lathe question

J

jbann

Guest
im in the market for a used lathe mainly for barrel work. harrison m300 13/36 or sb heavy 10? opinions please. thanks guys.
 
If money is no object the 1330U Alpha from Harrison is a great GREAT machine.

Taylor made for barreling almost.
 
If you can find one, I would say cazeneuve's make a great manual lathe, for barrel work, automatic thread pickup no dial to watch, stops can be set on the bed or apron for automatic stopping of traversing or screwcutting, great for going to a shoulder or blind hole, there is also a tailstock available where the quill can be driven by a lever aka drillpress style or a fine feed wheel.

KB
 
If the question is between the Harrison and the SB, condition being the same, the Harrison it the way to go. SB 10s are the most over rated lathes out there. Almost any newer lathe of 12" swing or up is better at anything. Feeds, speeds, ease of use, travel, size, power, you name it. Most Hvy 10s had 3/4 hp. The harrison was never shipped with less than 1.5 hp.
 
No question, an old used worn out South Bend Heavy 10 will out perform any of the chicoms or Harrisons. I can name at least 10 of the top benchrest gunsmiths that use Heavy 10's

What are you going to use 1.5 HP for anyway doing gun work. Too much extra rigging to do a benchrest length barrel on these gearbox lathes anyway.
 
Yep those Frenchy lathes are neat. If you like the Harrison m300 you could try to source an Ainjest for it. You get the quick threading stop and be able to thread metric if it's an imperial lead screw machine without changing gears and using the half nuts. Yep no rewinding.

IIRC the M300 is either a 25" or 40" between centers machine so double check that if you got a line on a used one. And don't buy a SB L10 with less than a 4 1/2 bed, remember SB counted the headstock in their bed length. The 4 ft bed works out to ~28-30" between centers so that may work for you.

To the question of a lathe for barrel work I'd look hard at the head stock spindle's depth, the M300 may be too deep for some shorter barrels to work in the headstock. I'd like to know how deep the spindle is myself.

The newer Harrison m300's are Chinese made, there is a generic branded version that is made on the same line, the Precision Matthews 1340t.
 
m300

no need for an anjest ! the m300 is graet for a bench rest gun smith, better bearings than the other off same line, the chianess bearing are bad nornaly ,,
harrison use's gamet bearing from uk ,

the snipdle is on long side, but they are why round that, spud's and spiders chucks ( i have one for each end of the spindles) for short barlles i use bushing in the spindle they still clock up to a few .0001'' (note most lathes of will only hold .0005'')

hope find a good one , good luck
 
South Bend made the "Best" buggywhips. They only made a few models, and they made them longer than anybosy else. A well made, low tech, belt drive, plain bearing lathe. Most lathe makers abandonded the format in the late '20s. There was a niche market for their lathes. they were simple, forgiving, and easy to learn on. But nobody ever said they represented the state of the art.
 
Butch Lambert said:
That is a real lathe.
Click to expand...

It's a real student lathe! Sorry but I just had to point that out.

And yes you don't need an Anjest. I just mentioned it because the Cazeneuve's threading stop was mentioned. It's far easier and cheaper to fine a nice M300 and put an Anjest on it than find a cherry Cazeneuve lathe.
 
papapaul said:
South Bend made the "Best" buggywhips. They only made a few models, and they made them longer than anybosy else. A well made, low tech, belt drive, plain bearing lathe. Most lathe makers abandonded the format in the late '20s. There was a niche market for their lathes. they were simple, forgiving, and easy to learn on. But nobody ever said they represented the state of the art.
Click to expand...
Paul, I'll wager you have never been in a real machine shop, let alone manage one. Now, tell me, just what is state of the art in engine lathes.

The British iron is pretty good but their engineering as to longevity, ergonomics, bearings and seals stinks.

Know why the Brits don't make computers? They can't figure how to make them leak oil!! Anyone who has ever owned a British sports car, British sedan, or British SUV know what I am talking about.
 
papapaul said:
But nobody ever said they represented the state of the art.
Click to expand...

Don't get too hung up on when something was invented, linear ways are fairly new and viewed as high tech but can't perform near as well as scraped hydrostatic box ways. Cost often is the driving factor in "improving" machine tools.
 
Don't Buy a Lathe NOW!

Wait until the "Chosen One" is done with the economy and you will be able to pick up machine tools for "pennies on the pound". Then after he is done with the economy he will take care of that pesky “Private Ownership” of guns problem. If a Professional Gunsmith had the lathe he might toss you in a magic marker to use for a threading stop, just to get rid of the lathe as reminder in his shop of the time when we once had an industry.

Nic.
 
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m300 ect

there are better lathe out there but for the price an m300 is good value for money, dose any one in the use still make small shop lathes?
 
talk about a defeatist attitude!

Niccolo said:
Wait until the "Chosen One" is done with the economy and you will be able to pick up machine tools for "pennies on the pound". Then after he is done with the economy he will take of that pesky “Private Ownership” of guns problem. If a Professional Gunsmith had the lathe he might toss you in a magic marker to use for a threading stop, just to get rid of the lathe as reminder in his shop of the time when we once had an industry.

Nic.
Click to expand...

Friend, you act as if Americans have no choice as such events might occur. You're wrong. We do.
 
Nic understands it. Wait to we have 30-40 million unemployed
 
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