Enco 13 X 30 Lathe

[Great white hunter]

I found a enco 111-3100 lathe ( 13 x 40 ) It was only used to polish parts for a very short period of time. The lathe looks brand new with no wear. The guy wants $1,200 for it with no tail stock. The big question is are these lathes junk? I was told buy a guy that owns a large machine shop that they are garabage. He says they are disposable lathes that when they break you just throw them away. He said the gears are not hardened and they are soft so they wear out and break easily. He said he had one and he had to replace some gears and found out they were all soft. Are these lathes junk or not? What do you think? The lathe was made in the 80's. And can I still get a tail stock and other replacement parts if something breaks? Thank you.

 

[Ray C]

I happen to find this link with the same model number as yours: http://www.repair--parts.com/Indust...-model-111-3100-13-x-40-many-accessories.php5

If this is the same lathe you're talking about and if I needed a lathe, I'd jump on it and growl at anyone who came near.

This has all the modern features of a decent lathe and it almost certainly has hardened ways. This is a pattern copy of a "generic asian lathe" and there are many versions of it from many distributors. Some have better quality control than others or might have nicer knobs and cranks and a few different bells or whistles but on average, it's a decent design.

As long as it hasn't been abused and if the ways near the heaststock are not bellied any shortfallings can be forgiven for the decent price it's offered. If it should need any parts, they can be obtained relatively easily by ordering from any one of a dozen lathes like it.

If you get it (keeping my fingers crossed for you) the trick to making a lathe work is setting it up and aligning it properly. I've been searching for something just like this for a fellow member on this board. Should you decide against it, please send me a private message...


Ray

 

[bvd1940]

At that price I would not buy it without the tail stock.
Just a bit more and get a complete lathe that is not OLD Chicom!!
Just my 2 cents worth but what do I know:thinking:

 

[OrangeAlpine]

To answer your question, these lathes are not junk. They may not be made to commercial shop standards, but then they are not sold at commerical shop prices, are they? The Enco (I have a 12 X 36) and Grizzly lathes will give years of good quality home shop performance if given reasonable care. Mine is about 15 years old and chugging along quite nicely. They are not a good financial investment or something that will become a heirloom, but will probably perform nicely in a home shop for the rest of the owners life.

Bill

 

[Ray C]

Well said Bill. New lathes for hobbyists and small shops are not good candidates (as you eloquently stated) for becoming a family heirloom. These days, things are not over-built by 300 or 400 percent. Economics doesn't allow it. At my current age of 53, I probably won't be alive a hundred years from now so it's not going to break my heart if only get 30-40 years of decent service out of my machine -which is about what I estimate it's good for at my existing rate of use which is not a likely projection as the years gain on me.

The only risk with a lathe of this genra is that some are pumped-out fast and crappy. By choosing the right vendor, you can increase your odds but, you'll be paying more than 1200 bucks.

Ray

To answer your question, these lathes are not junk. They may not be made to commercial shop standards, but then they are not sold at commerical shop prices, are they? The Enco (I have a 12 X 36) and Grizzly lathes will give years of good quality home shop performance if given reasonable care. Mine is about 15 years old and chugging along quite nicely. They are not a good financial investment or something that will become a heirloom, but will probably perform nicely in a home shop for the rest of the owners life.

Bill

 

[moseslonnie]

The lathe I use is a recent rendition of that 13X30 lathe. I have no way to report on its durability as ive only used it from new condition for 2 years, but it a decent lathe for a good price.

 

[coolidge]

I had myself a good laugh, some commercial shops talk about this type of lathe not holding up well have you seen what 'some' of them do to CNC lathes costing $100,000 or even a $250,000 in just a few years time? They crash them, trash them, throw jobs on them that should be run on a lathe with twice the brute and wear them out too. :rofl: Go search used CNC lathes on the internet my guess is this Enco looks in better condition. ;-)

 

[barrydc1]

I own a newer version of this lathe from Enco. It is the engine lathe version, and with DRO I paid $5060 for it in 2011. Besides a minor crash, which required me to re-align the headstock, which is documented on this site, I have been very pleased with it. There is no way I could have found a better deal in the area I live. Here, old nasty machinery sells for about that price and would require massive refurbishing at high cost.

Sent from my GT-P3100 using Tapatalk