Hi JC Uknz 1,
These combined machines are still made but I do not know who manufactures them. I have seen them sold by Machine Mart, Chester UK and Warco. There are probably other suppliers.
From previous discussions on the subject most people recommend a separate mill an lathe.

Les.

I was considering one of these but found most reviews uncomplimentary as the combined nature limits both machines so it is the worst of both worlds. The mill is not rigid enough and only good for putting holes or slots in round workpieces held in the lathe chuck. And all that extra weight affects the lathe.

So I went separate instead of buying one

Concentrate your money into the lathe, perhaps enabling you to get a slightly bigger one. Using a vertical slide has always been a favourite and perfectly adequate for most modelling needs. It is just a matter of overcoming the psycological barrier of working 'sideways' and not being tempted by seemingly good ideas that aren't. Bit like people buying a soft top car in the UK.

Do yourself a favour avoid the combos had one and the round pillar will give wiplash, This is the reason they do not sell well.
Use the difference in price to get a better lathe then afterward a small mill with horizontal jibs.

Good luck and a fun new year in the workshop.
Bob

Got a friend who has one, PITA would be a polite way of describing it, but his is worth putting up with, the previous owner thought the same and vertually gave it to him. I have used the lathe(don't think anyone has used the mill), and found it not too ridgid, and for the job I was doing the 100 mm chuck too small, my own lathe has 8" chucks.

Get a lathe, its just a mill laying down. Ian S C

Whilst I have never owned, or know anyone who has owned, one, I have always thought the dual purpose machines to be very much less than ideal. The distance between the worktable and the head seems to be too great for one thing. Even the suppliers provide raising blocks to overcome this situation.

I agree with others that using a lathe with a vertical slide is a better option and see you already have these. Does the lathe have a tee slotted cross slide this. is esential?

If you would like to see examples of milling being undertaken on the lathe there are some projects on my website intended for the lathe only workshop, these will give you an idea of what is possible. The index for these is at (bottom right) **LINK**

As was mentioned by Bazyle working sideways can be a bit of a barrier but is not that difficult to accommodate. You could though, once you come to terms with using a vertical slide, consider making a milling head for the lathe such as seen here, a milling machine is not required for its manufacture. **LINK**

The following pages shows it being used for making the horizontal steam engine “Tina” and show that it is capable of some complex work. It is not quite as robust as using the lathes spindle and vertical slide but working that way can be reserved for any heavy duty tasks that surface. **LINK**

Harold Hall

hope no one is referring to this combo as a "load of garbage"

Round column ? no thanks. Been there, done that, pain in the fundament.

A lathe is a lathe and a mill is a mill, ne'er the twain shall meet unless you want to be very disappointed.

But what the f— do I know, I've only been making my living from machine tools for the last 15 years

The original query was based around the problem of not having room for separate machines. There is no doubt separate machines are better to have.

I don't like the automatic dismissal of combined machines though, my Emco lathe/mill combo was a joy to use and I wish I'd kept it (space and cash permitting!). I imagine the Warco attachment I linked to would offer similar satisfaction, but have never used it so don't know.

Similarly – I love my 1960s Bridgeport style mill, but I know many who are happy with round column mills and have produced beautiful work on them.

Regards,

Mike.

Gentlemen,

I have a combination lathe and a round column Mill/Drill and they both serve me very well. Everything has limitations as do my machines but once you learn how to use them they do what I want.

By the way my lathe is a Clarke CL500 and I make parts for restoring Petrol powered Stationary Engines, I've made some basic mods to it but it gives me no problems.

Martin P

Golmatic looks like a credible combo alternative:

**LINK**

UK dealer and prices here. Sit down before you open the price list:

**LINK**

Phil

I guess a separate lathe and mill is the best option but if you don't have the space then that's a non starter. It just means that you will need to plan you work more carefully and make allowances for the deficiencies in ridgidity etc. – there again most of us with "hobby" machines need to do that anyway! It's only fairly recently that model engineers have the luxury of milling machines and I bet the likes of LBSC managed on just a lathe and would have loved a composite machine.

Learn the limitations of your equipment and work with them – let's face it even the most basic maching facilities beat the cold chisel, hammer and file!

Regards

Norman

Edited By NJH on 03/02/2013 12:04:30