New or old what’s better?

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Stuart,

I have never used them myself; but it might be worth you contacting 'Bede Tools and Machinery'

**LINK**

http://www.bedetools.com/page4.html

… In a Global sense, Jarrow is not too far from the Scottish Borders, and they seem to have an interesting and ever-changing stocklist.

MichaelG.

[Stuart RiddellParticipant @stuartriddell45006]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 28/10/2017 08:24:45:

Stuart,

I have never used them myself; but it might be worth you contacting 'Bede Tools and Machinery'

**LINK**

http://www.bedetools.com/page4.html

… In a Global sense, Jarrow is not too far from the Scottish Borders, and they seem to have an interesting and ever-changing stocklist.

MichaelG.

Thanks Michael, I will give them a shout. It is hard to find anything up here in the wilderness but saying that a Myford lathe just came up on ebay about 5 miles from me with a starting bid of £800 but just looking at the photos has warned me off. The lack of covers over the gearing & pulleys and the somewhat suspect electrics made me shiver

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Con Murphy on 27/10/2017 15:41:42:
Well this is why I came to the people in the know for advice I mean I would rather an old jap bike over the new Chinese stuff.

Much easier to decide when you know what your talking about again why I am here

Edited By Con Murphy on 27/10/2017 15:42:11

Always a good idea to ask advice, but forum members can't see further through brick walls than you!

Condition is everything whenever you buy second-hand. Maker-names and country of origin are no more than a hint. Model names are more useful, for example you're not going to bother looking at plain lathes if you need screwcutting. You either need to look at what you're buying, ideally with someone experienced, or to buy it off someone you trust. Dealers will offer some form of warranty; a random ebay seller won't.

The advantage of buying a new machine is that it will be supported by the seller for both business and legal reasons. Usually when buying new, we only look at Far Eastern machines produced for the hobby market. Although not as 'nice' as much more expensive Western lathes in good condition they are capable of good work. I think you would be very hard put to tell the difference between a rod turned on a Myford Super 7 and similar turned on a Warco.

There could be a lot wrong with a second-hand lathe; shot bearings, worn bed, worn slides, dings and scoring in bad places, broken / missing gears, cracked or twisted frame, misaligned headstock, blocked oilways, faulty selectors, bent or worn leadscrew, sheared safety pins, broken half-nut etc etc. You could easily buy a crock.

On the other hand there are many genuine bargains out there. The reason is that schools, colleges, universities, R&D and much of industry have been dumping manual machine tools wholesale. Many of these machines come from clean temperature controlled workshops and were little used or well maintained. (A friend worked in a School with an Orac lathe which to his knowledge had never been used from new.) Get a good one and you will be a very happy bunny.

Thing is, can you tell the difference between a crock and a bargain? Now I've got a few years experience I'm much better placed than I was. Whilst a visual inspection reveals much, actually using the lathe is a much better test. You can listen to it, feel how smoothly the controls respond, see the result of alignment errors, confirm that nothing's loose, and see that everything works as expected. Trouble is quite a lot of second-hand lathes can't be powered up when you see them. Also the checks are much easier when you know what to look for, and experience is the best teacher.

Following an early bad experience I'm risk averse and bought new Chinese. They are straightforward to buy and delivered quickly with all bits present and correct. Two lathes and a mill have worked well for me and they came with a guarantee. Others have done better buying second-hand and a few have reported serious problems. We don't really know how many second-hand purchases are unsuccessful. People are far more likely to go public when they got a bargain than they are to admit they were ripped off.

Yer pays yer money and takes your chances. One thing I do regret is not making my mind up sooner. Having a lathe is much better than not having one!

Dave

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

SillyOldDuffer gives excellent advice here! Well written Dave.

[Con MurphyParticipant @conmurphy51858]

As ever great advice so what I have ended up doing is buying a Drummond round bed sadly it needs a motor but know a couple guys that are going to help wi5h this not really what I was after but it’s a start good to practice on I hope

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Con Murphy on 30/10/2017 13:54:42:

… so what I have ended up doing is buying a Drummond round bed …

.

Wonderful machines

MichaelG.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Con Murphy on 30/10/2017 13:54:42:
As ever great advice so what I have ended up doing is buying a Drummond round bed sadly it needs a motor but know a couple guys that are going to help wi5h this not really what I was after but it's a start good to practice on I hope

Well done for cracking on Con. May I ask a favour? Would you mind posting what you find as you get to the grips with your Drummond, good or bad? What you have to do to get it going (problems and fixes), and what you would do different next time. Sharing on the forum will be useful to you too; the membership, many of whom really know their stuff, will help if you need it. Even if the machine is perfect, people like to hear about old lathes doing useful work and your experiences with it.

Ta

Dave

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