Supporting > My Workshop

Do I need a new lathe?

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Mosey:
Well, since I am making many tiny bits these days, and I don't like my Derbyshire 750 for that, I need a new small lathe, don't I?
The Derbyshire is very nice, but it is a jewelers lathe so the saddle doesn't travel on the ways, except for unlock, move, relock.
What is out there in very small size that has high precision and a traveling cross-slide/compound?
Love to find something Swiss to keep the F1 company, maybe Habegger, Schaublin 70 mm, etc. Can't break the bank though.
Cowells? Sherline?( not precise enough) Unimat? No.
I definitely want precision or there is no point in switching from Derbyshire, which is fully accessorized.

b.lindsey:
What kind of precision are you looking for Mosey?

Bill

Mosey:
Not watchmaker, but sub-thousandths. Equal to my South Bend or better.
Today I'm making teflon buttons for my wrist pins, so I need diameter to fit snugly in wrist pin bore, that king of precision. A couple of tens.

steamer:
Mosey,

If your sub 1/4" diameter...and not made out of tungsten.....I'd stick with the Derbyshire.

The spindle is really key...next is the cross slide.

Derbyshire has all that...and as you stated  it's tooled.

And what costs the most is not the lathe...but the tooling!

A Schaublin 70 would be wonderfull! as it uses the same collets and spindle thread as the F1.
    Bring your BIG checkbook though....they start in the "they want $3K for that piece of ()@*()!"
And go up from there....you and I have seen what's happened to F1's lately on the bay.... :hellno: :hammerbash: :wallbang:

An old Stark or Ames or Pratt and Whitney....with 3C collets would be wonderful....but it needs to be pristine to be worth it....unless you REALLY REALLY want to share in my ill mental health :hellno:

JMHO.......worth exactly what you paid for it......

Dave

b.lindsey:
That's closer than most of us can or even need to work to consistently.  Working to tenths would normally require a temp and humidity controlled environment as well. In the wrist pin button case, I am thinking that the wrist pin hole itself will grow with heat as much or more than the teflon but would have to look up the coefficients of expansion. Sorry, not much help there I know. Of those you mentioned I would think the Cowells would be a nice fit but certainly not cheap.

Bill

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