The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest From the got in way over my head dept...

I bid $500 on and won a Hardinge VBS metal working lathe from our corporate model shop. I didn't really expect to win it. I'm going to have to move my lumber pile up into the attic to fit this thing in my shop...

Not to mention that it weighs over 1000 pounds. 'tis going to be fun to unload. Now I have to envision all sorts of round metal projects to do. Anybody got any good ideas? The lathe comes with several collets, a chuck, and a turret tail stock. I guess whatever I come up with I'll be able to mass produce easily.

Josiah,

I am very envious. You literally $tole that machine, and it's the BMW of tool room lathes.

Will we get a picture to pin in our shops?

Stuart

yea, i bet you could sell it right now and not even have to move it and make a tidy profit, not that you want to. i personnaly would take it home. if you are familiar with lathes you will find plenty to do with it. if not i bought a couple of books when i got my first one and started to learn the basics, they have several projects starting off pretty easy. soon you will have plenty of projects to do on your own.

I think I will at least take it home and set it up before I decide if I'm going to keep it. I'll snap a few pictures once I get it home. I have to make a dump run to clean out the bed of my truck before I can go get it.

I need to figure out which motor drive it has, I may have to come up with a phase converter. It looks like it has a nice variable speed drive on it but I don't know what is feeding it. I only have 50A 240V single phase. The city wouldn't even let me install three phase because of the zoning- no industrial shops in residential areas here.

I could have gotten another gear head engine lathe with a 48" bed for $800 or so but I have no place to put it and no way to move it, it was 10' long and 4' high. Somebody else got a great deal on that one.

Josiah,

If you end up keeping the Hardinge, which is undoubtly three phase, don't forget about reasonable priced inverters for power. I have three of them in my shop powering a Bridgeport, a lathe and a drill press...all three phase.

Stuart

Stuart,
What brand are you using? I've heard about people using them on woodworking tools to get variable speed simultaneously with 3-phase.

This lathe came out of a model/prototype shop that is upgrading to CNC, so I'm not sure how many extras come with it yet. I have an appointment next week to pay for it and schedule some time at the loading dock- they are busy. It depends on how much money I have to throw at it to make it work for me if I'm going to keep it or not. I might try to trade it for a lighter duty machine if it gets too expensive.

I have a grizzled old friend at work who does hobby machining, I'm going to get him to help me out, I'm pretty green at metalworking.

You can build your own roto phase for very little. I've got one in my shop I built from used parts for less than $50. There's plenty of info on the inter net on how to build them.

Joshiah,

I have two TB Woods 'E-trac' inverters, one on the Bridgeport and one on the lathe. The drill press has a nice new little Hitachi on it.

All these units take your 240 single phase and create a third phase for a for a nearly true three phase output.

The lathe you bought is pretty darn specific, and in all honesty, not a all around lathe for a first time metal worker.

It is worth lots more than you paid for it...you got a great deal! You could easily resell it and make enough to purchase a brand new import lathe.

If your shop space is limited, a single machine with more functionality would be a better choice. The import lathes won't have the tolarences the Hardinge has, but they are more than adequate for even a finicky home shop machinist.

You didn't ask for my thoughts, but I get excited because I have been down this road before. Your friend will probably steer you in the best direction...grizzled usually goes hand in hand with wise. Have fun.

Stuart

Thanks for your thoughts- I probably will resell it or see what I can trade it for. Sometimes I enjoy the banter about machines as much as actually using them.

It's funny, I didn't really expect to win the bid on this- it was a silent auction and I just bid minimum.


I messed around with 3-phase power in the lab in college, both using it and generating it, but I never messed with phase conversions before. I once got in trouble for using every available transformer, wye-delta connections, and motor-generator set in the lab to see how many machines I could run in series before the losses got so bad that the last motor wouldn't spin. The professor walked in and made me explain the whole thing on the board.

Sounds like a great deal.If you do sell it to purchase a new one,I would stay away from Smithy brand.I bought their CB-1220-XL lathe/mill a few years back.The tolerances are +/- a mile compared to say an old Bridgeport.

thats a nice machine its enough to make any tool maker drool at that price you stole it Later Earl

Well, I decided to pass it along to someone else and never even took it home. I'll get a more general purpose machine eventually. Probably another used one, I prefer old iron to new. I'm probably going to use the money for a big bandsaw.

Don't want to steal your thread but you reminded me of my neighbor. He lost his job and got some part time work at a local landscapers. He'd been there about three days when the boss told him that they were going to sell all their pickups and sign on with a fleet-lease company. These were 3 year old Ford Rangers. John asked how much and the boss said he would sell to his workers for $2000 a piece. John bought one, sold it to a friend the same day for $4000, took the change and bought an engagement ring and was engaged the next day.
They're now very successful and have two nice daughters.

I'm not suggesting anything. You better stick with your bandsaw.

Jim Bow,

Are you telling us your neighbor, John, married the guy with the landscaping outfit and they now have two daughters! I'm from California, but this sure seems strange, regardless.

Stuart