The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Metal Lathes and Mills

slickpuppy · December 1, 2001, 06:09 AM

DeBee,
How big is big? Well the Southbend is a 10x33 - drop dead beautiful piece of work. The Bridgeport is one of their Series 1 models. If I wanted to drop around 30 grand I would buy those myself!

As for the 3 in 1 and 2 in 1 machines, I am trying to stay away from those really. I just prefer stand alone machines that I can keep set up. I hate the idea of doing some lathe work and having to rip my setup apart to do some milling on something else. What can I say? I am a lazy bastard I guess

I didn't want to lead the discussion by mentioning brands at first. I appreciate the feedback.

What I am considering right now in lathes is something in the size range of a Myford Super 7 - the shortbed model. It looks pretty good feature-wise and should be big enough to do stuff I want, yet small enough to fit on a relatively small bench. I also looked at the Levin and Derbyshire lathes. Primo quality but a bit small.

As for the mill, I am considering the Cowells mini mill for right now. It looks to be a pretty stout unit for its size, well made, and plenty accurate for my needs. I had looked at the Sherlines and the Taig. They both have a good following. Myford also makes a mill, but I haven't seen any data sheets on it yet.

I looked briefly at the Prazi machines. Plastic gearing in those turned me off real quick. They do look pretty good and would be plenty accurate for me, but the plastic kinda scares me! Guess the older I get the more hard headed I get.

I would love to find one of the FW Derbyshire mini mills, but I am in dreamland there. Those never show up on the used market.

December 1, 2001, 06:09 AM	#6
slickpuppy Senior Member Join Date: August 29, 1999 Posts: 928	DeBee, How big is big? Well the Southbend is a 10x33 - drop dead beautiful piece of work. The Bridgeport is one of their Series 1 models. If I wanted to drop around 30 grand I would buy those myself! As for the 3 in 1 and 2 in 1 machines, I am trying to stay away from those really. I just prefer stand alone machines that I can keep set up. I hate the idea of doing some lathe work and having to rip my setup apart to do some milling on something else. What can I say? I am a lazy bastard I guess I didn't want to lead the discussion by mentioning brands at first. I appreciate the feedback. What I am considering right now in lathes is something in the size range of a Myford Super 7 - the shortbed model. It looks pretty good feature-wise and should be big enough to do stuff I want, yet small enough to fit on a relatively small bench. I also looked at the Levin and Derbyshire lathes. Primo quality but a bit small. As for the mill, I am considering the Cowells mini mill for right now. It looks to be a pretty stout unit for its size, well made, and plenty accurate for my needs. I had looked at the Sherlines and the Taig. They both have a good following. Myford also makes a mill, but I haven't seen any data sheets on it yet. I looked briefly at the Prazi machines. Plastic gearing in those turned me off real quick. They do look pretty good and would be plenty accurate for me, but the plastic kinda scares me! Guess the older I get the more hard headed I get. I would love to find one of the FW Derbyshire mini mills, but I am in dreamland there. Those never show up on the used market. Last edited by slickpuppy; December 1, 2001 at 07:04 AM.