Topics include, Machine Tools & Tooling, Precision Measuring, Materials and their Properties, Electrical discussions related to machine tools, setups, fixtures and jigs and other general discussion related to amateur machining.
John Evans wrote: Came close though to making the second mill a Gorton !
Unless you have need for nodding the head (or even tilting, depending on the model), that's a decision you'd have really liked. If you've not operated a Gorton, it may be hard to understand, but they're in a whole different league than the BP mill. I've operated 9-J, I-22 (Mastermil), 8-D and the little known Unimil---all excellent machines. Very robust and capable of taking cuts that would embarrass a BP. And they have (had?) a wonderful feel. Very light to the touch.
Harold
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
Long Tom wrote:In the new China/old USA lathe debate, there's always Option C..... find a Whacheon. Very high quality, modern era, Korean built machines.
Actually, that's already been covered under the "modern industrial lathes" topic. Whatcheon/Web/Cadillac/Yam line are all generally faithful clones of the Mori Seki Japanese lathe, some made under direct contract with Mori. They are definitely among the best made. Directly below that are the lathes like mine with names like Victor and Osama (can't recall the others at the moment). Not as heavy or as nice, but still real lathes intended to do real work in a production setting.
But this debate is not generally framed to include machines like that. It's the common HSM sized lathes that are usually the focus. I know that Cadillac at least produced a 3(?) hp 14" swing scaled down version that is not completely rare and makes an amazing HSM lathe. A friend of mine has one, and it probably would have been mine if I hadn't wanted a bigger spindle. Other than that, in the 14" and down category your left with names like Jet and Griz as the pinnacle for readily available lathes from the AP industrial base, and there we are really into the typical HSM domain. There are also the Hardinge clones from Feeler and others which are also really nice, but you'll generally still pay dearly for the HLV clones that are still in good shape (i.e. have not become comparable to old US iron anyway), though the turret style do seem to come up at reasonable prices.
All good points, Russ, and all correct AFAIK. When I saw American Pacemaker mentioned earlier in the thread I figured the gloves were off.
I love my Whacheon Webb. Spectacular machine, and purchased with a bunch of high-quality tooling for what a 12x36 Grizzly costs new. And the footprint isn't THAT much bigger, though it admittedly weighs over 4X as much.
I also love your .sig line and I "borrowed" it for an athletic team form for my kid that asked my occupation.
