Run far and fast away from the HiTorque 7500/7550

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Carl Fisher

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
Messages
2,761
Location
Cape Coral, FL
The HiTorque 7500/7550 tailstock is complete crap. I am now going to have to send back my 2nd one in just the last few months. The first one, the lead screw was bent or some other similar issue where you just could not advance/retract the quill smoothly. Constant binding that couldn't be worked out.

Now this one, a piece of the cast iron base snapped off after trying to adjust the taper out of the tailstock for like the 20th time. I've had to constantly muck with this thing adding and removing shims and adjusting the sides because I never could get the points to align and there was always a taper introduced to the parts.

I had less trouble with a machine 1/6 the cost than I've had with this since the day I bought it. This thing also cost more than my big Weiss that never gave me a single issue over the years I owned it.

If I sound pissed it's because I am. I'm behind on my custom orders and the one day I had this week to catch up is now forfeit.

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Bats

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2020
Messages
364
Location
W. Nowhere, CT
That should not and need not be the case !!!!!

I have NEVER had such a problem !!!!!
Agreed - taper shouldn't be a problem once the machine is set up (although it can be a royal headache to adjust it out in the first place - or after offsetting the tailstock to (deliberately) turn a taper). The problem I've never found a good solution to on a metal lathe is turning a graceful wide-radiused curve. I've got a radius attachment for my South Bend (although I have yet to fabricate an adapter to let me use it), but it only allows for a couple inch radius.

That casting, though... Yikes. I remember seeing a lot of complaints over on Practical Machinist that it was hard/impossible to get good castings these days since the domestic foundries shut down, but I was never sure how much of that was just old grumps pining for the good ol' days. Even so, there's no excuse for something like that.
 
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