lathe bigger than myford
 

Looking for a lathe bigger than my ML7 but can still fit in a garage.
Anything out there?

This fits in my garage :D but is a lot bigger than an ML7, which I also have!

http://www.tractiontalkforum.com/pic...pictureid=2495

There are lots of lathes bigger than Myfords that will suit you. Have a look here for lots of info on lathes.

Look for a Colchester Bantam. A solidly built lathe with a surprisingly large capacity for its floor size.

See them for sale starting around £500 with chucks and steadies - especially the older model.

I wouldn't part with mine!

As an a example:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/colchester-ban...item2c58e6a9e6


Cheers Carl.

Carl is bang on get a colchester:D
I asked on here a few years ago and got told a colchester bantam would be the best and i ended up buying a warco!! which i have now sold and i have bought a colchester bantam which looks like a good machine and has a nice smooth operation to it and would easy fit in a garage.


Mark

I have a type21 Dean Smith and Grace with gap bed ,steadies, 24" 4 jaw , 3 jaw,120"centres .Power traverse to saddle. and it would fit in a car garage! Only £6500.

Lathe bigger than a myford
 

Forget all those nasty cheap Colchesters, Harrisons, Excels, Warco etc. Look for a
Dean, Smith & Grace - the finest British lathe.

MARK

Just make sure you get one with a gaerbox for screw cutting, feeds etc

James

I rate the small Harrison/ Colchester lathe types

".......Forget all those nasty cheap Colchesters, Harrisons, Excels, Warco etc. Look for a
Dean, Smith & Grace - the finest British lathe......"


Obviously! But sometimes cost is a deciding factor and also availability space. Yes, a DSG is a superb machine BUT now way as versatile as a Colchester/Harrison. The lack of rigidity/quality of the latter is more than made up for by their capacities/footprint size - a major consideration for many of us.

Cheers Carl.

The many clones of the WW2 4.1/2" Southbend imports are an advance on the Myford . The Boxford is the commonest , but there are many made for schools with no screwcut or auto feeds fitted . The nicest of them is the Smart and Brown Sabel . Boxford parts will fit this . There was also an old fashioned looking 5" LeBlond which was like a larger lathe scaled down , but a nice machine if you can find one which has had a charmed life .

Beware of the fancy drive arrangements on the Colchester Chipmaster . Do your homework on the ' Latehs for Sale websit archive section .

Just a load of old Riggy - pay no attention !

Not sure I fully agree with the list. True about the Warco (and similar lathes) my first hand experience of stuff like Warco is that it is little more than a hobby lathe of the most basic type and to be avoided for any serious stuff.

As for the Colchesters and Harrisons, we have both at home and they are good machines. They tend to get a little noisy in the head when they are old but still turn out good work. There a plenty of spares out there for them and they dont take up a lot of space. If I were looking for a bigger machine I would look at the Colchester Triumph or later 2000.

The DS&G is a fantastic lathe, agreed... but I would venture IMHO my Holbrook runs a pretty close second at a quality British machine.

Lathes
 

Hi I would recommend a Colchester master 2500 a good lathe,5hp motor runs well on a Transwave converter, has forward and reverse clutches ideal for tapping,and metric screwcutting on a imperial version.accessories are readily available on the secondhand market,genuine new spares are expensive.backplates readily available,and it can take 1.625 inch dia bar through the headstock spindle. I also have a Myford S7 and Colchester triumph 2000. The master gets the most use. The top class toolroom lathes like Holbrook,Dean Smith and Grace etc are superb machines if in good condition,but accessories are not readily available,only buy one of these type of machines if it has all the equipment with it.plus these machines are very heavy,they were built for precision not versatility.Avoid any lathe with variable speed,they can be big trouble and expensive to repair.The Bantam is a nice lathe but the Master is better,mine has the long bed ie 40 inches between centres which means the tailstock can be pushed right back out of the way .

Further to the above , there is currently a Smart and Brown Sabel on eBay no 140 506 615 855 , and LeBlond Regal , which is the model I referred to , 140 486 100 794 , both with the same seller at Lowestoft , also a Dean Smith and Grace , to please old Riggy's heart , no. 290 506 615 855 up in Tadcaster . The DSG comes up soon .