Problems with Perform CCL lathe - what next?

[wabbitpoo]

After numerous problems with my lathe I have decided its time to give up on it and move on. Where should I be looking next? I have confirmed that its deffo more than a passing phase, and that I'm going to do a lot of turning.

The problem with the current lathe is its quality of manufacture, leading to errors in alignment, rapidly degrading tightening bolts, handles, etc - the list goes on.

 

[Anonymous]

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[wabbitpoo]

What sort of stuff do you turn?

I am looking to do most things, really. Havent tried large bowls as the lathe isnt really up to it.

whether you want a swivelling headstock.

Havent had the chance to try that yet on the CCl as it takes ages to get it aligned and didnt want to mess that up by swivelling. If the chosen lathe can turn up to say, 18" over the bed, then that ought to be enough for me for the foreseeable future.

What do you see your budget as being?

I was thinking £500 or so, if I can convince you-know-who.

Have you seen any other lathes you like the look of?

Not yet, no. Well, I like the LOOK of all of them, but am after a recommend from someone who's gone down the same path (ie graduating from frustrating "hobby" machine to more serious kit).

Thanks for the reply.

 

[lurker]

If you hang on a couple of months Wizer will have a bloody good one for sale

 

[Bodrighy]

Fox do a lathe that does about 16" over the bed in your price bracket with mechanical variable speed. Really sweet talk SWMBO and Axminster have an 18" electronic variable speed for a few hundred more or better yet look on Ebay and keep your eyes open as there have been a few goning in that price bracket recently that might suit. Get Blister to look out for you he's the expert on bargains and may even have one going soon :lol:

Pete

 

[Paul.J]

WP.
I would get to try as many lathes as you can by going to some of the shows that will be coming up shortly.Westonbirt,Yandles,Woodex etc.
Decide what sort of turning you want to concentrate on mainly and keep asking people.
Take a look in the members lathe page at the top of the opening page.There is a wide and varied section their to choose from.
I would definately go for cast iron,as heavy as possible, at least 1hp motor.
The length of the bed doesn't matter unless you want to do long spindle work.Though this will add to the weight. :!:
Where about are you :?:

 

[beejay]

I think you'll struggle to find new,your ideal lathe or even one that you'll be really happy with, within your budget.
When I was in the same position I consciously stayed well away from old Britsh stuff because they lack the features I was looking for. I think that stuff is hyped up by the 'purists' and who cares if they last for 100 years. Modern well spec'd /featured machinery will always be better in my book.
I also stayed well clear of 'reeves drive' type variable speeds because of the numerous bad reports I received from many users. plus, I didn't like the idea of a mechanical change.
My priority was Electronic variable speed and good quality which new, isn't available in a full size lathe for your budget. Unless of course you can find a deal on a Record and they may not be as good as they used to be.
My advice is to look for a good S/H Hegner, Jet or Vicmarc etc which will give you features and reliability you're probably after,, may not last 100 years ,, but neither will you.
You may need a couple of hundred more but you'll probably get what your looking for in a lathe.
regards, Bill

 

[Jenx]

I also stayed well clear of 'reeves drive' type variable speeds

I have a Fox, with Reeves drive... the 'variable diameter-in-motion' type of thing, and its bloody noisey... sounds like a bucket of bolts especially at low speed.
I'm told it is a bit savage on bearings, although I've not got to that point yet... but it IS scuffing one side of the Vee-belt a bit, and I can envisage that having to be changed-out before long.
My thing will do 14" Over the bed, and a swivelling head if you want to go bigger.. it was about £270 quid from memory.... but it IS a 'more budget-end' machine, but in fairness, I knew that when I got it...
If you can push the boundaries to go for electronic speed control, you'll not regret it.

I reckon its a more robust Machine than the budget "Performs"... but it is a wee bit 'agricultural' when compared to some of the more pricey stuff available..
If you have got £500 / £600 ... right now, hanging fire till you have maybe double that, could be a really good way to go, if you can.
( Listen to me, telling you how to spend your money ! :wink: ).. but you'll get the thinking behind what I mean, I'm sure !
EVS would be very nice, by comparison to Reeves Drive.. I agree with Bills thoughts above.

 

[wabbitpoo]

Will be at Westonbirt - are there many company stands there?

Thanks all for the advice - I was already thinking electronic variable speed.

The bigest problem with the CCl seems to me to be a lack of accuracy in head/tail alignment. It will handle the size of stuff I am doing right now (as a relative beginner) but when it comes to drilling using the tail stock, or when turning small stuff like pens, I really notice the shortcomings.

 

[Jenx]

Just a thought Wabbit... in light of what you said there ....
Have you checked the Tailstock Quill and/or the Arbor on your jacobs chuck ?

In my short time as a hobby-turner, I have cack-handedly bent both ( not on the fox ).. which led to the type of problems you describe.
The quality of the steels on some of the cheaper machinery / components isn't maybe quite what it would ideally be.. and on two different occasions I managed to catch a drill bit which on the first occasion damaged the quill, such that it no longer would align concentrically, and I did it again which on the second occasion put a mior deflection into the arbor of the chuck setup. Took a while to puzzle out what was wrong... but got there in the end

One of my 'better investments', was a double-ended MT2 Alignment tool, which allows you to re-align the head & tail stock, which is immensely handy if one is 'ambitious enough' to swivel the head of ones machine.
I got mine from record Power, and its a 'mighty handy little device'.. it wasn't cheap at about 25 Roupees, but it saves a pot-load of grief sometimes !

Just a thought ! 8)

 

[wabbitpoo]

Thats interesting, thanks. What I do to check is to bring the tail stock, with live cone-shaped centre installed, up to the four-pronged drive centre installed in the 2MT headstock spindle - that is, no chuck in the way. The two points don't naturally line up very well at all. Some nurdling on the head, by means of spacers between it and the bed, can sort it out, but I still think the axes of head and tail are mis-aligned a little, beacuse if you pull the tail back a bit but wind out the handle to extend the live centre the points dont then line up again.

Hobby machine? Since when does a hobby have to compromise on basic quality?

 

[Anonymous]

WP,

you're welcome to come and have a look at my machine. There are also plenty of other forum members in the area with various lathes. Westonbirt isn't the best place to see really good lathes. Classic Hand Tools are the only tool company there. You will see lots of other lathes on various stands but many of them are cheaper mobile lathes. Yandles is much better. There was even a VB36 there when I last went.

At the shows not everybody will let you play on their lathe (health & safety). The main exception (in my view) is Mark Hancock who has always shoved me in front of whatever lathe he is working at. Even if you can't afford the lathe it does give you an idea of what a proper lathe is supposed to feel like.

Dave

 

[big soft moose]

i upgraded from my m900 to the axminster avbsl 1200 which is 2hp and turns 18" dia over the bed - its about 800 notes though which is a bit outside your budget.

g&m tools do currently have a graduate for 500 but it is 3 phase and needs a bit of tlc http://www.gandmtools.co.uk/cat_leaf.php?id=7130 - they also have a three phase graduate bowl turner for £325 but it needs substantially more tlc.

and thirdly they have a poolwood super lathe also for 325 , which they have been trying to shift for ages - its not absolutely ideal but i bet they'd be open to offers.

 

[Bodrighy]

i upgraded from my m900 to the axminster avbsl 1200 which is 2hp and turns 18" dia over the bed - its about 800 notes though which is a bit outside your budget.

g&m tools do currently have a graduate for 500 but it is 3 phase and needs a bit of tlc http://www.gandmtools.co.uk/cat_leaf.php?id=7130 - they also have a three phase graduate bowl turner for £325 but it needs substantially more tlc.

and thirdly they have a poolwood super lathe also for 325 , which they have been trying to shift for ages - its not absolutely ideal but i bet they'd be open to offers.

I think Chas has the poolewood and could comment on it.

Pete

 

[big soft moose]

i upgraded from my m900 to the axminster avbsl 1200 which is 2hp and turns 18" dia over the bed - its about 800 notes though which is a bit outside your budget.

g&m tools do currently have a graduate for 500 but it is 3 phase and needs a bit of tlc http://www.gandmtools.co.uk/cat_leaf.php?id=7130 - they also have a three phase graduate bowl turner for £325 but it needs substantially more tlc.

and thirdly they have a poolwood super lathe also for 325 , which they have been trying to shift for ages - its not absolutely ideal but i bet they'd be open to offers.

I think Chas has the poolewood and could comment on it.

Pete

i seem to recall that blister had one too, back in the day before the woodfast, the big red machine and the big green monster.

my experience of them which is pretty limited is that they are okay but not oustanding - before i bought my AVBSL i was thinking about buing this one and cutting the bars off to make it into a bowl turner.

but that said , faults aside they are considerably better than a perfom ccl and if the price was right....

 

[wabbitpoo]

All good info, thanks.

Awaiting delivery of the latest part to snap off. Therefore unable to turn anything right now. I have to provide a big box of sellables for a show in early Sept, so time's running out!