Which is better? Rockwell 11" or Clauisng 10"??

Buickgsman

Buickgsman

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I have an opportunity to purchase a Rockwell 25 0X6 lathe with a taper attachment and some other goodies( not exactly sure but seems well tooled based on a description I got.) Is this a good lathe? I know it has the larger spindle which is nice and its ball bearing. It has the taper attachment which is also great. I have a nice Clausing 4904 lathe that is in great shape with a taper attachemnt and I love it. Is the Rockwell worth selling the Clausing for?

Thanks for any thoughts!

Bob
 
I don't have any first hand experience with either of these lathes. In my mind they are in the same league. They're similar in size, which might be a plus, since most of your tooling should swap right over to the new lathe. I think that the only thing that would differentiate them in my mind is the feature set. If the feature set of the Rockwell is more to your liking, then it might be worth the change over if the money is about even for what you could sell your lathe for.

Then there is the security of knowing what you got verses the mystery of what you might get.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

BTW: I'm in CT too.:))

Marcel
 
This is just my personal opinion, but I don't think you will see enough of an advantage in moving from a 10" up to an 11" lathe to make it worth while. If I were going to make a jump I would probably shoot for 12" or 15"
 
Doesn't the Clausing 4900 Series have tapered roller spindle bearings? Or are they straight roller bearings? I looked at the manual but can't tell as Clausing drew each of the spindle bearings as one part.

Robert D.
 
Rockwell, theirs goes up to 11. Spinal Tap Rules!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Bob,

You don't have enough machines. Get the Rockwell, keep the Clausing!

Steve
 
Rockwell has a bigger hole through the headstock. Better for gunsmithing if you do any of that but more capacity in general otherwise.
 
I'd lean towards keeping the Clausing based on parts availability alone.
 
Many good points, keep them coming! This is a tough decision!

Bob
 
I bought based on the Rockwell name, along with the fact that it had the steady, follow rests and a taper attachment, knowing what I know now about the lack of parts, I would have waited for a southbend or logan...of the same size. I am enjoying the features and rebuilding this lathe, but I will be another 6 months or a year before I am operational. I will have a really nice lathe when its finished, but I wish I had something to run now. Tim

PS Rockwell's are a labor of love and are nice machines, just not supported real well. Tim
 
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