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What is the industry standard for a decent, non-antique small manual lathe? Everything I see is either 50+ years old or mediocre-looking Siegs or otherwise susp

What is the industry standard for a decent, non-antique small manual lathe? Everything I see is either 50+ years old or mediocre-looking Siegs or otherwise suspiciously white-label-ish or it's a super-fancy CNC alien spacecraft that costs substantially more then a house.

mjb 4y ago
I've got an SC4, and the casting and basics are very solid (for the weight and price). The compound slide is junk, but the rest is remarkably good. The DC variable speed variants are the way to go. Obviously 'big iron' is better. But even if you've got the space, you've got to choose between high prices and the risk and project of going second hand.
jdietrich 4y ago
There isn't an industry standard any more, because manual lathes are essentially obsolete in industry and have been for decades. In toolrooms and job shops that still keep a manual lathe around for simple setups and repair work, it'll probably be an old lathe because there are still tons of excellent old lathes in circulation. If you have the space and the budget, you probably want a TRAK toolroom lathe - they have a CNC controller with a simple conversational interface, but they're designed to be used as a mostly-manual lathe with canned cycles. Excellent machines from a supplier that really understands the needs of toolroom and job shop machinists. If that's too big and/or too costly, you probably want a rebuilt Hardinge HLV-H. Yes, they are 50+ years old, but they're basically the perfect small lathe and they can still hold very tight tolerances if they're properly cared for. The HLV-H is still being cloned by a number of the higher-end Taiwanese manufacturers, for very good reason. Failing that, try Precision Matthews. They sell basically the same import stuff as everyone else, but they have very good QC and aftersales support. Something like the PM-1236 is a massive step up in rigidity and quality compared to the <$2000 Chinese machines. Not perfect, but by far the best value if you want to buy a new machine.

mjb 4y ago

I've got an SC4, and the casting and basics are very solid (for the weight and price). The compound slide is junk, but the rest is remarkably good. The DC variable speed variants are the way to go. Obviously 'big iron' is better. But even if you've got the space, you've got to choose between high prices and the risk and project of going second hand.

jdietrich 4y ago

There isn't an industry standard any more, because manual lathes are essentially obsolete in industry and have been for decades. In toolrooms and job shops that still keep a manual lathe around for simple setups and repair work, it'll probably be an old lathe because there are still tons of excellent old lathes in circulation. If you have the space and the budget, you probably want a TRAK toolroom lathe - they have a CNC controller with a simple conversational interface, but they're designed to be used as a mostly-manual lathe with canned cycles. Excellent machines from a supplier that really understands the needs of toolroom and job shop machinists. If that's too big and/or too costly, you probably want a rebuilt Hardinge HLV-H. Yes, they are 50+ years old, but they're basically the perfect small lathe and they can still hold very tight tolerances if they're properly cared for. The HLV-H is still being cloned by a number of the higher-end Taiwanese manufacturers, for very good reason. Failing that, try Precision Matthews. They sell basically the same import stuff as everyone else, but they have very good QC and aftersales support. Something like the PM-1236 is a massive step up in rigidity and quality compared to the <$2000 Chinese machines. Not perfect, but by far the best value if you want to buy a new machine.