[Newbie] 13" Lathes--recommendations?

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pstemari

H-M Supporter - Gold Member
H-M Supporter Gold Member
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I've been looking around for a 13" manual lathe to replace my current A---s 12", which is nowhere near rigid enough for my purposes.

Currently I have it narrowed down to the following:

PM1340GT, Taiwan, $6.3k, 1310#
Jet GH-1340W-1, PRC, $9k, 2080#
Kent TRL-1340, Taiwan, $11k, 2400#
SM 1334, Canada, $16k, 1450#

The Standard-Modern is the only one made in North America, but it's
really hard to justify that price.

Absent finding a GH-1034W-1 surplus at ES&S, seems like it's a coin flip
between the PM and the Kent. The PM has a pretty solid rep for support,
the Kent is heavier and proportionally more expensive.

Used machinery in the Pacific NW is pretty hard to come by.

Any opinions on these machines? I'd prefer to stick to single phase if possible.
 
The first two should be the same as the one's offered by Grizzly, probably for a bit less than Jet and maybe less from PM also. They are located up there in your neck of the woods.
 
Grizzly's Taiwanese lathes are badged as South Bends. The heavy 13 is $15k and appears to be similar to the Kent.

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Grizzly has a line of lathes that are not the "South Bend" badge lathes that are much cheaper in price. I don't really see a quality difference between the two lines of lathes they sell. I will agree, the SBL one's do have some nice features.
 
I replaced my Atlas 12x36 with a government surplus SM 1334 and I am very pleased. Check Govenment Liquidation and Goverment Deals websites if you are not opposed to a used machine.
 
I run a Kent 1340 at my day job and I'm not really impressed with it. It might be a step above some of the other offerings from China, but for $11k it wouldn't be on my shopping list.
 
Which model of the Kent? The KLS is the "economy" line from the PRC. It's about half the weight of the TRL and has a smaller speed range, etc.
 
I'm not sure, I'll check when I go back to work next Tuesday. I have a long weekend off.
 
Yes, that's ES&S, mentioned in first post. He didn't have any GH-1340W1's when I called a few days ago. The GHB is a much lighter machine.

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