New lathe day - Warco GH600

[Ben17484]

I wanted a new lathe to replace my Smart and Brown (South Bend 9 clone). I got frustrated at spending more time fixing the lathe than making projects, so went for a brand new lathe. I’ve had a few lathes in the past and based on frustration from those had a criteria of what I wanted. The main thing I wanted was a quick change gear box for threads as well as feeds. Changing gears for threading and feeds got frustrating to me (I don’t get lots of time to spend machining, so don’t want to spend any of that time changing gears). As it’s a new lathe I also got the follow rest and steady rest which I didn’t have for my S&B.

It cuts 0.25-5mm threads and 4-96 TPI straight from the gearbox (going from metric to imperial I would have to swap to the 127 gear tooth, but doubt I’ll do much imperial) and has a vast array of feed speeds directly from the gearbox too.

As it’s a gear head, it is louder than my previous lathes, but the gearbox for speeds is worth the noise. I understand that gear heads also give better torque.

My Warco GH600 - I’m very happy! I’m hoping that this lasts me quite a few years.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[benmychree]

What is the thingie hanging off the front of the compound rest for?

 

[Ben17484]

It’s for a plastic shield/cover thing. Same as goes over the chuck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jwmay]

I wish I could spring for a warco 1330. I believe the shipping would kill me though.
Congrats on that good looking lathe!

 

[Larry$]

I wish I could spring for a warco 1330

That is an import (Chinese?) lathe sold under many different names. Check the usual suspects to see who is selling it in the US.

 

[Ben17484]

I wish I could spring for a warco 1330. I believe the shipping would kill me though.
Congrats on that good looking lathe!

The 1330 was my top choice as well, but due to its size I couldn’t get it to my workshop. Hopefully the 600 will do me for a few years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jwmay]

As far as I could tell, there’s no usual suspects selling a 1330 in the US. It’s not like I was really gonna buy one anyways. I just like to dream. Lol

 

[Ben17484]

Well that’s annoying:

My AXA toolpost holder won’t work on this lathe.

23mm between topslide and centre point seems small?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ben17484]

It looks like I’ll need to use 10mm tooling if I want to use the AXA:

Even with the 10mm tooling I don’t have much leeway. Can anyone see a problem with fitting the AXA and using 10mm tooling? Is there anything I’m missing where I’d need the tip lower than centre? Does 12mm vs 10mm make any difference in terms of cutting on a lathe this size?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jwmay]

It’ll be fine. I use all sizes of hss tooling. The machine is not going to care at all.