Gunsmithing I want this lathe...Clausing Colchester 2500

[Mgordon]

http://www.waltermeier.com/us/manufacturing/en/product_jet.html?node=448&product=2244

This is for my gunsmith shop, I figured buy once, cry once.... I have been looking for a good used lathe with all the features I wanted, but I just see any that have what I need and are in good shape.

Its a Jet 1440ZX. The things that I like about this over others in the $10,000 range is it has a spindle bore of 3 1/8 inches, it weighs over 5000 lbs, it has a 7 1/2 hp motor with 3 phase already wired in, plus it comes standard with 3 jaw, 4 jaw and others. If anybody has any opinions that they want to share I would be open to hearing them.

 

[gamma]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

Looks good to me. The only thing you might want to look at though is the headstock,it looks very big in the shot,could pose a problem if your using it to chamber barrels through the head.

 

[Glen Seekins]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

If you chamber between centers it would be great. I would also look at Kent lathes, they have some decent ones.

 

[300sniper]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

like mentioned already, i think that headstock is going to be too long for barrel work. i would not buy a lathe for barrel work knowing that you would have to chamber with a steady rest.

 

[JimT]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

How about this one? You could spend the difference on tooling.

Grizzly Lathe

 

[crumpmd]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

I'd look at the 1340A

 

[Mgordon]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

Well, I think I'm going to pass on that Jet. The headstock looks too long. I do all/most of my chamber and crown work in the headstock, so that would not be good. I was checking out the Grizzly Gunsmith Lathe listed on the link posted above and it has great features and what not, but I just dont know what to think about the quality of Grizzly stuff. If anybody can vouch for them or fill me in on them I would appreciate it. The package Grizzly has listed seems almost "too good to be true" So we will see. I'm looking to spend around $10,000 for the lathe and most tooling. I would like a Digital Read Out, 3 and 4 jaw, Coolant system, short headstock dimension, at least 1.75" spindle bore. Any other suggestions?

 

[Glen Seekins]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

"but I just dont know what to think about the quality of Grizzly stuff"

Not a gunsmiting lathe, Its a big clunky lathe with a spider on the back of the spindle bore. I have built a couple rifles with their big gunsmith lathe. its like driving a '53 jeep.

You don't need 5 horsepower for a smithing lathe either.

You can get a dang nice lathe for 10k. Especially with the way the economy is now. Machine tool sales are waaaaaay low and deals are everywhere.

http://www.ganeshmachinery.com/index.asp?pageID=143&prodID=8
http://www.kentusa.com/products/lathes/#economy

This is what i use, too small to do barrels between centers, but you wont get much more accurate. they can be had for 10k if you shop around a bit. I rebuilt mine.
http://cgi.ebay.com/HLV-H-HARDINGE-Super...=item1e586af7cb

Most of these lathes are going to be 3ph power, but you can easily run them on single with a converter.

 

[Mgordon]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

Mr. Seekings, thank you for the links. The Ganesh lathe looks pretty nice. I like the short headstock length but the spindle bore seems a little close. I do pretty much all of my barrel work through the headstock. So this is pretty important for me.

The Kent looks good as well. I'm just going to have to cruise around the Cleveland Area and see whats out there.

 

[chpprguy]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: US Handgunner</div><div class="ubbcode-body">it has a 7 1/2 hp motor with 3 phase already wired in, </div></div>

excuse my ignorance.... you want three phase?

 

[Glen Seekins]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

You should be able to find all kinds of stuff around your area. 1.25" spindle bore has not slowed me down one bit and ive never wished for more yet. 1.5" on the link above is more than adequate. The chamber end (1.25") is always on one side or the other being dialed in or cut on. You can always do that one big barrel between centers if you needed to.

Good luck

 

[fuzzytek]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

There should be plenty of new and used equipment in your area. On the used side I would caution you on a couple of points. First is the reputation of the seller (although its true for new equipment also). I had a friend get a great deal on used one to have a bad gearbox. the seller gave them another one only to have hydrualic oil leak all other the place. The Jet lathe you were looking at has a DRO (digital read-out).A couple of things about DRO's. For new ones its always good to find a separate local source for parts. Machine sellers don't always stock parts for readouts so it may take time to get them. Local service companies will stock common parts and since it what they do they are more likely to fill min. order requirements faster than someone who only sells them with machines. On used dro's the biggest problem is obsolesence. Parts and repairs are harder to come by. For the scale type try to find a magnetic type. Sony and newall use them. Cleaning/lubing of the scale can be done be done with spraying some wd40.Be careful of glass scale type, with a decent crash you and you may have to replace it. Cleaning of these reqiures alcohol to clear the oil of the glass. Sorry this is a little long winded just some stuff I seen in the field.

 

[Mgordon]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

Any advice is great. I guess if I can find a Hardinge with a short gearhead width then the spindle bore dia. would not be that big of a deal, so I will keep an eye out for that. Its supposed to rain all week, so I'm going to look up all the local machine sales and do some phone calling.

If I can save some money and get a used machine with all or most of the tooling, that would be great, but I am going to want to get knee deep in projects when I buy one. I wont have the time to mess around with a used one that has hidden issues. I guess I will just have to get a feel for the salesman and the company and determine the quality of business that they do.


Originally Posted By: US Handgunner
it has a 7 1/2 hp motor with 3 phase already wired in,


excuse my ignorance.... you want three phase?

I am all set up for 3 phase and I dont see why I would want to step down from it. Shouldn't 3 phase run more smoothly than others?

 

[Clark]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

I have a 1/5 horse power Atlas 12x36 that has plenty of power for barrel threads and chamber.

I still added a
Precision Matthew 12x36 with DRO

I wanted more stiffness for more precise deep cuts.
I wanted the larger diameter through the headstock.
I wanted the DRO.

The extra horse power is not needed for barrel threads and chambers, but it sure helps in building tooling.

 

[300sniper]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

i have been using a kent kls1340a and it has done everything i needed. if i were to start over, i'd get a precision matthews pm1340. with my kent, i need to change gears to go from standard feeds to threading feeds and that is a MAJOR pain in the ass. i feel the literature was a bit deceiving and made it sound like change gears were only required to do metric threads. it sounds like the precision matthews of the same size does not require change gears. link. i am also thinking a dro is a must have. i don't have one yet but will definatly be getting one when money isn't quite so tight.

 

[Clark]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

My Precision Mathews PM1236 requires changing gears, a 5 minute process, to get from fine threads to coarse threads.
That was a rude surprise.

Unfortunately, the dividing line is between 20TPI Rem 700 and 12TPI Mauser.

The same change on my 1938 old Atlas takes 30 minutes.
The same change on my 1967 Clausing 5914 takes 10 seconds.
The same change on my brother's 1999 Jet 13x40 takes 10 seconds.

The Kent, Jet, Precision Mathews, GMC, Birmingham, Harbor Freight, the imported Clausing, etc. all come from the same designs in China. ~ 80% of the parts are interchangeable with the same size machines.

 

[Mgordon]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

I found a Harrison M300 13x28 with a anilam DRO, 3and 4 jaw, quick change tool post and some other misc tooling. Asking price is $3500, but I know I can get it for $3000. Does anybody know anything about Harrison lathes? Is 13x28 going to be too small for most work? I do all my barrel work through the headstock. This lathe had a 1.5" spindle I'd and has a width of 21".

 

[x ring accuracy]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Clark</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My Precision Mathews PM1236 requires changing gears, a 5 minute process, to get from fine threads to coarse threads.
That was a rude surprise.

Unfortunately, the dividing line is between 20TPI Rem 700 and 12TPI Mauser.

The same change on my 1938 old Atlas takes 30 minutes.
The same change on my 1967 Clausing 5914 takes 10 seconds.
The same change on my brother's 1999 Jet 13x40 takes 10 seconds.

The Kent, Jet, Precision Mathews, GMC, Birmingham, Harbor Freight, the imported Clausing, etc. all come from the same designs in China. ~ 80% of the parts are interchangeable with the same size machines. </div></div>
Very true. I went back and forth over lathes for months just to find out they all came from the same place and / or interchangeable. For the money of a new chinese lathe was less than an american used with the shipping. Call them disposeable? Maybe, but cheaper. The Grizzly isn't bad depending on roll of the dice. YMMV

 

[Mgordon]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Colchester-Student-2...=item5ad2d9b29a

Enough said, I think this could be the one!!!!!!

 

[slayer_21420]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

sorry to steal your thread but does anyone have experience with the 12x36 g4003g grizzly? what do you guys think of it? and how short of a barrel can you run through the headstock?

thanks

Steve

 

[Clark]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

Buying a used lathe is like buying a used car.

Those that sell lots of lathes on Ebay, take a few minutes, mask a few things, and spray paint over dirt and oil.

Buying an old lathe on Ebay is like buying an old car on Ebay that has just had a spray paint over the dirt.

It looks like it might get you to work every day for 10 years from the little photo, but it probably is going to be a long painful restoration process before you give up and by a Chinese lathe.

If you have owned lathes before, and you get to try out the lathe, that is a different story. That is like a guy who has worked on cars getting to test drive it before he buys it. He still doesn't buy a 40 year old lathe to drive to work, unless he finds one with 20k miles and original tires. And we hear about those, but we never see them, do we?

 

[Mgordon]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

I think I would be able to make an accurate assessment of the quality and condition of the lathe. I know others have hundreds of thousands of hours, but I have around over 1000 hours on lathes and mills doing gunsmith work, so I hope that is enough to have an idea of what I want and what to look for.

 

[trilogymac]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

US,
You have good taste. A Clausing Colchester is a fine machine.
Look for a 13". Thats what I'm looking for. As soon as I find a real nice one for the right $ I'm going to be on it like white on rice!

Trilogymac

 

[Mgordon]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

Well I went and bought the Clausing Colchester 2500. Its in great shape. I will post a few pictures and I have some questions about it, maybe somebody here can help me out.

Mark

 

[crumpmd]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

Good Choice!
I bought the Grizzly 4003G and have been happy. But even the novice I am I can see the limitations.
Putting the barrel in the lathe is the way to go. Take a length of 1.25 bar stock and turn it between centers to a true diameter. Bore and thread both ends. One end 16 Tpi like a Rem receiver and the other a 5/8 by 24 tpi . I use it for when I want to cut a barrel to 16 inches. You use it as an extension. Plus for me making it was good practice and a good way to check tail stock alignment.

 

[sinarms]

Re: Thinking about getting this lathe.....

I have a grizzly g4003g lathe and I have about 200hrs on it so far, maybe even more. This lathe has been very good so far and I have turned out some very very nice barrels here are some pics of some work I did with it.

I know this lathe wont run up with the big dogs that cost $20K but for $3k shipped it does a nice job.