I'm looking at getting a lathe and a mill. Looking at the Acra 1440TE, PM 1440TL and Kent RML1440. I have visited a tech school 2 weeks ago (4.5 hours one way) that had 4 used and 3 new ACRA 1440TE lathes in their shop. So I have actually got to see them. The tech school liked them so much they got rid of the older non Acra machines and went with Acra to replace them and add to their current inventory. Acra and Kent I believe are 1 year warranty, PM is 5 year. I have not seen any Precision Matthew (PM) equipment to know how they compare. I have a dealer 4 hours the other direction that sells Acra but also sell Kent machines. He uses Kent in his own shop and prefers them. I have not gotten to go that way yet but would like to in a couple weeks. Acra & PM are very close in price, have not gotten a price on Kent. I only have single phase so would have to go with converter. I believe the Kent is a VFD lathe.
The tech school had some Acer and Acra mills, they didn't really seem fond of the Acer but liked the Acra. The Acra is not the model# I was looking at but I liked how it seemed to work. I,m looking at the LCM42 or LCM50, not much difference in price and they have the round Bridgeport style head. The Acra weys and table are scraped. The PM version would be the 1050TS/TV, probably the TV 1ph or TS 3 ph and VFD converter depending on which one in stock. It says their ways are ground but nothing on scraping. Not sure if that would make much difference.
I have been looking at/for the used old US iron but not much around close and in good shape so not much interested in "be patient and wait" I have some projects I would like to get started on.
Anyone one have some insight willing to share.
The tech school had some Acer and Acra mills, they didn't really seem fond of the Acer but liked the Acra. The Acra is not the model# I was looking at but I liked how it seemed to work. I,m looking at the LCM42 or LCM50, not much difference in price and they have the round Bridgeport style head. The Acra weys and table are scraped. The PM version would be the 1050TS/TV, probably the TV 1ph or TS 3 ph and VFD converter depending on which one in stock. It says their ways are ground but nothing on scraping. Not sure if that would make much difference.
I have been looking at/for the used old US iron but not much around close and in good shape so not much interested in "be patient and wait" I have some projects I would like to get started on.
Anyone one have some insight willing to share.
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