Lathe Upgrade

[DazzaParticipant @dazza]

Hi I'm new here. I'm thinking of a lathe upgrade. I currently have a Warco WM250V which is a variable speed lathe. I'm thinking of upgrading to a gear head lathe and was wondering what you would suggest as a suitable model from either Warco / Chester etc.

I'm an electronics engineer by trade, but I also repair large industrial pumps in work. I used to have access to several large engineering lathes before the boss sold off our engineering section a few years ago. All of my work machining is now outsourced to a local machine shop and I have no longer got access to the larger machines I once did.

My boss says I can purchase a lathe through work and I have been offered either an Excel TH3309D or a Baileigh Industrial PL-1340E lathe from one of our old tooling suppliers.

The WM250V has enough swing for everything I currently do but I could do with a bit longer bed. The above industrial lathes an pretty big and heavy and perhaps a bit overkill for my 16 x 8 foot shed. I was wondering if anyone had any experience of either makes? I think the Excel TH3309D is a new model and I cannot find much information it on the web. Perhaps someone could recommend a model of lathe with a similar swing to the WM250V but with a longer bed.

Kind regards,

Darren

[DazzaParticipant @dazza]

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

Hi Darren,

A gear head lathe will give you lots of torque when turning large diameter work at low speed. The Warco GH1330 is one option, the Chester Craftsman is slightly smaller and cheaper and doesn't have a Camlock spindle nose. You should think about how big work you intend to turn and how much space you have in your shed. I have a lathe similar to the Warco 290V lathe, but with belt drive from motor to a countershaft and then to the mandrel, so I get a fair amount of torque at the lowest setting. I have a 3-phase motor and inverter on the lathe, it was the biggest my friends managed to get into my tiny basement workshop.

This topic pops up often, a few links:

***Link***

***Link***

***Link***

Thor

[Gordon TarlingParticipant @gordontarling37126]

Bear in mind that any machine labelled as 'industrial' will require a 3 phase supply. It'll also be very heavy, so may well be tricky to get into your 16 x 8 shed. Sorry, but can't recommend a suitable lathe, as most of my work is at the smaller end of things.

[Russ BParticipant @russb]

I assumed both Excel and Baileigh Industrial were mostly just selling the same sort of far eastern machines as everyone else.

I've seen equipment from them and Warco identical to my own Axminster kit, just with their own stickers and colours, everything else seemed identical.

[Russ BParticipant @russb]

I have a Chester Craftsman going spare, I keep saying I'm going to sell it, and I never get round to it

– Tool Hoarder!

[DazzaParticipant @dazza]

Thanks for the fast replies. I think most of these lathes are built in either China or Taiwan with slightly different colour schemes or minor differences. I've just had a look at the Warco GH1330. It looks like a nice machine. Does anyone here have one who could give their opinion on how it runs? Especially the compound and compound swivel. I had allot of chatter caused by the compound on my WM250V so I ended up making a solid tool post block but that makes threading difficult. Has anyone got a photo of the compound on the GH1330? Is it done the same way as the WM250V with just 2 bolts? Also I thread mostly metric threads. Do you still have to use change gears for the different metric thread pitches?

Again thank you for the fast responses and information.

Darren

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

I have a Taiwan built Excel badged 14"x40" lathe loosely based on a Harrison M300, 20 years old now and mine for around 6 years. Good points it is still accurate and reasonably quiet. When I bought it ticked all the boxes for size/capacity/spindle bore (40mm) and came with good Pratt Burnerd 3 and 4 jaw chucks a faceplate and both steadies along with a Dickson quick change tool post and Newall readout. Downside it is like many modern lathes with the spiral spring type of cover over the lead screw getting close to the faceplate requires more tool overhang than I would like. I think the cross slide was it's weak point with the dovetail vee's not being very wide for stability and no tee slots. I have cured most of the shortcomings of the slide by making a new beefed up one and added tee slots for a rear tool post. I also made a new cross slide lead screw and nut from a standard length of trapisoidal lead screw It is three horsepower three phase running from a Transwave static inverter. To sum up not an industrial quality machine for 8 or 10 hours a day but more than good enough for my use. Half the price of a knackered Colchester Student and similar size, it cost me around £1000.

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Hi Dazza, I've had a Warco GH1330 for almost 10 years now. It has been completely reliable. I have replaced the single phase motor with a 3 phase + inverter/VFD setup which in my opinion has significantly improved the machine. The compound is fixed with 2 bolts, I have done a fair bit of screw cutting, some fairly coarse heavy duty threads as well as machining the worms for the steering gear on a couple of large scale traction engines and chatter has never been an issue. I agree with you on the issues with the top slide on the WM250V (my other lathe). The GH1330 is a different and much more substantial beast altogether.

Mine is an imperial machine and so there is a fair bit of wheel changing required for metric threads, this would still be required on a metric machine but I think (but cannot be certain) that this would be to a lesser degree.

I will post a picture of the compound tomorrow when I get out in the workshop.

[DazzaParticipant @dazza]

Thanks for the kind offer of a photo of the compound Graeme W. I was also looking at the GH1236 on Warco's website. It looks maybe more what I'm looking for. I don't really need the larger swing than my WM250V. It's the longer bed length I want. Does anyone know if the GH1236 is built as solidly as the larger GH1330? They look similar in the brochure and the GH1330 is only 60 Kgs heavier.

I've spent weeks scouring the web trying to pick a new lathe. It's so hard to make ones mind up.

[Author]

Posts