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Standard-Modern 10” Utilathe
- Thread starter pdentrem
- Start date
I love mine
BaitMaster
Certified Redneck
The utilathes are great machines.
I had the 12x30 until I bought my Liang Dei 12x36, and sold it to @JustaDB.
The Utilathe had two drawbacks for me that made me switch to a newer lathe:
1) Spindle bore size. The SM was 1.0625” in the spindle. Rifle barrels are 1.25”. My LD is 1.5625”. I use that extra bore all the time.
2) Accessories being available. Things like change gears for metric threading, steady and follow rests, taper attachment, parts…. My Liang Dei, I can call up Liang Dei in Taiwan and have whatever I want shipped to me. Quite reasonable priced. SM…. Allegedly they will make you parts…. But it costs and arm and a leg.
Now the quality difference between the SM and most Chinese lathes, is head and shoulders above for the SM. They are a very well built, good feeling machine. My Liang Dei is Taiwanese, and it’s basically the PM-1236T “Precision” Taiwanese Lathe, so they are more comparable in quality than a Chinese lathe, but I still think the SM is a slightly better built unit. Purely subjective.
If the SM you are looking at is fully equipped, with follow and steady rests, taper attachment, if you can live without metric gearing for awhile until you make it, and if it’s in very good condition, then they are a good buy.
I personally would not trade the extra work area 36” (LD) vs 30” (SM) and spindle bore diameter that my Liang Dei has for another SM, simply because of the work I do. I need the space and the bore, as much as I like the SM lathes.
I had the 12x30 until I bought my Liang Dei 12x36, and sold it to @JustaDB.
The Utilathe had two drawbacks for me that made me switch to a newer lathe:
1) Spindle bore size. The SM was 1.0625” in the spindle. Rifle barrels are 1.25”. My LD is 1.5625”. I use that extra bore all the time.
2) Accessories being available. Things like change gears for metric threading, steady and follow rests, taper attachment, parts…. My Liang Dei, I can call up Liang Dei in Taiwan and have whatever I want shipped to me. Quite reasonable priced. SM…. Allegedly they will make you parts…. But it costs and arm and a leg.
Now the quality difference between the SM and most Chinese lathes, is head and shoulders above for the SM. They are a very well built, good feeling machine. My Liang Dei is Taiwanese, and it’s basically the PM-1236T “Precision” Taiwanese Lathe, so they are more comparable in quality than a Chinese lathe, but I still think the SM is a slightly better built unit. Purely subjective.
If the SM you are looking at is fully equipped, with follow and steady rests, taper attachment, if you can live without metric gearing for awhile until you make it, and if it’s in very good condition, then they are a good buy.
I personally would not trade the extra work area 36” (LD) vs 30” (SM) and spindle bore diameter that my Liang Dei has for another SM, simply because of the work I do. I need the space and the bore, as much as I like the SM lathes.