Hi Doug,

I was in this position in 2009……wanting to make a start with no tools at all.

It's only my opinion, but you'd be best finding good used equipment (some with tooling). There are loads about. Bide your time and a great machine(s) will come along with beautiful tooling!

I think you would soon outgrow the Proxxons. I quite admire their tools, but to me they are over-priced.

Good luck.

Mike.

Smudge

It's also a matter of space. My workshop is my garage (well until next year when funds should allow a bespoke wooden workshop in the back garden) which everyone said was not ideal (moisture, rust) but it is all I have. But it did have space so I was able to buy an old lathe on a cabinet (Barker round bar bed 1947) and mill/drill (Chester Champion round column) to get me started. One advantage is the Morse Taper #3 in the mill quill and the lathe tailstock which allows for the interchanging of tools. Cost me about £350 each and then tooling must have added a further £500-£1000

I'm making tooling, not models, but these have proved robust during my learning time (smashing tools into chucks and taking too heavy cuts with endmills) to the point now where I am concentrating on accuracy and finish.

So if space permits buy the biggest you can afford

My 2p's worth

John

Could even be 'repeat forever' …

Steve W

Hi,

I agree with others about the wisdom of buying second hand. Most lathes are available and a good choice would be a Boxford AUD or similar Myford. They usually arrive with a good amount of tooling which you will need. Remember that tooling for a machine can easily cost more than the original machine itself. A good second hand one will retain it's resale value and can often be sold at a small profit if yiou need to move on. Most of this smaller machinery has been used in schools where it will have had little wear, it mostly suffers from dings and paint wear where students have made minor mistakes.

The same applies to other machines such as millers where good second hand ones are available. For example, i managed to obtain a little used milling machine, the equivalent of the Warco WM18 (here) including a stand, Coolant pump and coolant, sets of end mills and slot drills, collet chuck and collets as well as a very nice small rotary table with a set of dividing plates for way less than the cost of a new machine without tooling.

It certainly pays to look around, but take a knowledgeable friend along as well. It may be worth visiting or joining a local ME club to get a bit of advice and experience – that can save a fortune.

Best regards

Terry

Hi Smudge,

For that sort of budget, with a bit of patience (and if you have space) you could be looking at a Colchester Student / Harrison M300 lathe and a Bridgeport Mill. These would tackle pretty much everything you can throw at it, and as Terry mentioned, should you need to sell later on you would get your money back, maybe more.

Remember you can do small work on a big lathe / mill, but not the other way round.

Might be a problem getting it back to Jersey in your hand luggage though…

Good luck!

James

I bought a warco 3024YZ (type) bench mill last autumn from a friend in our club. After a lot of winding of the traverse i have just bought another machine. Harrison vetical mill with POWER traverse. Much easier. £750 and a bargain. So The Warco will be going.

My lathe is a Boxford model A as descibed above. This is a lovely machine. Not too big not too small.

As for trust: Home and workshop machinery who advertise in the model engineer are pretty genuine. Visited them when i was looking for a lathe. They certainly know how to present a second hand machine. All shiney and well oiled. They are a bit expensive, as us up north flat hat wearers and porkpie eaters are used to but the kit is good.

What ever you end up with, have fun.

Bri

Hi Doug,

Not much more I can add to the advice above but the market for second hand machines over here is (in my experience) virtually non-existant.

I bit the bullet years ago and had an Axminster 918 (identical to a warco 920 but had a myford threaded spindle). This worked fine for me to learn on and after a few years I bought a Super 7 but this was all done 'blind' so to speak. i don't think there has been a ME club over here for many years now so as you say it's not as easy as just popping down the road to have a look.

If I can help with anything at all just PM me.

Regards,

Paul (also in Jersey )