10” class lathes. Precision Matthews vs. Wabeco?

[matthew-s]

Hi.

Kicking around the idea of a lathe upgrade. Currently have a Micromark  7x16.

As much as there seems to be considerable feature jump by moving to an 11” machine (separate feed shaft, camlock spindle), I feel like 10” is the upper limit of my 8’ x 12’ basement workshop.

Anyone ever see these two side by side?  It’s a long shot as Wabeco seems quite rare in USA.

The Wabeco is a little bigger however lacks power cross feed. In theory it is higher quality (or had better be for the price) but the limited info found on the web is not exactly resounding praise
 

Anyone handles one or both of these?
Does Wabeco really deliver with a premium product? 
Any issues with the 10” PM machines you’ve seen?

I have the PM 728 mill so familiar with the brand. However that is a Taiwanese mill whereas the 1022 is Chinese with therefore has an implied step down in quality.

Thanks in advance!

(A dark horse candidate is a Emco Maximat 11. Rare in the USA. Smaller than the PM 11” machine, but still pretty big, and NLA - although seems to have a very good reputation)

Thoughts?

[AVTUR]

I cannot answer your lathe question but I have had a Wabeco vertical milling machine, an F1210, for eighteen years. It has been well used, not abused, and has NEVER let me down. I do feel that it is bit lightly built.

AVTUR

[Thor]

 I have a Chinese lathe (Weiss 290) with 11" swing and 1.5" hole through the spindle. It is over a decade old and has not given me any problems. It does have an Inverter driving a 3-phase induction motor.

Thor

[Jasonb]

I have similar to a PM 27x11 and had it for 17-18 years with minimal issues and does all I want. It was also in a 11 x 8 workshop for the first part of its life.

If you do go with Wabeco then I would suggest the 6000 version as there are a lot of model engines with flywheels around the 9" diameter and the 4000 will be too small to turn those with it's 200mm capacity.

[matthew-s]

I have similar to a PM 27x11 and had it for 17-18 years with minimal issues and does all I want. It was also in a 11 x 8 workshop for the first part of its life.

If you do go with Wabeco then I would suggest the 6000 version as there are a lot of model engines with flywheels around the 9" diameter and the 4000 will be too small to turn those with it's 200mm capacity.

Yes. Thanks. It is the D6000 I’m considering.  If I go that path, it has better be “the one” given what they ask for it.

It’s a slippery slope!  11” gets you a lot more. But at a substantial jump in size and weight

[matthew-s]

I have a Chinese lathe (Weiss 290) with 11" swing and 1.5" hole through the spindle. It is over a decade old and has not given me any problems. It does have an Inverter driving a 3-phase induction motor.

Thor

Good to know it’s been good. The Weiss 290 appears to be the same / similar to the larger PM 11”

The PM 1022v is more like the Weiss 250 based on a quick internet search. That is also what BlondiHacks seems to use to very good effect.

[ShopShoe]

Mathew-s,

I am in your place myself right now.

I have a 7x mini lathe and I want something with more capability. So, I am also considering something from PM.

What I am wanting, in addition to larger capacity, is the power cross-feed, the cam lock spindle, and a quick-change gearbox with adequate threading options in both inches and metric.

Other considerations for me are that it would be purchased along with complementary accessories. So the investment in this step-up is more than just the lathe. (accessories not necessarily all from the lathe vendor.)

One of my hangups is whether or not to get a stand from the lathe vendor or to build a suitable bench. (Maybe I'm getting too old to spend the time and money doing this: I can build EXACTLY what I want, but the cost in money may be more than the purchased piece and the cost in time will keep me away from other projects.)

Good Luck, and let us know what you decide.

--ShopShoe

[Jasonb]

The power cross feed is nice to have, I use it a lot. Mine was before the camloc spindle was available.

These machines don't really have a quick change gearbox. The front control only give sthree set ratios 1:2, 1:1 and 2:1 and are used to get three options out of whatever change gears are on the banjo.

For example if the gear train gave 16tpi you could also get 8tpi and 32tpi without changing the banjo gears. Or more usefully you get three feed rates for whatever gear train you have.

In use you are unlikely to want to cut one pitch thread straight after another so will have to alter the gears for feed rates then back to the thread pitch you want next.

[redhouseluv]

I've just realised I have done exactly the jump you are talking about. I moved from an Axminster SC-2 which was 7 x 12 to a Warco 290v which is the same as the The Weiss 290 or PM 11.

I bought mine secondhand about 2 years ago, it's an older model without the camlock and is dated 2014. It came with a WM-16 mill attached to the back of the lathe which I didn't know was possible; I removed it and fitted a new milling table to it and placed it on a stand - bonus!!

They have both been faultless (apart from my stupidity) and they are very reliable, but I took quite a while to get used to the move from the smaller to larger machine, but in my opinion it was well worth the time and effort