looking for lathe

[rampa room artillery]

 Hey i am looking into buying a lathe,    but i dont know what size i will need,  I want the ability to turn and bore a 10lb parrot rifle./ 24 lb field howitzer.
  at the largest.   my theory is why buy a small lathe that i wont be happy with in 3 years when i should just get a large on now. for what i plan to build in the future.


 any ideas??

 rick bryan
  N-SSA

[dan610324]

thats good thinking
and the larger lathes are much cheaper than the small

[Double D]

This will be a pretty big investment for a one time job.  I would think for the cost of buying  a lathe and tooling getting it shipped in, finding a place big enough to set it up and wired in and the buying the material and doing the work you could buy a tube from somebody.

 

[GGaskill]

I want the ability to turn and bore a 10lb parrot rifle./ 24 lb field howitzer.

A 10 pounder Parrott is about 6' long and a 24 pounder field howitzer is about 64" long.  You need about twice as much between centers as the barrel is long to be able to drill them, so a 120" lathe would be minimum.  That is pretty big for a home lathe, and it probably wouldn't be useful for much other than cannon making.  Which may or may not be good or matter.   

[Soot]

I've seen plenty of huge lathes for sale for what they are worth as scrap metal because not many people want such a large machine.
The setup and tooling costs can be astronomical. A machine that big can easily weigh 8000 + pounds and use 440 3 phase power.
Plan on some type of crane / hoist system to move the work piece or just change the chuck.
Unless you need this type of machine for a business that you also plan to make a few barrels on, I don't think it's worth the cost.
A smaller lathe would be so useful that you wouldn't want to get rid of it if you did end up buying a large one.

[Cat Whisperer]

Remember, all new tools were made on old tools.

Your best buy is to find a machine shop closing (as work goes to automated and cnc shops).

Then you can get the lathe AND the tooling for one LOW price.

I have two 13x38 gap bed lathes that I paid $400 each for in a package deal with a milling machine and a drill press.

I don't NEED two. (hint)

[grymster]

If you can, anything by Monarch or Mori Seiki is good stuff.

[subdjoe]

This will be a pretty big investment for a one time job.  I would think for the cost of buying  a lathe and tooling getting it shipped in, finding a place big enough to set it up and wired in and the buying the material and doing the work you could buy a tube from somebody.

 

But how can you set a price on the personal satisfaction of being able to point to a Parrott or some such and saying, "I made that barrel!"? 

[Soot]

But how can you set a price on the personal satisfaction of being able to point to a Parrott or some such and saying, "I made that barrel!"?  

I think the price of that satisfaction would start at around $20,000 and go way up from there.

[GGaskill]

I think the price of that satisfaction would start at around $20,000 and go way up from there.

My guess is, depending on where you are, that you can find an old 120" manual engine lathe for $2000-3000 but you will have to look around.  Moving it will be expensive unless you have moving equipment.  Don't try moving it alone unless it is your business.  It's possible with the right stuff but a ten foot lathe is pretty big for a home shop.

[Cat Whisperer]

I remember when my boss bought an old lathe with an 8' bed.  Took some fixin' but for under $100 it did him well.

There are deals out there!  Take your time looking.

[rampa room artillery]

well I have plenty of equipment to move a lathe, on my rollback truck and forklift, or my 33000lb carry deck crane truck.
    well i will get a small lathe and keep looking for my large lathe,  I want to build cannons for a side business.  I am going to witmeers wheel shop in two weeks to get my wheels for my next limber.


rick bryan

N-SSA

[GGaskill]

It sounds like you can move it.  Most people don't have stuff like that.

Lathes are top heavy so lag screwing a 4x6 as long as the lathe is tall across each pair of legs helps to keep them from tipping over.  Also, lag screwing some long pieces the long way helps to make them slide as a unit instead of as a series of legs.

Now, just keep looking.  Letting the word out you are looking helps sometimes, too.

[Zulu]

well I have plenty of equipment to move a lathe, on my rollback truck and forklift, or my 33000lb carry deck crane truck.
    well i will get a small lathe and keep looking for my large lathe,  I want to build cannons for a side business.  I am going to witmeers wheel shop in two weeks to get my wheels for my next limber.


rick bryan

N-SSA

Rick,
You are going to build a limber?  I have built two of them, and I did it properly per the drawings.  It is no easy task.
I would be extremely interested in progress photos of your build.  It would show everyone here the complexity of the job that was originally done with just hand tools.  Are you going to build a limber chest too?
Zulu

[entsminger]

==Scott==
  I went through exactly what you are going through when I wanted to get a lathe big enough to make a 10 inch mortar.  I found several vertical lathes with a almost 4 foot chuck but I also I found they were huge and weighed more than a car and usually 3 faze and where the heck would I put such a monster?? I could have probably gotten one for around 3 thousand. I thought the idea of being able to actually make my own mortar would be worth the effort but in the end I just figured it wasn't just to make one mortar. Now if I was like Dominik who makes lots of them then yea, I would have gotten one, but it always came back to that , where the heck am I going to store such a huge machine? Much easier to just buy one already made.

[rampa room artillery]

 well I will be building a 2nd model praire limber with the twin boxes and i will also build one large single box. to see which one I will like better. I will have the pics of my small mortar limber boxes up on here tomarrow i have finished one and have the other 3 in differnt stages of my build so you will be able to see how i build them.


rick bryan
 n-ssa