New lathe upgrade… dillema

[Nitai LeviParticipant @nitailevi73768]

[Nitai LeviParticipant @nitailevi73768]

Hi

I found this great forum and hope maybe someone would have suggestions to my growing confusion… sorry if it's a bit long…

I want to upgrade my lathe. I repair musical instruments and I have a Sherline (long bed) lathe for a few years (it's very small). I want to get a larger lathe. I considered and found a few options.

I need to work on approx 30cm long instrument comfortable so I need at least 40cm between centers. Pretty much any lathe at that size (except the Sherline) has enough "swing" so that's not the problem (I don't really work on very large diameter parts).
However, although I don't do this often, it would be nice to be able to mount bass clarinet upper joints, which are almsot 40cm long. So 50cm+ and maybe 55cm-60cm distance is a nice bonus.
The only thing I wouldn't be able to do is mount low C bass clarinet lower joints which are about 60cm. I don't have the space for a lathe this big anyway.

So I found a few lathes that I'm consdering…

1) Chinese Sieg SC3. This will allow me to do almost everything I need for a relatively low price (though it's not cheap here… around US$1,550 and I have to buy locally).
This means that if I ever move to a larger space and get a bigger lathe I didn't spend too much now. I would keep it right next to me while I'd have to get up for a significantly larger lathe anyway.
The downside is that I don't want to spend many hours setting up the lathe to get good (or maybe not even that good) accuraccy…
Also, if I do ever get a signfiicantly larger lathe, I might prefer a tiny Sherline next to me and not this Chinese one taking much more space.

2) Proxxon PD400. It seemed really well made and accurate when I tried it. It's not cheap at all (around US$3,700 here) so if I'm spending that much, I might as well get something with less compromises, like a little longer center distance and other features I prefer…
the advantage is good quality and a couple of nice dealers who stock accessories.

3) Wabeco D6000. I really like this lathe. I think it doesn't require physical belt change (like the Proxxon) to change speed which I definitely prefer. 60cm between centers is excellent.
If I buy this lathe and invest this much I probably won't be upgrading to a larger lathe. The only thing I won't be able to do is mount low C bass clarinet lower joints but it's possible that I won't ever need to and if I ever do, it's so rare that I'm willing to give that up.
This lathe is trickier to get to my second floor apartment (with no elevator) and I will also need to lengthen my bench for it to fit which is another small project. OTOH my impression is it has pretty much all I want.
Another thing is to the right of the lathe there is a work area with a chair and computer, so it will probably be a bit more cumbersome to sit and get out since the lathe will be so long.

4) I also found Klippfeld lathes. There are no dealers here so I guess I'd need to order directly from them. I just noticed that any model with longer center distance than 35cm is too big for me… but the price is better than Wabeco.
I'm not sure how they compare in quality but if it really is 130cm long that's out of the question anyway.

5) I was really hoping to find a good used lathe locally, but unfortunately the few that are available are just huge (usually 1m center distance or more).

I'm asking in the beginner's forum because eventhough I've been working with the Sherline for years, I don't really have any experience with a "real" lathe.

As far as what I'm doing, mainly making small screws (using dies), mounting clarinets and possibly bass clarinets, making plastic and wood "tone holes" (a clarinet part), making brass parts and tools, occasionally making a steel tool (tools are things I'm making instead of buying to repair instruments). I will need to do threading on the lathe too (but probably never left threads).

Basically it comes down to whether it's worth the hassle and expense to get the Wabeco. The more I look into it the harder it is to decide. I was almost sure I wanted the Proxxon until I saw it and read more about it. I almost bought a Sieg lathe but then (total coincidence) I found Wabeco and Klippfeld.

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

Thank you

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

Hi Nitai,

welcome to the forum. The Wabeco lathe is expensive and a precision machine. It is also larger than the Sieg SC3 or the Proxxon PD 400. In my experience a bigger and heavier lathe is able to take heavier cuts and will handle larger jobs. I have a small lathe but ended up buying another larger lathe. If you can afford the Wabeco you will get a very good lathe that probably will last longer than you.

Thor

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Unles you intend working on the bell end of a tuba it sounds like you have no need of large diameter. You might think of working out how you can make and align an extension to the bed of the current lathe.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

FWIW the local woodwind shop has a Myford ML7 they use for making bits to repair instruments. That's a 3.5 swing by 20 inch btc lathe I think.

[Nitai LeviParticipant @nitailevi73768]

Thanks very much for your replies.

I think I ruled out the Proxxon since it costs a lot for such a compromise.

Adding the height extensions on the Sherline will solve part of the diameter issue but not the many other issues (like working with the compound, not solid enough, small spindle bore, etc.).

So it's really a question of either not compromising with something like the Wabeco and the cost and hassle that will come with it, or a much cheaper and compormised Sieg lathe now, possibly upgrading later (which will cost more in the end, but a lot less now).

I read a lot of other forum posts and I see in the UK there are places like Warco, who claims to even check every lathe that is sold and prices are good. It is a service I can only dream about here. Places here usually act as if they are doing you a favour for even selling you something. But for costs and warrenty issue, I won't order a Chinese lathe from abroad.
A larger Chinese lathe is also not a great option because cost is getting close (approx 60% of a Wabeco) and worse specs.

Thanks again

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