Hi,
I've not been on here for ages but my friend David just sent me the link so I'm nosy.
In August I'll have been around lathes for 60 years not counting the Jubilee at school which I wasn't allowed to touch. Whatever is paid for a lathe the lathe generally will hold its price well so if funds are limited then buy the lathe that can be afforded then as funds become available trade up.
I like cast iron kit; over 40 years ago my lovely wife bought me a brand new Record Power DML24 from Tabwell Tools at £200 in Bakewell; I was over the moon with this because funds were very tight indeed but my bubble was seriously burst just one week later when there was a sale on of these and now they were £100; typical of my bad luck which still hasn't changed.
Tooling can easily cost more than the lathe and this needs taking into consideration; my Sorby Patriot chuck cost around £200 collected directly from Sorby in Sheffield; back home I was amazed to see the same chuck on sale at Turners Retreat for less money including P&P; The £200 only bought the basic chuck with one set of jaws; a full set of jaws would need a second mortgage. Decent turning tools aren't cheap a single gouge from Sorby won't be cheap. Tooling can be bought secondhand saving lots of money but it's a gamble; has the tool lost it's temper whilst being overheated during grinding; engineers files are often used but I wouldn't recommend using these they are much too bittle and can prove highly dangerous.
Speaking of danger; lathes on their own are extremely safe until in the hands of a novice; a small lathe can inflict injury but an industrial sized lathe like a Wadkin or Graduate could actually kill if the work is ejected by a nasty dig in. Having reached the age of 16 I was taught on Colchester lathes at the National Coal Board training center in Crigglestone; these lathes don't stop if a hand gets pulled in so although I'm not being alarmist please play safely.
Many years ago I drooled over a brand new Graduate on display at Boddy's it then I think costing over £3,000 but I could only dream on. I still have the DML and will never part with it but over the years I've enjoyed some wonderful lathes including owning lathes like the huge Dominion for wood turning and a lovely Colchester Triumph metal turning lathe. My current lathes are the DML 24; Graduate and a very rare indeed Lorch Schmidt German floor standing precision lathe. Both the Graduate and Lorch I submitted to a comprehensive rebuild but both I also heavily modified.
Being a mechanical engineer I've no problems at all restoring old cast itron machinery and often once restored the machine will easily outlast modern tinny machines that are built down to a price not built up to high quality.
It's easy to get drawn into elitismn where so many fall into the trap of thinking they must have every conceivable tool/attachment because an "expert" has just spent £500 on the latest all singing all dancing sharpening kit; the expert isn't going to say once it's been used there are much cheaper options available; before retiring at work I was subjected to an intensive "Kaizen" training course; the core of this was to do with anything at all in life; why make a Rolls Royce when a Mini will do; suits me because I'm a tight Yorkshireman.
Ask a dozen woodturners who own a different brand of lathe which lathe they would recommend? Decide what you want to use the lathe for then do the homework. A brand new lathe will be plug and play and these days with lots of electronics to eventually fail; variable speed is handy and I use both belt change and electronic speed changing; variable speed is handy but I do most of my turning without bothering too much about speed.
A fully rebuilt Graduate is still available from L.R.E. Their Variturn starts at just under £2,200 but this is just for the lathe it's useless without tooling;
L.R.E Machinery & Equipment Co. Price List
A used Gradute is a very good choice but it's big and very heavy so transporting could cost quite a bit; my Graduate was collected in a 7 seater Ford car but it meant stripping the lathe into three parts which is easy but care is needed a Graduate lathe bed across a foot is sure to hurt. A 240V Graduate is always more expensive but if a very nice cheap 3 phase Graduate is available then the motor and controls can easily be changed if you know someone who can help who has the experience for such work.
I mentioned to my friend David I'm dithering at the moment whether to finally sell my Graduate; I'll be 75 in August and although I don't want to sound morbid if anything untowards happen to me the equipment I have would be a big liabilty to my wife who hasn't a clues as to what my machinery does or what it's worth. At the moment I'm only dithering but unfortunately my Graduate would be well out of the range of anyone on a tight budget; it's well worth £2,250 because not only is it in wonderfu;l condition with 1.5hp top quality Brook inverter rated motor and VFD drive it has an enormous amount of tooling; I even do metal spinning on my Graduate but this is highly dangerous to a novice; I managed to fracture a rib due to the amount of pressure needed on the spinning tool handle and the tool was 42" long. I'm not trying to sell my Graduate yet only thinking about it.
One thing I would do is to encourage anyone who has the slightest interest is to buy a lathe and enjoy it; I've never tired of lathework and if I do decide to finally let my Graduate go it's going to be painful to me.
Please don't get drawn in to watching lots of YouTube videos thinking the tooling used is a must have; a fool and money are soon parted; have a look at this as an example of basic tooling and what it can do;
Just rambling on as usual.
Kind regards, Colin.
