What metalwork lathe should I get to replace Sieg C3

As in the title really...

My Sieg C3 lathe I got 4 years ago it too small for what I want to do. I want something that will be sturdier etc.

I probably won't be replacing it any time soon, unless something good comes up on eBay near me.


Things to consider:

• I've not got 3 phase (but maybe the 2.2kw VFD for my china spindle can help there)?
• The workshop is up the garden, so anything too heavy is going to be very challenging to get in place. The 200kg milling machine was ok...
• Student budget - i.e not a lot. I'll sell my current lathe which should get a good amount towards it. No doubt this will be something I'll keep for a long long time, so it's worth the investment - lets set an arbitary limit of £800 for now, preferably around £600.
• Space is a bit limited. Anything more than about 1.5m long isn't realistic.
• I don't mind if the lathe needs a bit of work if that's going to save me £££
• I'll probably want to CNC it one day.
• Auto-feed on the cross slide would be nice, but not critical.
• Metric preferred but I don't really mind.

(I'll add to that list if I think of anything)

My current thinking is get something second hand, and quite old / well built? I've used the M250/M300 lathes at school a lot - something like that would be perfect. Probably out of my price range though...

Can anyone help me/make a few suggestions?

Thanks in advance...

Jonathan,
there are quite a few to choose from as I am finding out. I am about to try to sell me Myford ML7 and upgrade to something decent.
A Boxford BUD in good condition with accessories should be in or around your £800 limit. You might be lucky and get an AUD model with a screw cutting gearbox for that price. A Raglan 5 inch would also be a good choice if you can find one. AColchester Bantam 600 weighs in around the 400KG mark and would als be in your price range. This a very good bit of kit. Smart and Brown Sabel if you can find one. There are some good machines on ebay just now but unfortunately for me they are all in England. You can check out www.lathes.co.uk Very good site with loads of info on machines.

Regards

Ian

You could check out http://www.bedetools.com

Ian

Thank you very much for the info and the link...

I found a Sabel (I think it is at least?) on ebay a few minutes ago, and not too far away either!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...tchlink:top:en

I would like to know what the bore through the spindle is - I'm struggling to find that information.

Also these two:

http://www.lathes.co.uk/advertphoto/110205boxfordcud/

http://www.lathes.co.uk/advertphoto/100626harrisonl5/

It looks like there's plenty available. I've no idea how much delivering these is going to cost? There's an M300 for £895 on the site you linked to. That much money is definitely pushing my luck though!

If the boxford cud/bud/aud is the sort of machine size you're after you'll not go far wrong with them, and spare parts are always available for them. You can get them with feed gearboxes for a little bit more and well worth the extra bucks. Also they come with rear mounted motors like the s&b (sabel), which means it'll be a lot lighter without a stand.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by i2i

If the boxford cud/bud/aud is the sort of machine size you're after you'll not go far wrong with them, and spare parts are always available for them. You can get them with feed gearboxes for a little bit more and well worth the extra bucks. Also they come with rear mounted motors like the s&b (sabel), which means it'll be a lot lighter without a stand.

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How do you think they'll compare to a Harrison M300? If I had a lathe that as capable as that then I'd be very happy. By capable I mean able to take similarly heavy cuts, accuracy etc.

I'm undecided with the AUD/CUD/BUD since if I made it CNC then having the autofeed is just a waste. The extra cost of the better lathe would buy the stepper motors, at least. Then again I want to be able to use it normally, and I did use the autofeeds an awful lot at school. [But don't tell the health and saftey inspector that. They disabled them when he came round!]

It's a good lathe, but it's not in the same league as the Harrison M300. The M300 is a larger and stronger machine, built for industrial use from the start. I see what you mean about the feed gearbox if you're converting to cnc, and you can use Mach to manually machine with the jog feature via the keyboard. One point to consider is the cost of converting the M300 is going to be higher than the Boxford, due to the larger physical size of the machine. You're also going to pay at least double the value of a Boxford for the M300.

As far as accuracy is concerned they should both be similar, but wear is a factor on both as they will be fairly well used.