As it is a fairly new model that has only been available for a few months there is not going to be much mention of them on the net as not many people will have one.

J

When I sold my Boxford AUD not too long ago I was looking for a geared head lathe from either Warco or Chester. You cannot ignore the fact that the Chinese offer a lot of machine for not a lot of money.

My choice narrowed down to picking between the Warco 1236 model and the Chester ( more local to me ) Crusader Deluxe. Both 300mm swing plus for gap bed removal. At the time both had similar price tags and had DRO's fitted. The Crusader Deluxe is more expensive now.

I chose the Chester Crusader Deluxe, mainly because of location and which I almost bought.

In the end I finished up with a late model Harrison M300 which my local machine tool dealer ( who I had dealt with for a long time ) had just got in stock and did me a great cash deal.

My initial choices were based mainly on two factors, the gap bed removal, they had DRO fitted and decent bed length.

When you look at the GH550 spec, it seems to be really quite light at 300kgs. I Think my Boxford was more than that on its very robust cabinet. Seems too light for its capacity.

Personally if your funds would run to it and you could accomodate the size the 1236 would be my choice from the Warco stable. £700ish more gets you extra diameter and length capacity plus fitted DRO. Its also a more substantial machine and almost double the weight of the 550. I have seen both the Warco 1236 and the Crusader deluxe and they were very similar, however not actually seen the 550.

Vincent

The majority of the queries raised are answered by simply reading the WARCO Info. Dedicated feed shaft for cross and longitudinal feeds ,flage mounted Chuck etc.

When I was considering one no details were on the site , simply that it was going to be introduced . I was concered abougt the chuck mounting and so rang Warco. I got an e mail giving full details within an hour

Brian C

My whole point was that I did read the website and pdf. The feed rod is mentioned BUT the picture does not show a power cross feed selector in the standard position on the apron but does show and label a fwd/rev lever next to a rod like the normal power selector so which is it.

Ok I missed the flange mount chuck because it was nowhere near the details of the chuck. The lathe just above on the Warco site the GH1236 has 160mm and 200 mm chucks.

There appear to be knobs on the front in the position that many other cheaper lathes have a QC gearbox, but the photo is too small to see. Some of the far eastern lathes now have a compromise part metric part imperial QCGB.

Unless the op needs a bigger swing specifically and often enough to make the cost worthwhile then a newer Boxford AUD would be a better bet.