How to: Buy a Manual Lathe: Rigging, Electrical, Concrete,

In todays video we bring you a massive video covering everything involved in buying a manual lathe.
00:00 - Intro
00:25 - Disclaimers
02:17 - Quality & Condition
04:08 - Which Manufactures Are Good Brands?
23:50 - Which Features do I need in a machine?
48:09 - What Size Lathe do I Need?
50:56 - Newer vs Older Lathes?
53:11 - Restoring vs Putting into Service
55:50 - What Can Be Changed/Upgraded What Cannot
59:05 - What Condition is Lathe (Inspection Process)
01:00:47 - Bed Wear
01:05:02 - Spindle Bearings Loose or Bad
01:06:33 - Grinding or Noisy Gears in Headstock
01:08:31 - Cross Slide Wear
01:10:08 - Compound Wear
01:12:09 - Tailstock Inspection
01:14:20 - Electrical Inspection
01:15:25 - Tooling Inspection
01:17:35 - Paint Inspection
01:18:46 - Grease and Oil
01:19:47 - Are Half Nuts Worn
01:21:11 - Label Inspection
01:22:38 - Minor Part Inspection
01:24:04 - Missing Parts
01:25:39 - Where to Buy Lathes?
01:29:36 - Knowing Electrical Requirements
01:34:56 - Rigging (Moving a Lathe)
01:52:35 - Concrete Requirements
01:58:09 - How Long Does a Lathe Last?
01:58:47 - How Important is Bed Wear?
02:01:32 - What Spindle Speed do I Really Need?
02:01:33 - What Repairs are Common on Lathes?
02:02:08 - What Accessories Should I Get With Lathe?
02:03:30 - What Tooling do I need with Lathe?
02:06:54 - Do I Need More Than 1 Lathe?
02:07:57 - What Are Your Top 3 Lathes of All Time?
02:09:13 - What Are Some Deal Breakers When Buying a Lathe?
02:09:29 - What Are Some Red and Green Flags When Buying a Lathe?
02:10:33 - What Are Some Lathes to Avoid?
02:12:51 - Good Resources or Information on Lathes
02:13:44 - Lets Talk Small Lathes?
02:19:00 - Knowing Yourself?
02:20:30 - How Much Risk Can I Take On?
02:21:30 - How Much Should I Pay for a Lathe?
02:21:53 - When Am I Ready to Buy a Lathe?
02:22:45 - Lets Look At How to Buy a Lathe Online!
02:23:14 - Uncut Look at Bidspotter (Not Sponsored)
03:03:02 - Outtro

[@COCORKIRL-ul4jd]

This video is extraordinary. Not only is it a comprehensive guide to buying a lathe, new or used, but it's a great teaching tool for young machinists. Anyone who is trying to improve his or her skills should spend a lot of time studying the equipment they use. I'm retired and started taking machining classes about two years ago at a community college. I intend to listen to Kyle's video again (yes, all three hours) and take notes. Kyle, thank you!

[@VanoverCustoms]

Awe thanks so much.

[@Trainwreck1123]

What a great video, you have just produced an amazing resource for the hobby community :) I know that very long videos like this don't often do well, both because of the changing youtube algorithm and generally because people don't have a super long attention span, so thank you very much. I hope people find this video for years and years to come because very little of the content in it is "time sensitive" and will continue to be relevant into the future.

[@VanoverCustoms]

Thank you very much! Was tons of work.

[@SPDLTD]

This is a great breakdown, thanks for taking the time to produce this complete guide.

[@VanoverCustoms]

Indeed

[@CinemactionFilms]

What a terrific video. Massive effort on video production and concentration of experience. Thanks for gifting the community with it. It's also very timely, as I'm about to get a Mori Seiki MS850 as my first lathe. I will have your teaching points in mind as I bring new life to it.

[@VanoverCustoms]

Great to hear. Glad you enjoyed it. Great machine

[@Chromevulcan]

LOL, II just commented on another video about how I like your longer videos. Then I ran into this one. WOW! But great work!!

[@VanoverCustoms]

Glad you like them!

[@Thysddcf235]

Great video so far. Because of the length I will need to watch it in installments. Be back soon.

[@VanoverCustoms]

Please do!

[@Thysddcf235]

I finally finished. Great job, very informative. I want to put in a recommendation for the Clausing 4900, 5900 and 6900 series lathes. They are a great small to medium lathe for the hobbyists / home shop where a larger lathe takes up too much real estate.

[@VanoverCustoms]

@@Thysddcf235 great recommendations

[@jamesriordan3494]

Unique and wonderful video; your considerable effort is greatly appreciated

[@VanoverCustoms]

Many thanks

[@TheAyrCaveShop]

Very good information...well done

[@VanoverCustoms]

Thanks a lot

[@jonathanoseredzuk3892]

Great job very informative!

[@VanoverCustoms]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jamesjones5733]

Thank you, very informative

[@VanoverCustoms]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jasone7687]

Great video! Thank you

[@VanoverCustoms]

Glad you liked it!

[@kimmoj2570]

20:14 Decent? When Mori Seiki moved to CNC, they sold all their manual lathe rights, plans and expertise to Hwacheon (Hwacheon serving first as license manufacturer). Officially, no copying of anything. They are as good as Moris, but can be found newer condition. And they are made still today. 6 figure prices. In USA the bigger Webb (USA importer) lathes of 70/80s are Whacheon built and incredible value if you find one that isn't trashed in production work.

[@VanoverCustoms]

👍

[@johnkeefe20]

Thank you, all good comments. As a manufacturing engineering manager, I was very concerned with the mission / tasks that my machine tools were being used for. I would look for machines like LeBlond or Hardinge that were very solid and had lots of support tooling available. Many machine tool rebuilders can get your machine back to an excellent level of accuracy.

[@VanoverCustoms]

Well said!

[@timetodopatriotstuff2315]

Great video if I was in the market for a new lathe I think I would go with the Hwacheon they're the only ones that made some improvements on the original design of the Morin Seki. after that I would buy Cadillac, Standard Modern, Lion and believe it or not Republic Laguna looks pretty good.

[@VanoverCustoms]

Good choice!

[@jeremycable51]

Swedish built koping is my current machine and it’s built like a tank I do need to rebuild the compound on it otherwise excellent machine now I had to build my own gear set for it to be able to cut all the thread choices jt can cut both metric and standard but that wasn’t a big deal 60$ in cutters 250$ on a dividing head then a dozen videos on gear cutting

[@VanoverCustoms]

Very nice

[@hersch_tool]

Lol, I love the fact that there is a "cool" category. Because that is 100% accurate.

[@VanoverCustoms]

lol that’s true

[@Trainwreck1123]

I believe that there is significant overlap between "old" and "cool" :D

[@VanoverCustoms]

@@Trainwreck1123 agreed

[@erok268]

Repairwork is precision, kind of insulting to me as a "precision machine rebuilder". Simple example of repairing a rebar chopping gearbox. Weighs 6 tons, the output is variable depending on length. But the shafts and bores are all called out +0 -.001 or opposite depending on which. 6ft long shafts 6in diameter. Bearings are approx 18in od , one side is a taper roller stack other side just a roller bearing samish size. Setting endply and ensuring the end of the shafts are sticking out the same is critical and oriented properly. The trickiest part is setting the chopping blades, you have to use matched gears at specific teeth, then the blades need to be .005 at its closest point, the blades have 2 sets per shaft. And if they are off at all it can cause the entire line to fail catastrophically. We do repairs to tons of semi conducter companies here in the pacific nw and i assure you repairing globoidal indexers without prints or making a wheel for a 6 start worm wheel gearboxes are extremely precise and a b i t a ch to assemble. I think you are confusing the term precision with volume manufacturing and small parts. Repair work is just as precise if you are doing good work. You still need new parts, and the tolarances arent usually looser they are typically scaled up or down proportionally. However i have seen shafts get called out +.0005 -0 diameter along the entire length of 6ft besides 2 stepped down shouldered features for bearings. I dunno why i took offense to that but i did.

[@VanoverCustoms]

Yeah semantics I guess. Repair work is a spectrum. Some jobs repair work is more precise than new manufacturing. Scrapings a machine as an example. Some repair work is less precise. Making worn parts less worn through repair but not to aerospace tolerances. Precision is the same. I have machinist friends that do precise repair work on heavy equipment to .010 and fiends that work aerospace that work to .001. Both are different definitions of precision depending on customer need and industry.

[@user-gt3xz6wo3o]

Thanks bro~ It would be better if you told me where I can purchase it.

[@VanoverCustoms]

I review this in the video

[@ratchetwerksengineering]

I just picked up and restored a Monarch 10EE lathe. Everything Vanover Customs is saying is DEAD accurate. Years of experience is being communicated in 3 hours. My only personal tweak is that machine size is heavily dependent on the flavor of work you are doing. I've hardly ever out scaled a 14x40 class machine for my projects.

[@VanoverCustoms]

Thanks very much

[@procyonia3654]

TOS and Cazenueve are good, i have 2 TOS lathes one being a vertical, and a TOS Hbm. You can get parts from Canada for the lathes Ive got a 28x60 cazenueve i bought a month ago to replace a similar sized Pacemaker i scrapped. Summit lathes arent great. The lathes and mills are made in Taiwan fyi.

[@VanoverCustoms]

Check the summit website there are some made in Europe. I was with you but during the research phase of this project I discovered some summit machines are made at the same factory as the lion machines.

[@procyonia3654]

@@VanoverCustoms some parts are, but alot of them especially on the lower tier models are made in Taiwan. I believe the bed casting and maybe the headstock are not, but stuff like the saddle, top slide, etc those are Taiwanese make, then fit in europe Which isn't bad inherently, but compounded with other issues the brand has If I were buying new, I'd look elsewhere Their build quality is much lower than a similar Poreba, TOS, Lion, or Cazenueve etc Euro machines Where those are more upper end machines, with sturdy iron structures (Poreba especially). The summit is a much lower end, but not unusable build quality comparatively. Edit: I should say I am not trying to dog them, they are comparable quality to a Kingston, but like a TOS is more comparable in quality and rigidity to something like an Axelson. A very big difference especially if long term heavy use is a concern whatsoever

[@VanoverCustoms]

@@procyonia3654 I am in agreement with you. I was going to throw them in the lower tier but was surprised to see that some of their higher end models appear to be clones to the lion. I too wouldn’t buy one but I was shocked to see that. After talking with Josh topper he said the lion rep indicated that the parts of those machines were made over in Bulgaria but shipped to us for assembly where as the lions where made and assembled in Bulgaria. Then shipped to the us. Interesting stuff.

[@vicferrari9380]

Maybe its been said already. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE understand that a lot of machines like lathes and milling machines are TOP HEAVY! Never pick them from below center if at all possible. Example: we picked up a lathe of around #5000 lbs. It had to be brought in through the front door. They used the forklift to put it on skates. As they were pushing it in thru the door it got hung up somewhere on the concrete seam. So here comes Bubba! He is a big hunk of a man. He grabs a spot and pushed the lathe right over! and 'smash' it tips over and hits the floor breaking and bending cranks and sheet metal. Not a pretty sight. I was livid when i got back and saw it! So please think they are top heavy and very awkward.

[@VanoverCustoms]

I review this under the rigging section

[@ixflqr]

Perhaps an odd question: are any machines notably quieter?

[@VanoverCustoms]

Vfd machines can be quieter. Some machines buzz electricaly. A Vfd of high quality can be quieter. Also helical gear machines in headstock are quieter

[@undaware]

The combo feed rod / lead screw on the South Bend fourteen isn't that bad. The lead screw thread is not used for feed. It has a key down the length of it that drives a the worm screw for the feeds. Ok not ideal to have a key down the length of your lead screw, but wear isn't the issue.

[@VanoverCustoms]

That’s better than other cheaper machines a lot if the import small machines use the lead screw to drive and thread

[@Ellswick]

New!!

[@VanoverCustoms]

Yeah I am with you

[@mudnducs]

Monarch service is expensive but unequalled. I bought a 1953 Series 60/61 in 13x30 in 2017. I called Monarch and they sent me copies of the original manual AND a copy of the original sales order!!!! I was bowled over.

[@VanoverCustoms]

Wow awesome

[@michaelhallas6450]

The old Leblond lathes were made in Ohio I think , where are the new ones made and how good are they ?

[@johnkeefe20]

Cincinnati, OH

[@jeremycable51]

Their a damn fine machine if you can find one that’s not wore slap out

[@robertmason8341]

The new ones LOOK like rebadged overseas units but can’t say for sure. I thought I read somewhere they no longer manufacture lathes in house and only sell the new rebadged lathes and will make/sell parts for their legacy units. Side note, when I called them to inquire how much for the gears and parts to make my 19” regal capable of cutting metric threads they quoted me over $5000 for like 7 gears and few odd pieces. From what I hear that’s the way it is for oem parts from any of the US traditional machines-big money!

[@VanoverCustoms]

Yeah it depends on year older is mostly USA new is import

[@scottjones7279]

No mention of a taper attachment

[@VanoverCustoms]

Good point I guess you always forget something

[@VanoverCustoms]

Taper is good if it has it but I wouldn’t be sad if I didn’t get it in 4 years I think I have only used it once.

[@johnmcanulty7341]

Probably just me but there is background music playing I find annoying. Sounds like a party next door which is distracting because its a PARTY. Right?

[@VanoverCustoms]

lol no party. music is subjective. Lucky it’s pretty low volume.

[@constructionduru5195]

Go to the wife and ask to buy? Maybe it's just me but I follow the adage it's better to ask for forgiveness then permission! Lol All jokes asides great video! Wish it was out when I bought my 1960 Harrison L6 🤦

[@VanoverCustoms]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@geraldwhitcomb6442]

Warner Swacey

[@VanoverCustoms]

👍

[@user-gg1ze3gt1g]

Pretty sure Pacemaker is a model of lathe…not a brand.

[@VanoverCustoms]

American is brand

[@pauljoseph8338]

I keep wanting to watch your videos, but then I see the video length…and I say to myself, “I ain’t got no time for dat!”. You have great content, but I would recommend that you edit your videos into shorter segments. You’re not Joe Rogan. Peace.

[@VanoverCustoms]

👍

[@crispydingman]

That’s fair feedback! We have been experimenting with different ways of breaking down bigger projects into sections that are digestible, distinct enough from each other to be of interest and not turn off people who haven’t seen a part 1/2 of a series, and still keeping enough shot detail and information to be useful. Certainly this one is particularly long - Kyle had a very specific goal with it, and as a viewer I think breaking it down with chapters makes it much easier to find the particular topic you’re looking for. Some videos may still be too much for some people and that’s okay - we’re always working on ways to improve, and it’s good to hear people’s impressions! - the other video editor

[@retardationnation869]

Step 1: take a shower

[@VanoverCustoms]

Sure

[@michaelmiller5566]

I trust someone that gets dirty while performing work more than I trust some bully who attempts to make fun of people so he can feel superior in some twisted way. Get a life

[@VanoverCustoms]

@@michaelmiller5566 agreed.