to come. Also spares are another thing i am concerned about, are these old lathes easy enough to get spares for? Don't get me wrong I'm not going to be in the garage every minute of every hour of every day turning however i want an accurate machine with the least amount of hassle as possible.
Any input would be hugely appreciated, specs on older lathes seem hard to find and knowing what lathe to look for is the other difficulty for me. If there are any other lathes that you guys think would be worth a look at please let me know. Lastly if anyone knows of any good sites that sell used equipment that would be great.
Many thanks
Steve