lathe bigger than myford

[hornsbyfan]

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 .