AL 960B Lathe

AL 960B Lathe

[@mauricesteer8023]

Thanks mate, was looking at buyin a 960 b and the vid was very helpful.

[@ginaanastas3851]

Purchased same lathe here in Melbourne 3 years ago, I'm pretty sure i paid just under 7K, its been awesome, i love it.

[@glencoughlan2209]

Hi there you might know me as the "Trigger Guy", or not, anyway caught your video on your most excellent purchase. Having a Colchester in the past for my primary go to gunsmithing needs, upon my retirement to Tasmania I sold up the majority of my shop tools including an irreplaceable Bridgeport Mill. I recently purchased the same model Taiwanese lathe as your good self - very impressed !!. One neat modification easily made to this model you might consider is room for a spindle spider by merely drilling and tapping the spindle itself in line with the four jaw chuck jaws. This gives you a better deal for shorter points through the headstock and no need to make up a time consuming add on wobbly bit of gear every Tom, Dick & Harry showcase on KZbin. Drill, tap and add four stainless bolts with alloy tips and you have a most excellent and accurate spider (for this model lathe). Enjoy your machining !

[@bolwell]

Great no BS review mate, thanks

[@danielstewart3507]

This is a really good review. Thanks for uploading it.

[@davenicholson3491]

Great video mate 👍🏻. I have a dashin prince lathe which is basically the same lathe just under a different brand name. Yours seems to be better quality though. I made and fitted a foot brake system on mine that Brakes off the motor pulley . Don’t have a micro switch though so you still have to pull the leaver , use it for thread cutting. If u want pics of the foot brake system let me know. Cheers.

[@stevecallachor]

I was looking at these lathes in the 1990s. As I recall the Dashin Prince was similar to an AL 1000. Am I mistaken. At the time both were priced around $2500 Aust. I could never justify or afford either of them and I had to settle for a 1954;model Qualos machine (5 1/2 inch centre height about 1 metre between centres. It cost me about $700 which was the top of my budget. I saw most of this stuff in the flesh at Hare and Forbes in their old Parramatta shop. Since then I have spent many times that amount on accessories. This has been a most expensive hobby. The most helpful thing was to enrol in a TAFE course as a mature age , fitting and machining student , Regards Stavros

[@ianmoone2359]

Are all Hafco lathes this loud? I see a lot of other videos where lathes are pretty quiet, but all the Hafco’s seem so loud I’d have to wear ear muffs or ear plugs to operate it? I think too loud might remove a lot of the enjoyment of using it? Hafco is about the only choice we have here in WA so that’s a bit of a worry to me. Been researching the heck out of my “first lathe purchase now and kinda settled on the Hafco AL356V - but of course there’s no videos of them actually operating to gauge how loud or quiet they might be & a visit down the H&F machinery house (HAFCO) to look at the static machine doesn’t allow you to test it running to see how loud it is (or isn’t)? I dunno, still can’t convince myself to splash $10k on something there’s no video of from Hafco online & I can’t even turn it on to hear it prior to purchase.

[@coldchester3622]

Yes all have strate cut acc gears.

[@ianmoone2359]

@@coldchester3622 Thanks heaps for the response. I guess the noise is just something you have to get used to then. Are you still happy with yours after 3 years? Being Taiwanese made it might be a bit better quality than Hafcos Chinese manufactured lathes perhaps.

[@whatupg1]

Hi mate, thanks for sharing, I have the same lathe. I'm in Sydney. Where are you located?

[@coldchester3622]

Perth

[@Gezzunder]

@@coldchester3622 I have the same lathe and quick change tool post. They're not together though - the stud is too short. Did you fit yours and how?

[@neilgarrad4931]

Thanks