My first lathe arrived today

emtor

Registered
Registered
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
54
Greetings from Norway.
My first lathe arrived today after years of drooling and lurking on forums.
I had two choices,-either buy a used lathe or buying a cheap China manufactured lathe.
A used lathe: Not many small lathes here. This is not the US or the UK, this is Scandinavia, and the only options for used lathes are leftover industrial machines.
Good luck with worn ways and lead screws and freighting heavy equipment long distances. Add to that installing 3-phase power in your home.
A lathe produced in China: You get what you pay for. Some large warehouses here have had chinese lathes in their inventory until most of what they sold were returned
due to very low quality. These warehouses have given up on selling these lathes.
One particular warehouse on the other hand has sold the same brand for 20 plus years and still going strong, which tells me that these lathes are perhaps quite good.

So I ordered one,-a 10X16 benchtop lathe weighing 260 pounds . . . weight matters.
No plastic handles or wheels, all steel/cast iron, even the chuck guard is made from solid steel.
Apron and cross slide moves super smooth with no slack or binding.
Compound rest wheel has a very slight tendency to bind at one spot every revolution. I'll look into that.
All gears are made from steel/cast iron,-no plastic.
Lathe bed is induction hardened.
No electronic speed control (less parts to fail). Speeds are chosen by placing the belt on the desired pulleys. 6 speeds by the way.
At this point in time the lathe appears to be a solid piece of machinery . . . I guess time will tell.
The lathe came with a three jaw and a four jaw chuck, live center, a large jacobs chuck for the tailstock, steady rest and nine carbide insert cutting tools.
They also threw in two bags of extra inserts, replacement gears and a toolbox with spanners etc. plus a bag with some stuff that I haven't figured out what is for yet.
I paid 2.400 $ with shipping to my front door included.
Next weekend will be quality time with cleaning and lubricating . . .


lathe.JPG
 
Emtor welcome to the forum. So far it looks good. Please post more pictures when you get it out of the box and set up.

David
 
Welcome! Looks like one of the better made imports, you will have fun with that
Mark
 
I'll post pics during the weekend.
I do think it's one of the better ones, feels quite sturdy and solid.
The company that sell these lathes have been in business for decades selling the same brands and a friend of mine used to make electric guitars and bought all of his machines from them. He was surprised by the good quality and the low prices and excellent service.
Today we managed to get it inside but we did not take the chance of lifting it up on the bench. It was too heavy, so I bought a bunch of pulleys and rope and I'll bolt together a large wooden frame and use that together with the pulleys to hoist it up.
After that it's disassembly, cleaning and lubricating.
 
I can feel your excitement.
Congratulations on your new lathe.
 
welcome to the forum! Looks like you are going to have a great time with your new machine!
 
Hi Emtor,

Nice looking lathe. It seems to have been well crated, better than some I've seen.
When lifting it be very careful not to trap and bend the leadscrew.
Better still get a couple of mates round and have a beer and lifting lathe party. :)
 
I'll be sure to mind the leadscrew.
I've bought some 2x4's, bolts and 6 pulleys plus rope today.
I'll bolt together a frame with a length of steel pipe on top.
Then I'll lift the lathe with the rope and pulleys fastened to the pipe and then roll the pipe till the lathe hangs above the
tool cabinet,-then lower it down onto the cabinet.
Yesterday we were three buddies trying to lift it. On the tailstock end you'll get a firm grip. The headstock end is a different matter.
Too easy to loose your grip so we abandoned the project.
6 pulleys will reduce the needed force by a factor of 6 plus friction which results in only approx. 20-25 kg force on the pulling rope.
 
Can you not use a sling under the bed at the headstock and three of you lift the lathe ?
 
Back
Top