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Craftex metal lathe 12” x 24” $950 Burlington

combustable herbage

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Interesting looking machine. Might be able to get it for much less than asking. Even so, 950 isn't really that much for a working lathe with a 12" working diameter. Might not have threading capability though. Not sure about those flat ways either. But I like the T-slot cross slide. Lots of accessories.
 
It looks like one of those Asian lathes that was a combination unit with a little mill. The cross slide used as an x and y table. There was always a few of these at the Busy Bee garage sale on offer.
 
that’s half of a 3-in-1 lathe mill drill combo. You can see the cover plate at the top of the headstock, where the mill column used to exist.
 
Did they come with threading gears? I don't see any gears in the pictures.
They normally come with a set of gears, my guess is this bodged lathe won’t have them.

Problem with this machine is the ratio of centre height to bed width. If you draw a triangle from centre to front of bed to back of bed the top vee angle is very acute. The tool bit is so high above the bed it flexes all over the place, even on light cuts.
 
I’m sure someone will disagree, but from my experience owning one of these, is that they are spectacularly useless. The compound flops around like a gaffed fish, the mill/drill quill is less accurate than a hand drill, the mill fine feed isn‘t, the quill is too far away from the table, the quill feed arms are parallel to the bed so they always seem to interfere with whatever is bolted to the table.
 
I’m sure someone will disagree, but from my experience owning one of these, is that they are spectacularly useless. The compound flops around like a gaffed fish, the mill/drill quill is less accurate than a hand drill, the mill fine feed isn‘t, the quill is too far away from the table, the quill feed arms are parallel to the bed so they always seem to interfere with whatever is bolted to the table.

Sounds distinctly like the voice of experience to me......

Experience is the toughest teacher of all because she gives the rest before she gives the lesson.

Ya, I'd rather learn from someone else's experience than from mine. I'll steer clear of these in future.
 
Before I bash any equipment and say that its useless and not worth anything, I have to remember an small old english ECCENTRIC fellow I meet in the mid '80s.

All of his metal working machines where made of wood. Yes wood. Lathes, mills (both horizontal and vertical), shapers, saws, grinders and some stuff I've never seen before (or yet to see again). I've also seen the end results he produced. Amazing is the only word for it. I still wish I had a lot more time to spend in that shop (other than the less 30min tour I had), the knowledge that was there to be gained.....

So back to bashing machines, yes its easy and justified, but truth be told, its the user (you the machinist) that makes the difference to make it perform and excel or fail and produce junk.

Learn from Jack (yes that was his name), you can do and use anything if you have the skill and that's truly what we strive for, remember the machinery is really just a crutch.
 
Before I bash any equipment and say that its useless and not worth anything, I have to remember an small old english ECCENTRIC fellow I meet in the mid '80s.

All of his metal working machines where made of wood. Yes wood. Lathes, mills (both horizontal and vertical), shapers, saws, grinders and some stuff I've never seen before (or yet to see again). I've also seen the end results he produced. Amazing is the only word for it. I still wish I had a lot more time to spend in that shop (other than the less 30min tour I had), the knowledge that was there to be gained.....

So back to bashing machines, yes its easy and justified, but truth be told, its the user (you the machinist) that makes the difference to make it perform and excel or fail and produce junk.

Learn from Jack (yes that was his name), you can do and use anything if you have the skill and that's truly what we strive for, remember the machinery is really just a crutch.

My first lathe was made of metal but it was built in the 1880s. I still have it but prolly should sell it. Like your Jack, my old lathe taught me skills that a new machine couldn't. Maybe that's why I still have it.
 
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