Looking to upgrade my lathe to something a bit newer. Given that my Southbend was built around 1925 it's not going to take too much to get newer...LOL Seriously, my old lathe is actually in good shape as far as the bed goes,and with a 8 foot bed and a 15 inch swing it will do most of the stuff I would ever want to do both swing and length wise. Still it would be nice to have something with a little more swing, and I really don't need all that length. Regardless it's gotten to the point that I am going to have to spend a little money to get the spindle bushings bored back true enough for me to do the precision work that's starting to come my way again with the economy picking back up.
That said I have found a Sharp 1440 that I might be able to get for a price I can afford. All of the specs are a the link below, but in general, it has a 14 inch swing with a removable gap bed that will increase the swing to 20 inches. As far as length it's 40 inches between centers which would be a bit shorter than I'd like, but still catch 99% of the stuff I would typically be asked to do.
I'm more used to the older mfgs like Southbend, Leblond, Clausing, Monarch, etc. but I have heard of Sharp I've never had any direct dealings with any of their stuff. So, my question is this. Has anyone on here ever had any experience with their lathes and if so, how did/do you like them?
Lastly, if I don't manage to get the one I am looking at, do any of ya'll know of a good lathe available in the NC area? I really don't want to get anything smaller than the 1440 I'm looking at. Now if it's not a gap bed I want at least 18 inches of swing over the bed. Length wise, again, the 40" between centers is about as short as I can stand to go, and would preffer closer to 60 inches if possible. Too I'd like something new enough to be able to cut metric as well as standard threads without having to do parts/gearing changes.
Any advice/assistance/etc would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Wayne
Sharp
That said I have found a Sharp 1440 that I might be able to get for a price I can afford. All of the specs are a the link below, but in general, it has a 14 inch swing with a removable gap bed that will increase the swing to 20 inches. As far as length it's 40 inches between centers which would be a bit shorter than I'd like, but still catch 99% of the stuff I would typically be asked to do.
I'm more used to the older mfgs like Southbend, Leblond, Clausing, Monarch, etc. but I have heard of Sharp I've never had any direct dealings with any of their stuff. So, my question is this. Has anyone on here ever had any experience with their lathes and if so, how did/do you like them?
Lastly, if I don't manage to get the one I am looking at, do any of ya'll know of a good lathe available in the NC area? I really don't want to get anything smaller than the 1440 I'm looking at. Now if it's not a gap bed I want at least 18 inches of swing over the bed. Length wise, again, the 40" between centers is about as short as I can stand to go, and would preffer closer to 60 inches if possible. Too I'd like something new enough to be able to cut metric as well as standard threads without having to do parts/gearing changes.
Any advice/assistance/etc would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Wayne
Sharp