Amadeal lathes – Any good??

[Mark HallParticipant @markhall37441]

I love my boxford 380IS its s completely different lathe to a Chinese import a friend had an armadeal lathe & he sold it after using my boxford. He said he did not realise what he was missing untill he used the boxford 380IS, he now had a boxford STS. Mini lathes are good to learn on but they have far to many draw backs, are hard work & simply not up to the job, a cheaper used British lathe is x10 the quality of a import

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I suppose to some extent it depends what the job is. Certainly a Mini-lathe would not be the ideal choice for a 1/3rd scale traction engine but they are capable of making smaller models.

My own Chinese import was bought for the job of model engineering specifically stationary steam, IC, hot air, etc. 58 engines and counting suggests to me it is upto that job.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Even though I agree with you Mark you are brave putting your head above the parapet!!!

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Would also be interested to see what the 380IS looks like as I’ve not heard of that one before, only 250, 280 and 330 versions.

[Mark HallParticipant @markhall37441]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Apologies it was a typing error, I ment boxford 330IS, it has a 13″ swing & 30″ between the centers but could be a bit big for some but another one I can recommend is a boxford TH10.20 (just sold this yesterday on ebay) it’s alot smaller than the 330is but would be a better option than mini lathe & while it’s small enough it is very rigid & you won’t have any issues with parting off. I added a power feed to this with a hand controller </p>

[Mark Hall]

On Mark Hall Said:

I added a power feed to this with a hand controller </p>

How do you disengage the leadscrew/fed shaft when it is not being used? Also is it just a feed screw or or ELS that can do screwcutting etc.

At least a mini-lathe will screw cut and has power feed as standard😂

[Mark HallParticipant @markhall37441]

To use it manually yes you can disengage the power feed & and yes with the ELS it can screw cut, my point is there are better alternatives, a mini lathe reminded me of a toy the belt that drives it is extrealy thin ,I’ve owned 2 mini/import  lathes one was a clarke CL300M with 300mm between centers then being nieve & listening to recommendations i brought a import with 750mm between centers thinking because it was larger it would be more rigid , it wasnt & they were both awful to use, yes they can do what you need albeit badly & very slowly with chatter ,they are underpowered & not rigid at all but i agree they have there place because they are good to learn on, I have since sold the TH10.20 & now have it’s bigger brother the 330IS but all the x10 series are better options & can be found used for the same price as a import/mini lathe. They have a larger capacity, D1-3 spindle nose, you can take large roughing cuts of needed, there is no flex in the tool post or any of the parts ,it won’t fall apart as they don’t have plastic parts & they will last you another 40 years of daily use & you won’t have to be looking for upgrades like mini lathe owners do trying to fix there shortcomings, I waisted alot of money not to mention my time on inferior mini lathes & should of just brought the largest lathe that would fit in the space I had at the time. Buy once cry once I should of learnt. I’m in the Gloucestershire area if you want to try out a boxford 10 series lathe to see the difference , my 330IS only cost me £700. The gearbox is like new , the TH10.20 was £400 but it will cost another £120 for the ELS. You can get great deals on used lathes both mine came from sellers who inherited them & and accepted the offer I sent. The downside is there weight 300Kg-400Kg depening on model but both mine were be shipped on a standard pallet with palletline ( they have tailifts) they lathe can be removed from its base if needed to reduce the weight. All im saying is they offer a whole lot more than a mini lathe can dream of as you get more for your money.

That said even a BUD has screw cutting & will outperform a mini lathe but after using a modern boxford I sold my BUD to get the TH10.20.

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