Lathe Question

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jleiwig

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Joined
Jan 10, 2007
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1,860
Location
Monroe, Ohio, USA.
I'm trying to sell my Jet 1220 lathe to purchase a metal lathe. That being said I have a couple questions.

I checked out the 7x10 toy at Harbor Freight yesterday, and I don't think I want one that teensy. They list a 8x12 for $549.99 and the 9x20 for 699.99. I'm hoping I can use one of these 20% off coupons that I've got from a bunch of different magazines which would make the 8x12 439 plus tax and the 9x20 559 plus tax. It says in stock merchandise only, but I hope the manager will work with me on it.

Given those two models I assume most everyone would chose the 9x20? Any drawbacks to the bigger lathe?

I'm obviously going to put a QCTP on the lathe and some of the other modifications I've seen on other sites, but anything else anyone would recommend?
 
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Justin, you can always make small parts on a big lathe.
Out of the choices you list..9X20 all the way.
you will need the length; by the time you mount a longer workpiece up, get a big old drill chuck in the tailstock ,and a longer drill sticking out of said drill chuck,
your length real estate vanishes pretty darn quickly!
Those are not bad little machines all in all.
QCTP is a no brainer, for sure. I would hurt someone if they took mine.
Be prepared to make some mods, do some tuning and tweaking and a whole lot
of learning.
Metal lathes are great if you can learn to use them correctly,
just be prepared for a learning curve.
And have a few hundred extra for tooling!

Another option, said to be pretty nice quality, out of the box, is the micro mark 7X14.

Have fun!
 
i have to call a bs on this machine. the specs cant be correct. for one thing, i have never seen an asian 9x20 with a power cross slide. i havent seen everything, but dont think it does. also, they say bed width is 9". my 12" is only 7 1/4". weighs 175 to 200 pounds???? thats light even for a 9x20. should go 250 or so. weight is your friend with metal turning tools. a 9x lathe isnt a bad machine, but will need some tuning, but dont buy this one. imho its misrepresented. regards, j.d.
 
Yea, I think that guy is confused on his weight is all. He isn't a dealer of equipment, he bought this machine, didn't use it and now is getting rid of it. It sure looks like it has powerfeed. I don't know that the cross slide is also power fed or not, but I know the 12x30 that I own can have that option. There's certainly lots of lathes out there available, and I am not any sort of metal lathe expert. I still say buy the biggest machine you can afford. Don't worry about tooling, spend all your money on a machine then save up for some tooling. Ebay and Enco are good. Look for free shipping. Free shipping is not uncommon righ now on big equipment.
 
I have lathe experience, both manual and cnc, but the last lathe I worked on would take up my whole shop and then some of my house!

That being said there is an old Logan lathe local on Craigslist for $350 that I may go look at. If I bought that one, I'd have plenty left over for tooling, but I'm worried it would turn into another project. Although any lathe will be a project I guess. Decisions decisions....
 
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