Hi as per title looking for a lathe to have a play with and perhaps even make the odd spacer / ligning up tool are the clarke ones any good or are there better ones out there Rick

I think you would be better off getting a second hand unit off of Ebay, lots of old lathes get advertised.

If you are going to be playing then its unlightly you will use screw cuttiung functions, just check the bed is true and the bearings sound and you will be okay.

I have a prehistoric atlas lathe, cost £125 and is find for bushes etc, infact its surprising how much you use one.

Also try and get as large a lathe as you can fit in your garage.

Regards Mark

Bloke I know has had one a few years now and he's known for being a bit obsessive about accuracy.
He reckons he more or less had to rebuild it before he would use it.

As said before, you'll find an old Lathe locally which would work for you.

I looked at the Clarke lathe a few years ago found them expensive compared with the Axminster BV20 lathe I finally ended up buying not the best quality but you get what you pay for
Link To Axminster BV20

As said depending on what you want it for you may be better finding an old one

As Mark said, you're much better looking for a used lathe, the clark one looks a bit tinny to me. Look for a Myford ML7 or Super 7, myford are still in busines so spares isn't a problem either.

Pete.

Cheers might have to scour e-bay will be useing it at work which means 14 / 16 y/o getting there hands on it after iv brushed up on how you use one last time was at school my self which was a few years ago cheers Rick

You have u2u re lathe
Kipper.

Follow Mark's advice of getting the biggest lathe you can fit (within reason), you'll be so frustrated when every job you want to do is just a bit too big for your machine!!!

Points I think are important when looking at lathes:

1: Bigger is better (within reason)
2: Gap bed, increases versatility
3: Tooling, the more that comes with it the better. Very expensive to buy and you'll be amazed how much you need.
4: 4 jaw chuck, a must have, again increases versatility. I'd quite happily buy a machine without a 3 jaw chuck
5: Good range of speeds, check top speed 1000rpm minimum
6: Tailstock c/w Jacob's chuck and preferebly a couple of centers.

If they're not too big I would look for a nice Colchester or Harrison such as THIS or THIS

Only my opinion and may not be at all suited to your application but it's worth a mention.

Cheers
Davie

I agree with daviep, if you can stretch to either of the links in his post you wont be disappointed. If not, one further point I would like to add is the dia of the hole through the head spindle, you will find this very limiting at some point. A Myford 7 is only 5/8".

Clarke lathes are shisssse

Avoid at all costs. Just re-badged Chinese rubbish. More play in the slides & headstock than you can shake a stick at.

Follow the advice and get yourself a decent old second hand one.

I got an old Boxford AUD. Cost about he same as the Clarke and 100times better. Surprisingly small footprint and easily fits into my single garage.
Think twice if you're offered a Myford. They are over-priced and over-rated (sorry Myford fans). Would be better than a Clarke though.

The AUD is more than enough for a home workshop. I have turned quite a few things on my lathe including the cylinder of a 1960's AJS (pictured). Try doing that on a Clarke or Myford !!!

I bought mine based on my 25years experience and apprenticeship as a fitter & turner.

My tuppence worth.
Rescued attachment lathe.jpg

AJS Head.
Rescued attachment head.jpg

Aah that boxford looks like the one I use, that sits in a corner of a friendly CNC workshop chap I have the good fortune to know.

He gave me a carbide bit to play with and showed me how I should be using it the other day: no lubricant, 20 thou per cut at some insane high RPM and feed speed, "if the chips don't come off blue you're not going fast enough". I'm sure this isn't news to anyone who knows their turning but after a few weeks tinkering about with hss tools very carefuly, it was like caveman being shown a bic lighter. awesome stuff.

just thought I'd share

Big cuts take the heat away from the tool tip and helps keep an edge on it. You do have to be brave though!

I looked at the cheapy Chinese stuff but it's all cheapy rubbish.
I asked my Pa to look out for lathe and he got me a whopper (not a burger) from the scrapyard!! It has a 5' bed, boxes of tools and DTIs etc and even a cabinet to put stuff in. It has 5 chucks including a collet chuck, four jaws and three jaws and a few faceplates. It has several steadies and two tailstocks. Screw cutting gears in Metric and imperial and it even had a nice cap in the toolbox. All for £60.

[Edited on 3/3/08 by owelly]

Now that sounds like a brucey bargain. Assuming it's not all warped or worn and crappy?

Why don't you approach one of your local secondary schools? Their Design and Technology department probably has several Boxfords that they would be happy to part with. Most schools are finding very little need for them since Maggy Thatcher introduced the National Curriculum ! I've recently sold 3 3phase lathes to a local firm.