How useful are metal lathes?

Barking Mat · Friday at 3:56 PM

Depends if you need one basically.

Cobbler · Friday at 4:05 PM

Barking Mat said:
Depends if you need one basically.

Since when does that matter :laughing:

My Old Landy · Friday at 4:23 PM

I haven't been able to use mine for over two years because of physical disabilities and I miss it greatly! I do go into the garage occasionally to look at it.
I will sell it one day, along with the mill I can't use either.
They are a thing of beauty so don't listen to those who say otherwise :laughing:

premmington · Friday at 4:27 PM

I don't use my lathe very often - but when I do it is a life saver.

I also am not the worlds best machinist/turner either - I not a bad mechanic - I can cook - roll fags - drink beer... :whistle:

Precision machining is not my thing... But I get by...

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Someone asked me if I could only have one machine - lathe or mill - what would I have? - Answer definitely is a lathe...

Since I got a mill - 15+ years ago - what I don't need is a pillar drill.

premmington · Friday at 4:52 PM

My Old Landy said:
I haven't been able to use mine for over two years because of physical disabilities and I miss it greatly! I do go into the garage occasionally to look at it.
I will sell it one day, along with the mill I can't use either.
They are a thing of beauty so don't listen to those who say otherwise

I feel your pain mate :doh:

I clearing my elderly Fathers house out - he got a little metal lathe at the end of his garage under the window. It did have some use - till Dad got old. Then it laid idle....

Harrison M250 - single phase. Nice little lathe - only got a three jaw chuck - it a nice thing - powerfull for a small lathe - but it smaller than the one I got up the workshop and it got less tooling with it (plus mine got a cap bed).

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I keep looking at it - Dad was better at turning things than me - he spent hours making things for me - before I bought my own lathe. Not sure if to sell it - or take it to my workshop (then have two lathes I don't use much). Or take it home to my own domestic garage - place it under the window and not use it.

It a 500kg lump - it may make £2.5k - it in real good nick. I really don't know what to do with it?

I would be happier if I could turn back the clock 10/15 years and give my retired Father a turning job in his retirement. Dad really liked to help me and my Brother with work things. Nothing was too much trouble if it was work related. :thumbup:

gaz1 · Friday at 5:11 PM

not done it yet said:
If you are going to buy one ‘just for the sake of it’, don’t bother. It is a tool to be used, not just an embellishment.

i disagree i bought mine as an investment even with usage with it

what i paid for it i can still sell it and gain the same amount

milling machine was to save it from the scrap heap and could be used so scrap value paid for it thats for a horizontal mill that can be changed to a vertical mill

the hand shaper was a buy as id saved money on the other 2 so could lose out on that one

the multi tool sharpener was also an investment and id get what i paid for it so all in all in my case all those items are an investment much better than burning the money on something else

its the same with the nail gun i get asked many a time if ive used it often its so clean dosnt have many scratches on it

can i sell it yes and still get the value that i paid for it

not done it yet · Friday at 5:21 PM

gaz1 said:
i disagree i bought mine as an investment even with usage with it

what i paid for it i can still sell it and gain the same amount

milling machine was to save it from the scrap heap and could be used so scrap value paid for it thats for a horizontal mill that can be changed to a vertical mill

the hand shaper was a buy as id saved money on the other 2 so could lose out on that one

the multi tool sharpener was also an investment and id get what i paid for it so all in all in my case all those items are an investment much better than burning the money on something else

its the same with the nail gun i get asked many a time if ive used it often its so clean dosnt have many scratches on it

can i sell it yes and still get the value that i paid for it

I think you need to look up the meaning of “ for the sake of it”.

It is most certainly not the same as buying as an investment!

Smallfry · Friday at 6:24 PM

I use my smallish one a couple of times a week, as someone said, once you have one, you will wonder how you got on before. It will NEVER be big enough. You will find all sorts of uses for it.

E T · Friday at 6:44 PM

My 77 year old Southbend 9A is the best tool I ever bought and gets used almost every week.

addjunkie · Friday at 7:27 PM

premmington said:
I feel your pain mate

I clearing my elderly Fathers house out - he got a little metal lathe at the end of his garage under the window. It did have some use - till Dad got old. Then it laid idle....

Harrison M250 - single phase. Nice little lathe - only got a three jaw chuck - it a nice thing - powerfull for a small lathe - but it smaller than the one I got up the workshop and it got less tooling with it (plus mine got a cap bed).

------------

I keep looking at it - Dad was better at turning things than me - he spent hours making things for me - before I bought my own lathe. Not sure if to sell it - or take it to my workshop (then have two lathes I don't use much). Or take it home to my own domestic garage - place it under the window and not use it.

It a 500kg lump - it may make £2.5k - it in real good nick. I really don't know what to do with it?

I would be happier if I could turn back the clock 10/15 years and give my retired Father a turning job in his retirement. Dad really liked to help me and my Brother with work things. Nothing was too much trouble if it was work related.

The M250 is an ideal fairly modern home machine. Ideal for your garage under the window, in your dotage. When you retire will you take the one from your workshop home?

graffian · 2025-03-02T02:23:15+0000

I don't understand the more or less "do I need a lathe"
Of course you do.

dobbslc · 2025-03-02T07:57:16+0000

E T said:
My 77 year old Southbend 9A is the best tool I ever bought and gets used almost every week.

Here's mine, a thing of beauty.

I still haven't properly set it up after buying it off Pete :ashamed:

The first thing I made on my first lathe, my mate dropped his Triumph and needed a gear change lever sorted out quickly.

addjunkie · 2025-03-02T08:52:21+0000

ELL said:
They look cool and I quite fancy getting one for the sake of it. But how useful do they come in, or are they really only for people who have specific things they want to do on them? Cheers.

They are very useful if you use them, but as an ornament they are dust traps. They take time to learn to use, but once you learn you will wonder how you managed with out one. But they are the start of an expensive potential addiction to machine tools.

Morris · 2025-03-02T09:05:05+0000

It's the wrong question.
You should be asking how to make space for the lathe you will inevitably buy after being on here for ten minutes.

Beanwood · 2025-03-02T09:15:05+0000

Morris said:
It's the wrong question.
You should be asking how to make space for the lathe you will inevitably buy after being on here for ten minutes.

Indeed - or perhaps the question is which lathe will you be buying next, when you realise that a bigger/better one (With gears/screwcutting/auto traverse/dro ...) would be better than the one you bought 'just to see if you use it'

Smallfry · 2025-03-02T10:07:16+0000

Then there is the milling machine, the hydraulic press, and what I really want now, a press brake, that can bend a half inch thick plate by 15 inches long. Sigh.

And a telehandler big enough to move it

pressbrake1 · 2025-03-02T11:38:20+0000

Not useful in the slightest unless you want to make stuff then pretty vital

Porkypine · 2025-03-02T13:47:57+0000

I've had a few, inc Myfords and a Boxford donkey's years ago, these days I don't really NEED one but nevertheless I bought a small 'modelmaking' type thing a few years back, now..I've not actually used it 'in anger' yet, BUT I know I've got it if, as, and when I need it

MattF · 2025-03-03T02:01:17+0000

The lathe is one machine I'd feel lost without. Invaluable when you need it, but also relaxing to use when you simply feel like making something merely for the sake of it.

Regarding tooling, they can be expensive, but conversely, you can manage most tasks readily with minimal tooling. The rabbit hole is generally a choice, rarely necessity.

graffian · 2025-03-03T04:13:52+0000

dobbslc said:
Here's mine, a thing of beauty.

I still haven't properly set it up after buying it off Pete

The first thing I made on my first lathe, my mate dropped his Triumph and needed a gear change lever sorted out quickly.

These are the first things I made on a lathe and the reason I got it.

How useful are metal lathes?

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