Hi all...
Found a new home for my old oil leaking lathe, It was picked up today by Mr Knutz and his good friend, Being way more lathe savvy, he helped me ID all of the components in the crates I got with the lathe, I kept all the AXA tooling and bison hardware which we found more of.
I have no doubt he will put this lathe to good use, and I am glad It has a new home. Loading it went off without a hitch and sent it on its way...
Losing & Giving away another lathe ( 4th so far in 6 years - Hf 7x12, Hf 9x19, Logan 1875 10X24, and an Enco 12x36 ) in my search for a great starter lathe has taught me so much including kicking myself for the loss of cash and wasted time...
My current opinion and advice to all, being quite the Aficionado at failing to land a great starter lathe over the last few years, Is I think... or rather I know what a beginner like me should start with, the short and simple is any brand of 9"X19" lathe that has parts support such as from Grizzly.
This size is what I truly believe to be the best choice of value and usability.... Smaller lathes aren't robust enough, you will either quite the hobby or wish you had a bigger lathe wasting cash, time & effort.
If you go just a tad bigger the machine costs start to sky rocket out of control with features, and when you want out of that machine because you just don't have time, or now you actually know what you want in a lathe, or you decide you want a bigger lathe and now have sell that machine and possibly the expensive tooling that you have been hording, it will be much harder to deal with down the road.
Think of the 9"X19" size lathe as your first bike, your going to learn on it, customize it a little, wash it 3 times the first week and pretty soon you'll be able to say I would like to have a 10 speed or mountain bike, ohhh a carbon fiber mountain bike, all because now you gained some knowledge. you can buy the expensive mountain bike right off the bat if you like, but when you fall off it and break the forks... you get the point.
I firmly believe a 9"X19" is the first step on the ladder, as a bonus once you decide on the lathe you really want, you can more easily sell the 9"x19" or as many do keep it as a secondary lathe.
Some examples and current Price as of 02-26-03
New or in like new condition
1. Shop Fox M1049 9" x 19" - $1800.00
2. Grizzly G4000 9" x 19" - $1600.00
like new but Used
1. JET BDB-919, 9" x 19" - $2000.00 or less in great condition, or don't buy.
Just my opinion for people on there own, with little knowledge how to start and what to start with - its a safe bet and what I should have gotten right off the bat, I guarantee if my first 9"X19" wasn't junk I would still have it now.
