What size lathe do you have?

[CWret]

It’s great that the Forum is trying to get a better understanding of the membership. It’s hard for the Forum admin to say “who we are” if they don’t know “who we are”. Good initiative.

The pole seems rather easy to miss (or hard to find) it’s kinda hidden in “machines talks, mills, lathes” I’m not sure how you’d make it seen by more members. Also, IMO only members that are very active (in the Forum) will see it and reply. Is that a one-sided result? Does the pole represent the average Forum member? Hopefully yes! Either way- good info.

 

[Xyphota]

You should do a poll for vises

 

[CWret]

You should do a poll for vises

Well I have 4 vises.
But i have many, many more vices.

 

[Former Member]

I will qualify that I have one lathe, 12" is the rating but so is 17" in the gap.

I have turn about 7" x 7" of 4041 on my Logan and must say that a chuck of steel that big does get interesting as there is a lot of rotating mass.

 

[VicHobbyGuy]

The pole seems rather easy to miss (or hard to find) it’s kinda hidden in “machines talks, mills, lathes” I’m not sure how you’d make it seen by more members.

I usually check 'New Posts' and it popped up there.
I think there are different ways that the forum software can be directed to make discussions 'Sticky' - so that they show up at the top of the discussion lists. But I don't know if there is a setting that can make one discussion 'Sticky' in every sub-forum.
If it's important enough, I suppose a link could be put at the top of the page where my 'Daily Nag' to pay to be a member appears?

 

[Susquatch]

Like any other poll, anyplace else, there are lots of weaknesses in this poll. But there are also lots of strengths. "Let not the perfect be the enemy of the good."

I confess that I am both surprised and pleased with the results so far.

Edit - updated stats below

As of this moment we have 83 votes among 64 voters. That means 19 votes were cast by those with more than one lathe. Rather impressive. But a quick scan of the votes and comments says it's actually a much smaller number of voters with a larger number of lathes. About what we should expect.

In terms of ownership, we have a fairly even distribution of machines with a bit of a gap at 11 and none. I'm guessing that the gap at 11 is likely just the availability of 11 inch machines. Or perhaps the weight, size, and cost of 11 vs 12 didn't justify buying the 11. Not really important either way to the purpose of the poll.

At least on the surface for active members (those willing to do the poll), it looks like CHMWs is a place that attracts lathe operators of all sizes. This is surprising but a very good sign that we are doing most things right for the broader member community.

As some have suggested, it's entirely possible some might have lathes that gather dust. Does that matter? It certainly doesn't affect their activity or their interest. Does it swing the membership to some kind of bias? I don't think so. The balance is too heavily neutral.

I routinely check the list of members on line at various times of the day and days of the week. There are always a very high number of non-members (guests) just browsing the forum (lurking). They outnumber members usually by someplace between 10 and 20 to 1. That is just what it is. Prolly half that is web crawlers and robots. (That's something to keep in mind when you post personal info guys.) The other half is probably people out there looking for answers. It's always interesting to me to find CHMW among the hits on google when I search for machining information myself. This happens regardless of whether I search as me or incognito. Gives me a sense of awe at the depth and breadth of the knowledge base here.

When I look at members on line, it's a bit different and harder to assess. There is always the usual cast of highly active members. But there is usually an equal number of guys who just like to read and learn or be entertained. I don't think we disappoint on either front.

I've also noticed a very clear uptick in activity over the last 6 months. I really don't think that is the usual cast of highly active members getting even more active nor do I think it's seasonal. If anything I think that many of the most active members have backed off a bit. My perception is that it's an uptick in the number of new members needing help or advice or looking for a machine.

Sometimes a Newbie will ask one of those hot questions that no member wants to answer knowing they will get jumped on when they do. My practice is to let them sit hoping someone more knowledgeable than me will take a stab at it. But after such a question sits a while, I'll usually put my flack jacket on, give it a whack, and then duck. My flack jacket keeps getting thicker as I age anyway.i encourage others to do the same.

The goal of this poll was to help figure out what the lathe distribution of our active membership is. I'm not particularly concerned about non active members because the won't see or do the poll but more importantly they are not the ones who will be helping our new members or answering the majority of questions that get asked. In that regard, it's obvious that our active membership covers all lathe sizes fairly evenly. It's also obvious that any lathe owner coming here for help will get well balanced support, answers to their questions, and lots of advice. Lastly, it's obvious that our active membership is an amazing group!

Thank you to everyone who participated!

 

[Susquatch]

I will qualify that I have one lathe, 12" is the rating but so is 17" in the gap.

That's a good point. If I had thought of it, I would have specifically excluded gap ratings. On the other hand I doubt very many rated their lathe that way.

I have turn about 7" x 7" of 4041 on my Logan and must say that a chuck of steel that big does get interesting as there is a lot of rotating mass.

The biggest thing I ever turned was a 12"x3" round plate. It was destined to be a pulley for a farm machine. I've also turned several smaller ones but still very big by most standards.

Yes, a big rotating mass is very interesting indeed!

 

[VicHobbyGuy]

I replied with ‘no lathe’
After that reply- the size question is kinda irrelevant

It is the 'metalworkers' forum - not 'machinists' forum, after all.
My neighbour is more of a metalworker than I will ever be.
He has welders (gas, MIG) grinders and abrasive chop saw, drill press, milling machine...but no lathe.
And he makes lotsa stuff out of metal.
So you needn't feel left out!

 

[CWret]

I'm not particularly concerned about non active members because they won't see or do the poll but more importantly they are not the ones who will be helping our new members or answering the majority of questions that get asked

Good point.
Poll voters. They are the active members that take a keen interest in helping other members. They are the backbone that defines the Forum.

 

[140mower]

It's not entirely clear to me, either. I think if people have multiple lathes of different sizes, the percentages won't add to 100?
What do the percentages mean?
Right now the data shows me 57 voters with 84 'votes' with the percentages adding to 147.4%
The first line shows 13 votes for <9" lathes. So out of the 57 voters, 13 people said they have a <9" lathe. So that's 22.8% of the total number of voters that have a <9" lathe,
But quite a few of those voters have also lathe of a different size, so that results in building one of the other percentage numbers, too.
I need to give this a think...
Suppose 100 forum members voted, and every one of them had a <9" lathe AND a 14" lathe. Then there would be 100% in the <9" line and 100% in the 14" line. Then the conclusion would be that 100% of the members responding are small lathe owners and 100% of the members responding are large lathe owners - which would be accurate.
It gets confusing (to me! ) when it's a situation (as it is as I type) where "22.8% of members own small (<9") lathes and 124.6% of members own larger lathes.", or whatever...

Like @historicalarms, there may be a lot of members that have multiple lathes but almost always use just one of them.
So by asking about lathe ownership rather than usage, there will be lathes that have garnered 'votes' that are sitting idle.

I elected to only list the ones that I am using. I have several that I am not using as well.....

 

[140mower]

You should do a poll for vises

Ooooo oooo pick me, pick me! I have a vice for vises as well as, well, everything else..

 

[CWret]

I have a vice for vises

Me too!!!! Just bought a Gerardi last week.

 

[Former Member]

It is the 'metalworkers' forum - not 'machinists' forum, after all.
My neighbour is more of a metalworker than I will ever be.
He has welders (gas, MIG) grinders and abrasive chop saw, drill press, milling machine...but no lathe.
And he makes lotsa stuff out of metal.
So you needn't feel left out!

No he is not a metalworker until he realizes he has a vertical lathe.......

 

[SomeGuy]

Even though they call it a 12x28, it's really only an 11" swing.

 

[Six O Two]

I'm surprised by the uniformity of the distribution of responses, seems like we've got a good mix of users here on the forum!

 

[YotaBota]

Even though they call it a 12x28, it's really only an 11" swing

The SM1120 goes the other way, it's called and 11' but it will actually swing 13".

 

[VicHobbyGuy]

I'm surprised by the uniformity of the distribution of responses, seems like we've got a good mix of users here on the forum!

I find the results surprising as well. 14 out of the 66 members responding, own lathes smaller than 9" swing.
My first assumption would be that 'smaller than 9" ' would mean the Chinese 7x lathes, because they are so numerous - there have been 10s of thousands (more??) sold.
But that must be wrong.
In the short time I've been hanging around here, I've hardly ever seen a discussion about a 7x lathe problem, unless I've started it myself. And generally my comments referring to 7x lathes don't draw any response. So I don't think there are many 7x lathe users here.
Perhaps members have small watchmaker lathes, Sherline/Unimat/Taig lathes, etc. , or there's an unused 7x lathe -bought on a whim or 'inherited' from a friend, in a corner?
It's all a matter of perspective, I guess. It's likely that a Hummer owner has a different definition of 'medium size vehicle' than the Fiat 500 driver does!

 

[jcdammeyer]

Unimat DB200
Home made Gingery 7x12 c/w ELS on XZ
South Bend Heavy 10L c/w Taper Attacment and ELS on Z

 

[Tecnico]

I find the results surprising as well. 14 out of the 66 members responding, own lathes smaller than 9" swing.
My first assumption would be that 'smaller than 9" ' would mean the Chinese 7x lathes, because they are so numerous - there have been 10s of thousands (more??) sold.
But that must be wrong.
In the short time I've been hanging around here, I've hardly ever seen a discussion about a 7x lathe problem, unless I've started it myself. And generally my comments referring to 7x lathes don't draw any response. So I don't think there are many 7x lathe users here.
Perhaps members have small watchmaker lathes, Sherline/Unimat/Taig lathes, etc. , or there's an unused 7x lathe -bought on a whim or 'inherited' from a friend, in a corner?
It's all a matter of perspective, I guess. It's likely that a Hummer owner has a different definition of 'medium size vehicle' than the Fiat 500 driver does!

You may be looking at this like a 7x hammer that only expects to see a 7x nail.

I think you may be right to an extent about the makeup of the <9” swing though, case in point at least 3 of the 14 would be Myfords, including mine and I suspect there are more. Then there are the other makes you mentioned so there’s a whole bunch of machines in the group that aren’t Chinese 7x.

The lack of responses from 7x owners might also be attributed to the relative experience of 7x users who may be in the learning stage with a “starter” lathe and prefer to let the more experienced speak up?

I’m also surprised at the even distribution of sizes, except my 1120…….

Anyhow, hopefully the experienced will try and fill in the gaps that apply to the 7x knowledge, there certainly are some knowledgeable and experienced voices here.

D

 

[Susquatch]

In the short time I've been hanging around here, I've hardly ever seen a discussion about a 7x lathe problem, unless I've started it myself. And generally my comments referring to 7x lathes don't draw any response. So I don't think there are many 7x lathe users here.

I would not conclude that myself. But I won't say it's wrong, just that I have a different view.

As a moderator, I try to look at every post on the forum other than member spotted deals and classifieds. And I prolly see most of those too. That's one of the reason for my comment above in post 21.

"Sometimes a Newbie will ask one of those hot questions that no member wants to answer knowing they will get jumped on when they do. My practice is to let them sit hoping someone more knowledgeable than me will take a stab at it. But after such a question sits a while, I'll usually put my flack jacket on, give it a whack, and then duck. My flack jacket keeps getting thicker as I age anyway. I encourage others to do the same."

I was focussed mainly on hot questions, but questions like you refer to get caught in the same filter. So it's a little hard for me to accept that nobody answers your small lathe questions. Perhaps you could give us a few example threads so we can attempt to learn more about why they don't get answered.