metal lathes

[dave siegler]

I have a sherline lathe.  I use it to make venturi's, prop exrensions and other small small parts and fixtures. 

I like it but tooling is not cheap and the capacity is very small. Often I buy or get someone else to make a part over about 1"
The lack of capacity (3x 14) , no compound cross slide, expensive tooling and lack of power feed are an issue.

But It is accurate, simple to use and fits in my small basement shop, and I have most of the tooling I need now.   

A club member just approached me about a Logan 9.  It will need some TLC, but has low hours on it. 
It comes with a lot of tooling.

Will I get more use out of that lathe?   

[pat king]

Dave,
If you can find the space a lathe up to 10 or 12" is great for a home shop. Anything larger is too big, takes up too much room, and is probably 3 phase.  That being said I still miss the 30" x 3' we had in the shop at college. I don't know what it was built for, but we used it to make wide wheels for dune buggies and drag cars.

Pat

[Norm Furutani]

A 9” Logan in good condition is a very nice lathe. Parts are still available through Logan Actuator. Having tooling is a big plus. If it has the quick change gear box, even better. Google it, lots of info on Logans. Late friend, John Morrill, started an engine company with a 9” Logan. Morrill Simplex Hornet .19. He talked me into an 11” Logan.

How much you use it depends on you. It can be a hobby in its self.

NormF

[Howard Rush]

This brings up a sore point between my father and me.  Many of my friends, e.g. Dan Rutherford, inherited South Bend lathes from their dads.  I just got a couple dull cold chisels.  Never mind, I'm just venting.

I'm a self-made man, tool-wise. 

[BillLee]

"You can make little things on a big lathe, but you cannot make big things on a little lathe."

John McCollum

[dave siegler]

I just saw the lathe.  It is all in pieces.  It will be a big project project.   Has a turret but no quick change gear box.

My dad was a construction carpenter and left me some nice woodworking tools, but no metal working. 

[Dane Martin]

My dad is still pretty young. They had us kids young. He's still working, and borrows my tools. He doesn't like to buy himself new stuff. So every Christmas I buy him something nice tool wise or pay off his snap on account. He spends his money on more elaborate things, like taking my mom on any vacation she can dream up! 
I blame any success I've ever had or will have, on him.

[Tim Wescott]

I've never had my hands on a Logan, but I understand they're nice lathes.  I'd jump on it, but you need to decide if you want to sign up for reassembling the thing, and depending on just how many pieces it's in, dealing with lost or broken pieces.

[Bob Reeves]

If you can get the Logan at a good price it would be worth fixing up depending on if it is complete. If it's missing any major part like the tail stock I would pass. Change gears are not much fun but not that much of a PTA either. Cutting threads is not difficult on either type of machine.

My current lathe is a Grizzly G0602 10 X 22, prior to that I had a 7 X 14 MicroMark. The big limitation of the 7x14 was the spindle bore. I had a 1 inch 6  foot long shaft I needed to build up and turn down in 4 places for new bearings which gave me an excuse to buy a larger lathe. Found the Grizzly on Craigslist for a good price and the next day it was in my shop. I replaced the motor with a 1 horse 3 phase controlled with a VFD. This gave me continuous variable speed without loosing torque at low speeds. Next I installed a DRO (Digital Read Out) bought off eBay. It's a really nice setup that can handle just about anything needed for a home shop.

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-10-x-22-Benchtop-Metal-Lathe/G0602
 

[Norm Furutani]

A heads up on buying imports like Grizzly, HF, Littlemachineshop etc. The crossfeed dials may be metric or the one I ran into, the dial was 1/16” per rev but it was marked in .001 increments. There was a 002.5 increment at the end of the dial to make up the difference.

[Dick Pacini]

If you can get the Logan at a good price it would be worth fixing up depending on if it is complete. If it's missing any major part like the tail stock I would pass. Change gears are not much fun but not that much of a PTA either. Cutting threads is not difficult on either type of machine.

My current lathe is a Grizzly G0602 10 X 22, prior to that I had a 7 X 14 MicroMark. The big limitation of the 7x14 was the spindle bore. I had a 1 inch 6  foot long shaft I needed to build up and turn down in 4 places for new bearings which gave me an excuse to buy a larger lathe. Found the Grizzly on Craigslist for a good price and the next day it was in my shop. I replaced the motor with a 1 horse 3 phase controlled with a VFD. This gave me continuous variable speed without loosing torque at low speeds. Next I installed a DRO (Digital Read Out) bought off eBay. It's a really nice setup that can handle just about anything needed for a home shop.

https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-10-x-22-Benchtop-Metal-Lathe/G0602

I have that same lathe with the optional base cabinet.  I installed a quick change tool post and a collet closer.  I also added a magnetic base halogen work lamp.   I leave the collet closer on it all the time since I have a large set of collets.  Spindle speed and gear changes are not fun.  Basically, I leave the spindle speed alone and only use the gear selection operated by knobs.  I think Grizzly made a change to the headstock  that allows more selection without messing with gears and belts to allow desired changes.  The machine does not have a power cross feed which I miss 

I have had a Craftsman 6X18 and a Craftsman 12X36 lathe.  The bigger machine had a quick change gearbox and power cross feed.  The Craftsman machines, ( built by Atlas Press Co. for Sears), are a decent product.  The half nuts do wear out and the flat bed is a turn off for some but if the machine is anchored and leveled properly, The flat bed will be fine. 

One point to consider is if the machine has a single lead screw for turning and threading, or a lead screw for turning and a separate lead screw for threading.  That is preferred.

I won't even mention the 14X40 Nardini I had. 

[Robert Zambelli]

I have the Grizzly G-4000 and it's been great.
Main reason to buy it - cuts both metric and inch threads, allowing me to make parts for both US spec and foreign cars.
I also have an old South Bend bench lathe from the late 40s. Work real well but does not have quick change leadscrew drive gears.

I have a chance to buy a  Hardinge bench lathe. It may be a Cobra model but I'm not sure..
Does anyone know about these?
It's a late model and in like-new condition. I've seen it and it looks perfect.

Bob Z.

[Mark wood]

This brings up a sore point between my father and me.  Many of my friends, e.g. Dan Rutherford, inherited South Bend lathes from their dads.  I just got a couple dull cold chisels.  Never mind, I'm just venting.

I'm a self-made man, tool-wise.

My dad is still around and doing some building. Mostly indoor these days. I'm the tool guy in our family too.

[John Park]

My dad was a construction carpenter and left me some nice woodworking tools, but no metal working.

My grandfather was a carpenter/joiner/tree surgeon.  My father was an engineer.  In their day, US-made tools were freely available here in England, and cheap too - I've inherited Henry Disston saws, Millers Falls hand drills, a 1" to 2" Slocum micrometer, a couple of genuine Vise Grip wrenches made in De Witt, Nebraska, etc. etc. - some of them at least a hundred years old and still giving good service. (The 20" Disston panel saw needs resharpening for the third time - granddad did it, dad did it and now it's my turn!)  No lathe, unfortunately.

[dave siegler]

It's a turret lathe? If you can easily convert it to a quick change tool post it might be worth messing with otherwise I'd pass. Quick change gears are over rated. I do allot of work on model engine stuff and I rarely cut threads or use the auto feed. A few minutes to change the pick off gears is not a problem.

Motorman

its a turret lathe but includes a tail-stock several chucks and a pile of tooling.  , supposedly the owner was an employee of Logan in Chicago .  The owner is a nephew or something.  It has been dissembled for a long time.
I do not know if this was a wore out junker or lightly used demo model.  It is rusty but never outside.