Brand-new offering by LMS: an 8.5"x20" bench lathe

cazclocker

Purveyor of cheese.
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I got an email last night from Little Machine Shop. It was basically saying it was getting ready to put on a display booth at the annual GEARS show in Portland OR, and also to announce a new offering in their lathe line, the HiTorque 8.5 x 20 Bench Lathe. I don't know if it's replacing the 8.5 x 16, or just "in addition to". Pretty cool. First thing I noticed is they used the old picture of the 8.5 x 16 for the 8.5 x 20 illustration. Seems like they should at least show the actual machine.
 
Did you read the disclaimer on the bottom of the page? They have shipped but they do not have any in stock at this moment to show a picture of. It was a little notice about truth in advertising on that ad. I think they did pretty good explaining why the pic was an 8.5X16.

Bob
 
Did you read the disclaimer on the bottom of the page? They have shipped but they do not have any in stock at this moment to show a picture of. It was a little notice about truth in advertising on that ad. I think they did pretty good explaining why the pic was an 8.5X16.

Bob

Bob, you're absolutely right - it's right there at the bottom. DOH!
 
Looks like a nice lathe - but for the same price you can get a Precision Matthews 11x27 - I've owned one for a few years and am happy with it - and it is a lot more lathe for the money.

http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM-1127-VF.html

/Greg
http://www.blowsmeaway.com

Excellent point, Greg. The name of the game is to get the most for our hard-earned bucks. But for my application (clockmaking), an 11x27 would be too much lathe for me. I wonder what PM lathe would be the direct competition for the LMS 8.5x20? A quick look at their website shows PM's smallest swing at 10", and then it's a choice between 27" & 30" between centers. I bet it just sounds weird to you guys to hear someone complain about a lathe being too big..:headscratch:
 
Looks like the vendors are discontinuing the 9X20's. I have a 9X Enco and other than the known weaknesses it does a great job. I have already gotten the cross slide upgraded to the 4 bolt style and the Phase II QCTP took care of tool flex and chatter. so it does pretty respectable work now. One possible advantage that you might see on the larger swing machines is more rigidity and that usually translates to better position holding and more accurate parts. I have never run into an issue making small parts on a big machine, but big parts on a small machine do have all kinds of chatter, flex and work holding issues that creep into the mix. As a general rule I try to work at approx. 75% of the stated work envelope to avoid over stressing the machine. That gives me a reserve of power for those Awwww Heck cuts that always seem to come along at an inopportune time... Usually right after my poor planning shows me where the error is..

Bob
 
Bob, it's no secret around here that I'm just a newbie, except for my having a Rivett watchmaker's lathe for the past few years, and a new (still not plugged in yet) LMS 3960 mini mill. What you say about lathes makes perfect sense - about large machines doing well making small parts, but not the other way around. Sigh...I guess I have to confess that my dream lathe for the type of work I'd like to do would be an old Rivett 8" Precision or a 608. Rivett only made 1,800 of the 8" Precisions but the 608's were much more plentiful.
 
Caz,
We were all new at this at one time or another. I have to admit that I am still a babe in the woods when it comes to a lot of the best practices and procedures that yield the better work. I started out as a dyed in the wool tinkerer and do my best to maintain that ability at all costs. I dabble with a CNC Plama cutter, Tig welding exotic alloys, ornamental iron work and machining perfectly good material into scrap. So don't get discouraged or be afraid to ask a question if you get stuck on something because we all get hung up on something or another eventually. I am also pretty partial to Matt over at Precision Mathews and his approach to customer service as well as generally much higher quality machines than you will ever get from any other vendor in his price range. So if you get a decent looking candidate don't hesitate to put up a pic and some one will be glad to help you decide if it is suitable for your particular application. As a watch and clock guy I would think you will be cutting a lot of gears and wheels too, so maybe a rotary table to go along with your machines would be a good addition to the arsenal too. Hope we can help when you need it, some one is always available so don't be afraid to ask.

Bob
 
My LMS 8.5x20 arrived earlier this week. It's a decent upgrade from my mini-lathe and yet fits nicely in the limited space I have. The power cross feed is a nice feature. I'm getting mirror-like facing cuts, something that gave me all kinds of grief on the mini-lathe. You can also adjust the speed on both the carriage power feed and cross feed for roughing and finishing (i.e., the roughing speed is still much slower than a threading speed). The brushless motor is also great -- amazing torque at slow speeds (100 rpm).

I bought 5" 3- and 4-jaw chucks but have not installed them yet. The adaptor has some problems, so I'll have to get a new one.

Otherwise, so far so good!

Scott
 
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