Mike B.,in your opinion, what lathe would do what needs to be done and how much to set up? (a conservative estimate, please mvm

The import lathes in the $3000 bracket are not bad buys at all from what I have seen.

And since South Bend is out of business, I don't think there are many, if any, lower priced US lathes being made.

At the time I got my 14x40 South Bend, the next step up was about another $8K more.

One thing you want to make sure of is being able to stuff the barrel through the headstock. Thus you want a spindle bore over an inch in diameter. 1 1/4" or larger would be good, but even 1 1/16th would work and let you include doing 1" diameter Encore barrels.

You can pick up older lathes for about $1k plus. The Logan lathes are reputed to be considered the "gunsmith's lathe," I understand.

The smaller Atlas, Clausing, and South Bend lathes with small spindle bores present a problem, one Tim and I kicked around while he was here. Brainstorming, I think we came up with a design for a holder that would permit doing chamber work in the steady rest in a manner similar to what most do when chambering bolt action rifle barrels.

I have a "spider" I use for chambering the old Contender barrels with the soldered on front sights that won't fit into my spindle. There are ways to work around not being able to stuff the barrel through the headstock.

You do not have to spend a fortune to get going. Once you get started, you will find plenty of places to put tooling $$, but don't overdo it. Let it pay for itself as much as possible.

Another consideration is equipment set up for 3 phase power, which very much limits the market to people with 3 phase power, or those astute enough to use a phase converter. Ie., at an auction, lets say, 3 phase equipment is not likely to be bid on by folks with common single phase power. Point being, don't let the 3 phase power requirement slow you down. You can buy a phase converter, static or rotary type, or simply get another 3 phase motor of equal or larger horsepower, "star wound" not delta wound, and use it for a generator. You run the motor on two sets of fields energized by the two 110 volt legs coming from your breaker panel, and the spinning motor generates the third leg with its third set of fields. You tie all three into the motor you want to run, ie., the two 110 volt legs to two sets of wires from the motor to be run, and the third leg (ghost leg) from the motor used as a generator.

In short, if you have two 3 phase motors and 220 volt power from your breaker panel, you can run them.

You should mechanically start the generator motor spinning before throwing the power to it. Or, if you are more of an electrician than I am, you can use a bank of capacitors to give it a kick to get it started, then with a relay, switch those capacitors off and run on either straight line current or line current through a bank of "run" capacitors. I have done it both ways. Both work. You lose some hp as opposed to true 3 phase power from the power company, but with the light service involved in chamber work, you would never know it.

Trouble is, the power companies usually want at least $3k to run 3 phase power in. A second motor is a whole lot less $$.

Oh.... if you don't have an air compressor, you will want one, though you can work without one to blow chips out.

Add a few basic lathe cutting bits, and you can at least start cutting chambers. The capital expense does not have to be that great, but you can of course go from mild to wild if you want to.

Mike

You might snoop around the local high school or vocational school shops to see if they have any lathes to sell.

They may be abused a bit, but once levelled and set up should be adequate for chamber work.

There is an addage that anyone can run a new machine, but it takes a machinist to run an old one. Meaning, you may have to take additional steps with an old machine to put it in order, but it may be well worth it for what is expected of it.

Mike

Mike, thanks for the reply. I was an automotive machinist for a # of years, align boring blocks and grinding cranks on old machines so I know what you mean about set-up. I think I'm going to concentrate on a single phase unit. I'll start trying to do my homework. thanks again. mvm

Pshooter,

I've been in the market for a lathe for several years, and have done alot of research.

You could spend your lifetime looking for that nice reasonably priced used machine, and never find it, or worse yet, drop $2k on a machine that needs $3k to re-build it.

The import 12X36 and 13-40 lathes run $2-3k, and while not ideal, are capable of good work once set up accurately. Grizzly is a good outfit to deal with, and their quality is fair. I've had bad experiences with Enco as a company, and Harbor Freight is pretty cheesy. Jet is a good company, but they seem to charge alot more for there machines, while being essentially the same as all the other others sell, just that theirs are white vs green for grizzly and blue for enco.

Depending on what tools you have, you could easily spend another $2k. The key is knowing when the import tools are a good buy, and when they are cheap junk. I don't like import cutting tools, their metrology stuff can be fair, and their tooling is usually servicable and a good deal.

A good lathe is a good investment, but many who would get into chambering barrels need to rely on the income and don't have a lot of $$ to put into it.

My idea is to not overspend getting set up, then let your equipment pay for itself and finance a better machine down the road.

Lathes can be like TC barrels. You can always find a "need" for another one!

The larger Harbor Freight mill/drills look like they might have some substance to them, but I agree that much of their machinery looks like it lacketh. But then again, properly set up, they would probably produce chambers just as good as a $30K machine.

Single phase power is the easiest way to go, of course, but often 3 phase equipment goes cheap, making it well worth while rigging up a phase converter.

Mike

I looked at Grizzly's web site and think an adequate machine from them would indeed be in the 2k range. It has a gear drive head ,a 1 7/16 headstock through-hole, and a 24" working length. To me these specs would work. If I'm wrong, please advise me. Thanks again for your time. mvm

Sounds great.

There is no reason why you should not be able to do excellent chamber work on even an inexpensive lathe.

It depends largely on levelling the lathe so the bed is not twisted and then centering the tailstock with the axis of the headstock, for which there are various techniques to test the accuracy of the alignment.

For levelling, you need an extremely precise machinist's level. I use a 12" Starrett that sells for just over $100, which I would loan out with a sufficient deposit and a few $$ for handling and shipping it.

Brownell's sells tailstock centering "buttons" that work pretty well.... which I have out on loan right now.

Had to chuckle at a neighbor up the road who recently got a lathe and mill. He could not get over how sensitive the Starrett level is. (He borrowed mine.) But you have to remember that any twist of the bed of the lathe moves the tailstock out of alignment with the axis of headstock, so it has to be well centered and the "ways" on the lathe kept parallel, ie., no twist in them.

Back to basics.... whether it is a cheap lathe or an expensive one, the results you get are still very dependent on how you set it up.

Let's keep that Grizzley machine in mind for others.

Mike

I would highly recomend spending the extra $100 for the 36" length lathe, and would also suggest looking at the 12X37 belt drive lathe. From what I've heard, the belt drive machine is made a little bit better then the 12" gear drive models. Yes, it would be nice to have the quick change of a gear drive, and the D1-4 spindle, but consider the quality of the machine as well.

If you ever consider making rifle barrels, you'll really want a 36-40" lathe.

Thanks guys. Mike B. I've used the Starret before setting Berco align boring machines and dry broach machines and can also attest to its accuracy. My question about the belt drive, does it promote less tool chatter than a gear drive? The quick speed change Isn't that much a deal to me. Now about rifles...who needs them BABY STEPS!!! I currently have my shop setup for woodworking so the compressors, I have. I saw about reamers to rent, good idea? I don't need another hobbie, so I have to figure out how to make this pay for itself. Insurance...FFL...so many questions mvm

No FFL required to work on barrels alone. The only time the FFL is required is when the serial numbered part is involved.

By BATF definition, it is the serial numbered part that is "the firearm."

So you can do anything you want with just barrels.

I'll second the motion for a 40" lathe for rifle barrel work. There have been times when I needed every bit of the work area I have between centers. But most of the time a 36" would be just fine.

Mike

Mike B., would you mind if I called you with a few questions? If not, my email add. is mvmprod2@netzero.com. If you send me your # I promise to be respectful of your time.
Mike McKibben