DIY Lathe - What Headstock?

[Chaz]

I'm tempted to buy this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Smart-Brow...QAAOSwyltZWUgD

It's tatty, might work as a manual lathe, I Can then break it down and take / keep the headstock. Not sure if its worth trying to convert it, just use as is until I am ready to take the headstock.

[Boyan Silyavski]

I'm tempted to buy this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Smart-Brow...QAAOSwyltZWUgD

It's tatty, might work as a manual lathe, I Can then break it down and take / keep the headstock. Not sure if its worth trying to convert it, just use as is until I am ready to take the headstock.

Thats what i was saying, Mini lathe + servo motor and brake and fit inside the machine.

Cause once you restore it , it will be beautiful and difficult to salvage it for parts

[Chaz]

Thats what i was saying, Mini lathe + servo motor and brake and fit inside the machine.

Cause once you restore it , it will be beautiful and difficult to salvage it for parts

So I went to go look at this machine. Lovely little machine - almost too good to break, the pics make it look bad. Turns out the guy is a professional photographer who happens to fix diesel generators and other stuff like that, nice guy.

I may try and CNC the machine as it is, the headstock looks substantial, large bearings, meaty thing. Some play in the crossslide etc but not really a problem I think.

Considering a headstock alone (ignore the cheap chinese one) will be around £250, getting this for around £450 with some options is probably reasonable enough. It will work as it is now. I can fit a ballscrew in the centre of it or the front, there is space to mount rails if needed, so options exist.

[Chaz]

Thats what i was saying, Mini lathe + servo motor and brake and fit inside the machine.

Cause once you restore it , it will be beautiful and difficult to salvage it for parts

The other question I had was around max spindle speed. The machine is rated to run 1200 max. Whilst not bad, for alu, higher is better. I cant find any details around the bearings used, any idea if this will be an issue to use this headstock to mainly machine alu?

[bikepete]

Did you see this? Ended a few days ago but didn't sell - worth making an offer maybe?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/hardinge-c...AAAOSwXXxZSa2l

[Chaz]

Did you see this? Ended a few days ago but didn't sell - worth making an offer maybe?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/hardinge-c...AAAOSwXXxZSa2l

Ye, I did, thanks. Issue was its collection only and not close for me. But it certainly was suitable for what I was looking for.

[Chaz]

So I have bought this Smart & Brown machine - a number of options exist. Will take a look once it arrives to see if I should just CNC it as it stands or do something else with it.