|
Not too sure about brands, although here's my big feature list. Must have V ways, not flat ones. V belt is better than flat belt. MUST have backgearing. Want switch gears vs. change gears. By the way, I've seen some Atlas/Craftsman lathes I really wish I had bought. They oftentimes can be had for CHEAP with very little use or wear. Of course, now that I know what I do, havn't seen one in years! Passed up a good little change gear lathe that he only wanted $100 for. Could have saved that in bushings and small shafts I've needed made to repair/restore other machinery I have. I know LeBlond is good, Clausing, Hardinge. I've seen some Rockwells that looked VERY nice. South Bends are common, usually worn out pretty bad. Start surfing around Metalwebnews.com, have some links to sites about restoring old lathes, some good insight there. Also, at lindsaybks.com, I think he sells a REALLY compreshensive book about restoring metal machinery. It's pretty pricy at about $100, but might save you that much in avoiding something unusable, or getting something fixable that most people think isn't. It's on my list for when I get really serious about this. I've been moving around the country all of my adult life, but now that I'm out of the Navy, I'm not moving again! Getting my 16" jointer across country every 3 years was bad enough. Tools
|
