Lathe question

NCWayne

Well-known Member
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
 
Wayne it looks exactly like my JET and some of the ones sold by ENCO. Made in China. Mine does a fair job but I doubt I'd buy another one. Just like tractors, I personally prefer the older American Made stuff to the new foreign made.
 
I never worked on a Sharp, but it looks like a decent machine. Make sure the ways are in good shape, and if possible, do a test piece at least 12 in long. Then you will know if it tapers or has a lot of runout. I'd at very least take a mag base indicator with you, test the spindle for runout.
 
Wayne, IMHO, the best Lathe made in recent years is a Colchester 17 inch, most if not all had a gap to take out. They appear for sale from time to time.
 
Sharp is not Chinese but Taiwan made and they have a pretty good reputation. I had same pattern lathe with different name badge and it was a solid performer. One thing that it or none of the others in its size range have is a clutch and I personally would not be without one in a general repair shop situation. Problem is you have to go up big time in price to get one. If all you do is turn it makes little difference but if you tap, tread to or away from a shoulder, do any metric threading etc a clutch is darn near mandatory. I have a 16 x 60 Summit and love it but it carries a stiff tariff.
 
get on the computer and look for used machine dealers in your area in the machine tool trade. we sell out older ones to these places and some are not good enough for porduction work but fine for something like working on farm duty stuff.
 
It"s been a buyer"s market for years with all the factories closing down. I"d wait to find what I really need....plenty of good quality US machines on the market. 50 years old or less. quality, tight machines. I bought a domestic 8 foot bed 18 inch swing, quick change, etc, for $975. Kept the 1910 South Bend gear change I"ve had since 1968.
 
We have a Colchester 21"x80" machine. We bought it new in 1978. It had some issues with the readout and it would taper when turning long pieces between centers. I put it on ebay for $4700 or best offer and it sold for $4700 in 3 hours. We bought a new Summit 18x80. 36K new. The colchesters were good lathes put parts are harder to fine and $$$$.
 
I hadn't thought about it not having a clutch, but your dead on in needing one for the type of stuff I often tend to get into. Thanks for the advice.
 
General Electric bought new lathes and scrapped the old ones.Scrap dealer said he bought them as scrap, put them under cover and tried to sell them at close to what he had in them for 4 years.No takers, they were big lathes, still in good condition.They were cut up when scrap prices took off.
 
The Summits are a Bulgarian made clone of the Clausing Colchester and as a couple others said it doesn"t get much better than that mark. Mine was new somewhere around 1998-9 and was 21K then, rated 16x60 but swings 20" over the ways. Hard to say what one would st a person back now but obviously out of line with most peoples hobby lathe budgets. Used ones I have seen bring big bucks too. If you can find a similar Clausing in good shape you will like it, that is for certain.
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contact Richard rogers at Pinpoint Machine.com

may offer something on your old lathe. Has used/refurbed lathes to sell

(318) 613-9560
 
i owen a lathe and mill both sharpes, bought them new 12 years ago. there just fine. i was learey at first. not american made, menite castings thought. im a one man shop, so im also very carefull with my equipment. my thaughts are damn good machines
 

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