Search Results for 'arc euro'

[Taf_PembsParticipant @taf_pembs]

As I said in the last post of the original thread, all was good until I tried to use my insert tooling, primarily the 5 flute 50mm shell mill (from Arc Euro and is a decent enough cutter).

The max depth of cut I could get away with cleanly in mild steel was just shy of 0.2mm and this had to be run at max rpm (aprox 1600). Anything slower or any deeper resulted in the most horrific noises from the gear head, incredibly poor surface finish – more like the Preseli mountains than milled steel and obviously very poor insert life and the cutter speed was obviously varying, it was clearly visible – gear train chatter I presume (unless the motor was ‘slipping’!).

Running regular end mills was no problem and I’d done a fair bit of chewing metal with them, all sorts of sizes from 4mm to 12mm, roughing, corner radius, ball end etc all ran beautifully and the machine was ruining lovely.

The problem with column mills being the rigidity of the column and the very large gear head weight hanging off the front of them.

The way the gear head fixes to the column also creates problems as depending on how tight you nib the gib on the column, it will give a different (all be it very small) angle in the Y axis of the cutter face. I marked the gib locks to so as to always nip them to the same point as a very slight change in gib pressure will result in a line you can feel (either cutting more at the back edge of the cutter of less) when using an end mill to cover a flat face on the work piece. Not much I can do about that other than keep locking the gib to the same reference marks.

Column rigidity – how bad? Well, with an indicator mounted in the spindle and zeroed on the table, all gibs locked, it didn’t take much pressure at all on the top of the column pushing backwards to move the indicator 0.1mm. Tool push off from the shell mill was obviously bouncing the whole thing significantly.

Was it my fault in the way I used the SKC Resin Machine bonding Epoxy to mount and tram the column?

Was there something else, something loose?

Time to get measuring.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

The construction of the work light precludes easy fixes like clip-on ferrites. Some disassembly required.

I also placed a order (60% off) on Arc Euro last night. This morning I realised that I had nissed off one die. Postage is £5 so I topped off with a “few” cobalt drills…….

Robert.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Get them while you still can

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

ARC still come up on Web Archive if anyone wants to look back at older content like inserts

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

If Arc Euro can no longer sup[ply, JB Cutting Tools have taken a lot of the cutting tools from Syston

Howard

[Peter Cook 6Participant @petercook6]

Looking up those inserts suggests they are primarily designed for grooving, so the cutting edge is square to the lathe axis. ARCEurotrade’s website shows parting off with those inserts with what appears to be a slight angle to make the RH corner of the insert do the main work.

On my micro lathe, the parting tool is ground with an angled tip as Nealeb suggests.

[Mark EasingwoodParticipant @markeasingwood33578]

Do you mean, “Milling for Beginners”, by Jason Balamy of this Parish?

It was being sold by Arc Euro Trade, not sure if it still is ‘tho.

Might be on Amazon or similar???

 

During discussions regarding the Headstock spindle thread form, some concerns were expressed by members regarding the difficulties of employing 1″ Taps.

I promised to elaborate on my recent experiences

EW Stringer Lathe Spindle Thread

First task was to choose which material to use:
Traditionally back plates are fabricated from Cast Iron.
Mild Steel Round Bar or Cast Iron Bar Grade 250 are perhaps the most obvious choices.
Both are easily sourced in 65mm diameter and costs are very similar.
I chose to use 65mm Bright Mild Steel Round Bar 080A15/EN3A
Of all the mild steels available this grade has the most suitable properties for our application (in my opinion). However, a cast iron version will probably be my next project and may well turn out in the end to be a better choice of material?

I preferred to rough turn the backplate blank and finish bore to tapping diameter which gives better control of diameter rather than purchase a special tapping size drill.
My stock drill is a 14mm MT1 taper shank for direct mounting in the EW tailstock.
This is the max diameter drill available in MT1 taper shank form (Tracy Tools) and allows entry of a 10mm Boring Bar + CCMT060204 Tip (arceurotrade 060-325-39510) to bore to finished size.

The 1″ diameter is obviously tough going so I had previously purchased a full set of 3 taps: Taper, Second and final Plug all in HSS (Tracy Tools). They came with a centre drilled square drive end which is essential for proper alignment.

My heavy duty SCT Tap Wrench for Taps 1/4 – 1 1/8 inch (SKU: 12102004) was supplied by Mark at Chronos Ltd. (thoroughly recommended):
The fixed handle is screwed & can be removed for storage in it’s box but also enables use in the lathe when tapping a bored component. It allows a tailstock centre to engage with ease and there is enough space to reposition the wrench as the work progresses.
This is where great patience is required as progress is very slow. Only very small cuts are best (max of 15-20deg of handle rotation) and then back off to clear the cut swarf. Advancing/retracting the tailstock feed to maintain centre engagement.

In conclusion, as stated in my previous post:

EW Stringer Lathe Spindle Thread

“Have no fear, tapping a 1″ thread should never require brute strength”…

I hope this additional information is of use to EW owners who may like me have felt unsure of how to proceed.

Andre

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

Can the existing spigot not be removed ? And then a replacement made or the new supplied one modified?

I had to do this to fit the Arceurotrade one to my Warco lathe.

I think the original spigot was push fit from below and I removed it and made a bush to fit the hole and spigot from the new QCTP.

Stuart

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

The limited range of holders and inserts sold by ArcEuro are of suitable size and shape for machines that aren’t industrially rigid, speedy or powerful.   A newcomer won’t go far wrong with them!

A trick! The sharp uncoated inserts industry run flat-out on non-ferrous metals work well on steel at our slower cut rates. The “Sumitomo CCGT 060204 NAG-H1 Carbide Insert (Non-Ferrous)” is an example.   Try it.

Carbide inserts have many advantages over HSS in industry.  Carbide can be run much hotter than HSS, and is able to remove metal five to ten times faster.  They are also precision matched to optimise cutting – shaped to suit particular alloys, finish, with and without chip breakers and other refinements.  Unfortunately, not only does this makes them difficult to understand and buy, but many inserts are unsuitable in our context!  Industry have production engineers, specialist apps and consultancy : amateurs have to play join the dots, and are liable to buy unsuitable ‘bargains’ off the web!.  (Such as the disposable inserts made with low carbide content to suit certain industrial processes and are easily broken if applied incorrectly.)

Don’t dismiss HSS out of hand, advantages include:

• can be resharpened many times (not necessarily cheap – needs a grinder and skills!)
• well-suited to small machine speeds, especially older models
• easier to produce a good finish.  (Less of a problem on a lathe with full electronic speed control because RPM is easily tweaked for best results.  Carbide may not work well at any of the fixed speeds available on a belt driven lathe.)
• can be shaped into form tools – very valuable when needed!

Don’t jump too quickly to conclusions!  That carbide boring tools worked well may have been more luck than judgement!   Be prepared to change if a tool doesn’t perform acceptably.   There’s a lot to learn.  What works best for you will emerge over the next few years.

Dave

[derek hall 1Participant @derekhall1]

I recently bought a new 100mm 3 jaw chuck with reverse jaw set included from Arc EuroTrade. Looks a quality chuck to me, very smooth in operation and a million miles better than my old one. All I needed was to make a back plate for it.

I thought the chuck was a bargin at 30% off, it will do for me. It is possible to get obsessed with equipment old or new with a “name”. Just gets in the way of actually making stuff with tools. Although I do understand a poor quality piece of kit or tool can be frustrating to use, but everything I bought from Arc was perfect for my use, just a terrible shame they are closing…

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Keeping it simple, I’ve found Arc Euro to be a good source of mid-range sensibly priced tools.   This, I think, because Ketan has a good understanding of how much hobbyists are prepared to pay and what hobbyists mean by ‘quality’.  He’s been to China to discuss our needs with manufacturers and probably endeavoured to build meaningful relationships : partnering, not just ordering stuff.   This contrasts sharply with the box-shifters found on ebay and aliexpress etc.  They usually buy and sell cheap without understanding the products. How well-made an item from them is varies, anything from genuine bargain to cheap and nasty.   The box-shifters name does not guarantee quality!   Fairly low risk though, because UK bought lemons can usually be returned.   Buying direct from abroad is delightfully cheap, but high-risk if the purchase goes wrong.

Get in quick though because Arc Euro are closing down, unless a buyer is found.   I’m sure other UK vendors build relationships too, it’s just that Ketan is top of the class.  My chucks came from Warco and RDG, no complaints!

I hope Steve won’t mind if I pick his post apart as an example of a poorly expressed requirement.   Not cos Steve is a bad boy, but because I believe engineers should strive to do better, including how we target our spending.

Reading between the lines, Steve wants:

1. a 3-jaw chuck with both internal and external jaws  (easily ordered, but, just in case, check the existing jaws aren’t the reversible type.  Are the teeth curved to fit a scroll, or not?)
2. a 4-jaw chuck that ‘seems less slack in the slides’ than the one he has  (could be unusually loose, or normal)
3. a 4-jaw that doesn’t take a lot of time to dial in.  (Is the problem insufficient practice, using two keys.  There’s a knack to it.)
4. both new chucks to be ‘better quality’ (Compared with what?  In engineering, the word ‘quality’ is meaningless without a specification)
5. ‘Nothing outrageously expensive please’ (Don’t be coy, what’s the budget!)
6. a known brand-name (May not be necessary and brand names are a minefield!  I suggest the vendor is more important.)
7. to pick up at the ME Show in October (May be an unhelpful restriction)

It’s a tough list, and has a few meaningless words like ‘seems less’, ‘quality’, ‘lot of time’, ‘outrageously’ and ‘expensive’.

I can’t tell whether or not Steve has particularly bad chucks.  Before rushing to replace better to measure them, especially the run-out, and to explain how they underperform?  What he has being too cheap is possible but so is the risk of wasting good money by ordering expensive replacements only to find they aren’t any better!

Is the idea of buying at the ME Show to haggle the price down?  Not impossible, but don’t rely on it.   Shows aren’t what they were, and if vendors turn up at all, it’s with a limited range of gear to be sold profitably!  Also, best not to constrain purchases to a particular location unnecessarily, because that eliminates alternatives.  I’ve given up buying new tools at shows: quicker and easier to buy online, and consumer protection is much stronger.  Eyeballing and buying items in person at a show transfers a lot of responsibility to the buyer.

Brand names are unreliable, at least in the low to mid-price range.   Bison, Pratt-Bernerd and other top-end brands are at least 4 times as expensive as a hobby chuck, sometimes much more.   Vertex are slightly more affordable, but beyond my budget.   Two of my chucks are labelled HBM, the others unmarked.  Despite a slightly gritty clunky feel, they work well enough and 3-jaw run-out measured 50mm away from the jaws is better than 0.03mm.

I don’t think my limited experience of HBM is sufficient to guarantee the brand!  In statistics, at least a 1000 samples are needed before results are meaningful, and not always then…

Steve asks a really good question:  “I have looked at the Vertex chucks, for instance and they are double the cost of many I have looked at, but are they twice as good?”   The answer is probably no, though much depends on the requirement.  Are you a genteel hobbyist or a cut-throat business?   A few examples:

• As a general rule, the cost of improving performance above average rises exponentially.  A top-end lathe chuck that meets tough industrial requirements costs several times as much as a chuck sufficiently well-made to meet my hobby requirements.  I don’t need a chuck that meets industrial requirements, others might.
• When time is money, smooth tools that reduce set-up time soon pay their way.   Also easier to use, and pride of ownership may be a factor.
• It’s a myth that good work can only be done with the best tools.   But they make it more pleasurable.  How much are you prepared to pay for pleasure?
• Looking at the specification of top-end ER collet chucks often reveals they’re rated to run faster than 20,000rpm, essential on an industrial machine centre.  Paying extra to fit one on a milling machine with a top speed of 2500rpm is foolish.  Similarly, cast-steel lathe chucks can be spun faster than cheaper types, but the capability is a waste of money on most hobby machines.
• Better often means more robust.   An industrial chuck might be thrashed round the clock for 3 years and then replaced.  Little point in a home-worker spending extra on industrial robustness, when a lightly loaded ordinary chuck lasts decades.  The extra rigidity allows heavier cuts, but rigidity is limited by the lathe.  No point in paying extra for rigidity unless the machine can cope too.

Many new Model Engineers are keen to buy only the best until they see the prices!  Those who insist on the best are much more likely to buy second-hand than new, but that’s a gamble.   How good or bad a pre-loved item is depends on it’s history, not the brand-name or how wonderful it was when new.  Brand names do not guarantee condition.

My views are based on a long career in and around procurement.   Been trained!   Engineers have a reputation for wanting their employer to buy the best equipment, often arguing subjectively about quality and how may years the gear will last.   Becoming  budget holder sharpened my ideas up considerably!  I soon learned to insist on business cases that made financial sense. Basically,  separate needs from wants, because wants are wasteful.   This being a hobby though, we can buy whatever we want, but recommend focusing on needs first.   Saving money is vital when one is on a budget, and there are many things to spend money on.  When a metre of 50mm diameter Brass Rod costs £365 I’d rather buy metal than unnecessary tooling!

🙁

Dave

 

 

 

 

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

John

As you say, those connectors are unusual for dro scales. I suppose no matter what you do, you will have to do some testing to identify the ground and 5v pins. The other two pins will be the A and B signal pins. If I understand correctly, these will be a square wave signal offset by 90degrees.

This is a link to a page on the TouchDRO website explaining the connections:

https://www.touchdro.com/resources/scales/glass/glass-scale-pinout.html

You should be able to make adaptors for a Ditron or other readout with this information.

I made my two TouchDRO adapters a few years ago using an Arduino on veroboard. For the first one, I used cheap digital calipers. For the second one I had bought some scales with individual readouts from Arceurotrade but found the display too small, so made an adapter to use TouchDRO and a very cheap Android tablet.

Looking at the TouchDRO website now, you can buy a ready built unit or diy kit or build your own from scratch.

I suppose it depends how much you want to spend!

Stuart

I haven’t seen a chuck like this before and I believe it to be a ToolMakers apprentice piece as it has no markings, lacks a bit on dimensional accuracy but could still be useful.

I picked it up for 1 euro, so hardly anything lost!

First thing I needed was a 6mm square female ended chuck key and after a few searches drew a blank, so I silver soldered a 1/4″ socket onto the end of a piece of bar and away we went. – well, 1/4″ approx 6mm and OK for my needs.

Next the mounting thread was 14mm x 2.0mm and my little wood lathe is 3/4″ x 16tpi UNF. Using my new (to me) ELS, I made a dummy male plug 3/4″ x 16 to suit the lathe and got it to fit existing chuck and faceplate. Back to the chuck, mounted that on my Boxford and screwcut to fit the dummy plug.

The feature of this chuck is that by slackening the nuts on the back of the chuck, the jaw(s) can be rotated from inside to outside jaws – that’s a neat time saving feature. manufacturing oddities are that the screws that move the jaws in/out are Right hand threads, so you “undo” them to move the jaws in and that the radial alignment of the jaw relies on them sliding in a 1mm deep slot.

[Bryan Cedar 1]

On Bryan Cedar 1 Said:

Happy retirement Katan

I have been impressed with  your help in the past  and wonder if a Seig  distributor will be appointed as I feel lost without knowing Arc Euro would be there if needing support for my 3.5 DZP mill..

Bryan Southampton

Hi Bryan,

The answer at present with reference to spares is as mentioned to James Hall above. With reference to use of machine, especially after we are gone, I guess you will be more dependent on asking questions on the forum, in the same way as everyone does for any other machines. There are plenty of users here and around the world with SIEG family of brushless machines.

Thanks,

Ketan at ARC

[James Hall 3]

On James Hall 3 Said:

Well, best wishes for your retirement Ketan.
Arc has been my goto supplier ever since buying my SC4 – prices are always good, quality can be depended upon, and helpful advice is always just a phone call away – you will be much missed.
I note that there has been some discussion concerning Sieg machine spares: a continuing supply may be to some extent contingent on sales of machines continuing – are there any plans for the continuation of the Sieg franchise by others (that is as Sieg as opposed to the ‘other-branded’ machines sold by others e.g., Axminster)?.

 

It depends… When we started selling SIEG machines in their original brand – around 2004, very few people were aware of it. They knew it as one of Micro-Mark, Grizzly, Harbor Freight, Clarke, Chester, Warco machines. (Chester now carries a limited range of SIEG made machines and Warco stopped selling SIEG machines around 15~18 years ago.).

Back then around 2004, Little Machine Shop (LMS) in the U.S. only had an agreement to sell spares for SIEG, and Frank Hoose did demos of SIEG mills and lathes on YT. SIEG didn’t want to rock the marketing boat with their existing customers, and ‘SIEG’ wasn’t really used as a marketing brand. ARC came on the seen and acted as a go between to get an agreement in place between LMS and SIEG to sell SIEG machines (be it as an LMS brand), and forming a closer relationship between SIEG and Frank Hoose to demo SIEG branded machines on YT. Once Axminster came on seen, they were encouraged to sell Axminster machines as Axminster-SIEG, as we ‘ARC’ had already established the SIEG name as a well known brand, by the marketing efforts made by us – directly and indirectly, via articles in MEW and YT with a lot of assistance from people like John Stevenson, David Fenner, David Clark, Neil Wyatt, Jason Ballamy, to name a few.

Today, SIEG is a well known brand around the world. Whilst I am trying my best to get someone appointed in the U.K. to continue the journey, if I fail, the availability of machines still continues through Axminster, Clarke, Draper in the U.K., with spares available through them, or other suppliers around the world with a bigger spares range, namely Little Machine Shop – now headed by Scott Mencken assisted by Chris Wood, and Ausee.com.au . Steven Tao of Ausee.com.au has been trained by ARC a while back, before he started Ausee.com.au. Outside of the U.K., both of these companies have a very close and strong working relationship with SIEG. Within Europe, there is sieg-machines.de and others who also sell SIEG machines and spares, with variable level of knowledge. As mentioned before, if anyone wishes to continue selling SIEG machines (or just the spares as a side business), they are welcome to contact me directly to discuss.

Ketan at ARC

[Bryan Cedar 1Participant @bryancedar1]

Happy retirement Katan

I have been impressed with  your help in the past  and wonder if a Seig  distributor will be appointed as I feel lost without knowing Arc Euro would be there if needing support for my 3.5 DZP mill..

Bryan Southampton

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Very nice cardboard box. Maybe it is empty!

When mentioning less common machines please provide a link to identify the item for those of us who don’t have one. so https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machines-Accessories/Milling-Machines/SIEG-SX3-5-Mill/SIEG-SX35ZP-HiTorque-Mill
I also found a video of someone who had just got one in 2022 so I wonder if he is on the forum.

[cogdobblerParticipant @cogdobbler]

I know a chap with a SIEG SX3 and he is very pleased with it. Made a 9 cylinder radial engine on it with no dramas. It seems a good machine from what I have seen and definitely worth a look. Especially if you can get one from ARC Eurotrade in “closing down sale” mode.

[IanTParticipant @iant]

I’m not entirely sure what size/type of mill you are after Richard (but as no one else has mentioned them) ARC Euro Trade still seem to have stock of the Seig SX3 showing on their website.

Although their off 30% machinery deal has now ended I believe (but it might be worth checking with them) the price currently given on the ARC website is still a good deal less than that of the WM18 and they are not so dissimilar in size. ARC are of course in the process of closing down but you may want to check them out.

Regards,

 

IanT

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Have just returned from visiting Arc Euro Trade, today.

As always the boys are prepared to go the extra mile for you.

They are doing deals on everything, and will try to find a way round anything that is now out of stock.

My pal, unexpectedly, came away with a mill!

A great loss to the hobby

Howard

Hello all.

I need to move some beefy lathe accessories into storage. An example is my 10 inch Pratt cast iron chuck weighing 20 kg. My preference is lidded plastic boxes; they can be stacked and moved individually if needed so as to make them manageable! Also being watertight will help minimise rusting.

However I’m concerned about the weight rating of such boxes. I’ve done some searching and I thought about lidded “Euro” boxes though they still seem a tad flimsy for this job.

Can anyone recommend a suitable range/brand of boxes?

Any help is gratefully received.

[Mark Hall]

On Mark Hall Said:

 

…Mark has landed on a good used British lathe, but has made the mistake of working backwards from that outcome to a suggestion that buying a used British lathe is a no-brainer inasmuch as you will automatically get a better lathe than a new Chinese alternative and buying one is never going to be any less straightforward.

… however using a Chinese lathe is akin to using a 4×4 lump of wood to hit in a 6 inch nail, it will take longer to do, its not pleasent & you will have to faff around doing it but it will get the job done, eventually ,,,

Generalisations are unhelpful.  Please name names so we can avoid these horrible lathes!

Possibly Mark was unlucky though?   I started with a mini-lathe and it did the job apart from being too small!  I swapped it for a Warco 280 which is still going strong after 10 years.  It is not, repeat not, “akin to using a 4×4 lump of wood to hit in a 6 inch nail“.  Perhaps I was lucky!

Compared with the pre-owned ex-industrial lathes I’ve played with, my WM280 is mid-range.   It performs better than worn industrial examples and not as delightfully as those in good nick.  Reason: condition matters far more than Brand or country of origin.  My WM280 is not so rough that I’ve felt the need to improve it, and it’s much more rigid than Mark believes –  heavier than a Super 7.  I confirm a new WM280 is far more pleasant to drive than a well-bashed Harrison L5A;  that said I don’t believe all L5A’s are rubbish because the one I tried was in poor condition.

A great deal of what’s said about lathes seems based on belief rather than a technical assessment that considers cost against a Use Case.  The Use Case may be vital: identify what you need and try to satisfy that within a budget.  Not smart to start in Formula 1 by buying a Vauxhall Corsa! Or to buy a F1 car to go shopping in Tescos!

My hobby Use Case is different to Mark’s:  Chinese hobby lathes meet my needs; I didn’t want to waste time hunting down a second-hand machine; the choice of size and features available off-the-shelf was helpful; and I wanted vendor support and consumer protection in the event something went wrong.  Above a certain price, I like to keep purchasing risks down by buying locally from sellers with a reputation to protect.

I suggest potential buyers should keep their needs in mind when looking at internet advice: reasons that make sense to others may not apply to them.

Amadeal and other UK suppliers provide vendor support rather than unique machines.  It’s what they do when things go wrong that matters, customer support, not how sexy the machine is.   Extreme example: I once came across an online vendor selling lathes at bargain prices, marvellous!  The devil was in the detail: in the event a dud was delivered, the purchaser had to return the tool at his cost to a depot in Germany : major hassle and money!  Nor was it clear the price included tax and import duty whilst a close look at what else was on sale revealed the seller was a box-shifter, offering no technical support whatsoever.  UK consumer protection did not apply.  Buying bargains from folk like this is much riskier than buying from Amadeal;  painful if anything goes wrong!

I don’t know how well, or not, Amadeal respond to problems because I’ve never bought from them.  No reason not too.  They aren’t criticised much and pop up here occasionally offering sensible advice.   I have an untested warm feeling about them.

ArcEuro get a consistently good press and they sorted a minor problem out for me with no fuss.  Their range of machines is  small though.

I bought all my big machines from Warco, and they replaced an expensive lost in transit item without blinking  My experience is positive.

A few years ago Chester scored several black marks on the web by not sorting problems out quickly, but that seems fixed – I’ve not noticed any complaints recently.   No personal experience.

Axminster offered an extended guarantee and ran courses, but I think they stopped.   The one item I bought from them just worked, so their customer service is untested by me.  Ditto RDG and several others.

MachineMart often have machines on display so you can see what you’re buying, except they’re pricey.  The salespersons in my local didn’t know anything about lathes, whereas I’ve had good pre and post sales advice from both ArcEuro and Warco.

Important I feel to manage expectations.  A £20k industrial machine is carefully inspected and comes with a lot of support.  Chance of a faulty machine being delivered are low, and if the worst happens the maker will be all over it. Big money involved!

Not how inexpensive hobby faults are managed!  To keep costs down lathes are lightly inspected at the factory and sold by a retailer, so there’s a somewhat higher risk machines might be faulty on delivery.   If so, it’s treated as a consumer purchase.  Contact the seller immediately, and, if the problem is serious they replace or refund.   Instead of expensively guaranteeing quality, defective hobby tools are just swapped.  A duff machine arriving is annoying, not a financial disaster.

Sorting out a faulty second-hand purchase is a different game entirely.

I get the impression the market is changing.   Ten years ago there were plenty of ex-industrial machines about, fewer now, and prices have crept up.  Myfords used to be in high-demand, over-priced in my opinion, but that seems to have changed too – more about, and people aren’t pushing prices up by chasing them aggressively.  Chinese lathes were assumed to be greatly inferior when I entered the hobby, less so now.  I think that’s because many buyers found them to be much better than the knockers believed. Far from perfect though. I expected to upgrade from Chinese to British, and it wasn’t necessary.  Buying new Chinese got what I wanted at a reasonable price and the lathe does all I need.  It’s the simplest low-risk way of entering the hobby, not necessarily the best.

Dave

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

If you look at the Arc Euro website there is a statement of run out of 0.008 mm.

The run out will be influenced by the torque (Force applied to the tapers) by the clamp nut, improving as the torque increases.

It might be worth checking that all the tapers in chuck and collet are clean, and then measure the run out with maximum torque applied to the clamp nut.

Howard

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

If it is this one then that is not really for turning. Primerily for tapping/threading but can be used for drilling and reaming where it is unlikely to get hot.

Do you have another product to recommend?