which lathe for home gunsmithing?

[yorketransport]

I'm kicking around the idea of buying a lathe. I waste enough time and money waiting for custom barrels that buying a lathe seems like a worth wile investment.

Doesn't need to be fancy, just enough to cut, crown, thread, and chamber barrels. Anybody have any suggestions?

Andrew

[mountainman]

Grizzly

[Boss .300 winmag]

Great idea I will get two! 

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Gunsmith-s-Bench-Top-Lathe-with-Stand/G4003G

[rb2506]

I have one posted in the classifieds

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

[jackelope]

I have one posted in the classifieds

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

Where? I couldn't find it.

[rb2506]

I couldn't find it either  maybe to long ago Jan / Feb.

I 'll post it up if I can't find it

[Biggerhammer]

I was tossing around the same idea, I have a few months before the shop will be finished to figure out which one ill pick up.

[YellowDog]

You might think about hitting Grizzley' S tent sale (scratch/dent) sale in june. Me dad picked up a larhe and mill 6 years ago for a little over half price due to cosmetic damage and has done a ton of cutting and crowning and theaded several barels among countless other things hes made. Gotta be there early but it is not the zoo some people claim and there are good deals. I picked up a 8” jointer for 60% of new price because it had a dent that the tip of my pinky finger wouldnt fit in on the base cabinet.

[mountainman]

You might think about hitting Grizzley' S tent sale (scratch/dent) sale in june. Me fad picked up a larhe and mill 6 years ago for a little over half price due to cosmetic damage and has done a ton of cotting and crowning and theaded several barels among countless other things hes made. Gotta be there early but it is not the zoo some people claim and there are good deals. I picked up a 8” jointer for 60% of new price because it had
a dent that the tip of my pinky finger wouldnt fit in on the base cabinet.

 

[yorketransport]

You might think about hitting Grizzley' S tent sale (scratch/dent) sale in june. Me dad picked up a larhe and mill 6 years ago for a little over half price due to cosmetic damage and has done a ton of cutting and crowning and theaded several barels among countless other things hes made. Gotta be there early but it is not the zoo some people claim and there are good deals. I picked up a 8” jointer for 60% of new price because it had a dent that the tip of my pinky finger wouldnt fit in on the base cabinet.

I didn't know about this. Thanks for the heads up!

Andrew

[RB]

You might think about hitting Grizzley' S tent sale (scratch/dent) sale in june. Me dad picked up a larhe and mill 6 years ago for a little over half price due to cosmetic damage and has done a ton of cutting and crowning and theaded several barels among countless other things hes made. Gotta be there early but it is not the zoo some people claim and there are good deals. I picked up a 8” jointer for 60% of new price because it had a dent that the tip of my pinky finger wouldnt fit in on the base cabinet.

Where is the sale?

[wildweeds]

Bellingham

You might think about hitting Grizzley' S tent sale (scratch/dent) sale in june. Me dad picked up a larhe and mill 6 years ago for a little over half price due to cosmetic damage and has done a ton of cutting and crowning and theaded several barels among countless other things hes made. Gotta be there early but it is not the zoo some people claim and there are good deals. I picked up a 8” jointer for 60% of new price because it had a dent that the tip of my pinky finger wouldnt fit in on the base cabinet.

Where is the sale?

[CastleRocker]

Watch Craigslist or some of the machinist forum classifieds.  Buy the biggest one you can.  They will stay put (level and true), a lot better.  Also, get one with the most and the best tooling.  A lot of times you can find a good used one with tooling for not too much. 

Also, if you do get a small one, make sure the hole through your spindle is big enough to do what you want.  Some of the smaller lathes have 3/4"-1" through -holes.  It's hard to put a barrel blank though that, you will have to rely on a steady rest at that point. 

[RB]

 

Was a Machinist for 19 years mostly Lathe (CNC) and having the right tools will make your job exponentially easier trying to Mickey Mouse stuff will end up costing more and leads to accidents if your Lathe is to small you will not get the most out of it   

[high country]

Les brooks built a whole rifle out of his rv using a 7x20" lathe......so anything's possible......but realisticly, I started with an atlas 12x36" and moved on to a hardinge and a precision Matthews in 14x40". My advice, buy as heavy a machine regardless of color that you can reliably get parts for. If you go used, take some quality indicators and measure up the machines travels and repeatabality. Expect to spend at least a grand on tooling and indicators to do the bare minimum chamber work. My next grab will be a ssg tru bore alignment chuck.....awesome device.

Fixing a wore out lathe will be expensive, working on a hardinge will ruin you......and Chinese lathes are all about the same with different paint and widgets.