Lathe buying advice.

[POD]

I have a major birthday approaching and my wife is keen to buy me a metal lathe; I have a pretty well-equipped workshop and have made no secret over the past few years of how much I would like to add a lathe to it.
As my actual experience with using lathes is very limited, I would appreciate some advice from those with experience in what would be useful in a general home/hobbyist/small acreage workshop. Also a few questions about unfamiliar terms I've come across when looking on the interweb at second-hand lathes.
-If a lathe is described as a 'capstan lathe', does this machine also have the normal toolpost and crossfeed etc of a normal lathe, in addition to the capstan arrangement?
-What is meant by the term 'centre lathe'? Is this the proper term for the familiar general metal turning lathe?
-What is a 'collet lathe'?
-Are the combination lathe/mill/drill machines any good? All the ones I've seen seem to incorporate a lathe that is very small and thus presumably of limited usefulness.
-How much of a factor is the spindle bore size? I had to take a trailer axle to a specialist a few years back when customising the ends to accept LR hub spindles, but I don't know how often jobs that require a large spindle hole might come up.
-What are realistic specifications to look for in a lathe for general home workshop use?
Thanks in anticipation.

[bee utey]

Not much into industrial terms, I suggest you do a bit of wikipedia reading.

Personally I wouldn't touch a combination mill/lathe unless it comes with impressive credentials.

I do know spindle bore size is a good indicator of head stock stiffness, resistance to tool chatter comes from a stiff headstock.

I have a small WW2 era "Qualos" geared head lathe which I bought 30 years ago, I can get a 22mm bar up the headstock but it really needs to be bigger. Virtually anything that I machine longer than 25mm or so gets a live centre into it to steady it. I hardly ever do screw cutting, it's a very exacting process. Where taps and dies are available I use them. Mind you, when I was young, time rich but penniless I made my own Ryco style air connectors, oil filter adaptors, driveshafts, tapered lathe tool adaptors etc. I would have liked one big enough to do brakes, flywheels etc but I don't do them enough to worry now.

[isuzutoo-eh]

My experience is with a watchmaker's lathe and some friend's hobby lathes and mills-but my knowledge is limited.
Collets are usually far more accurate than a 3 jaw chuck but you need lots of them as each collet only does a small range of sizes. A 4 jaw chuck can be as accurate but takes longer to set up each time.
Combo lathe/mill machines are conveniant only due to size, most are a pain to change between operations. One of my friends has had a combo machine for years, but bought another lathe and mill as well. He has now set up the combo to use the lathe head as an indexed horizontal rotary table, which is pretty nifty but i haven't ever seen anything useful made with it.

I'm getting a small cnc mill for work soon

[Recy Mech]

Been chatting to a couple of rev-heads at BHP who race their (speedway) cars up and around the Pilbara, and from their recommendation as one owns a number of machines for his own rebuilds.

This bad boy is both a lathe and milling machine and for the price you can't go wrong.

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/L159

Actually, this company which is in Melbourne is the best they reckon for buy home machinery 'stuff'.

[p38arover]

This bad boy is both a lathe and milling machine and for the price you can't go wrong.

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/L159

Oddly enough, I bought one of those, took it with me to Norfolk Island, never used it and ended up selling it before I came home.

Would I buy another? Hmm. Probably not but I can't give you any real reason why not except it was a bit limited in capability. I should look at it again. I'd like to finish the Stuart 10V steam engine I started 25 years ago.

[bee utey]

Keep an eye on this one, looks like a good size:

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

or this

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/METAL-LAT...item3f13c16622

[JDNSW]

Been chatting to a couple of rev-heads at BHP who race their (speedway) cars up and around the Pilbara, and from their recommendation as one owns a number of machines for his own rebuilds.

This bad boy is both a lathe and milling machine and for the price you can't go wrong.

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/L159

Actually, this company which is in Melbourne is the best they reckon for buy home machinery 'stuff'.

I have one of them (different brand but same thing). I find it extremely useful for all sorts of things, way better than no lathe. But it is limited in size, and milling capability is very limited.

In general, get the largest you can afford (and have space for), but the best value is likely to be someone else's hobby lathe from a deceased estate or someone going into a retirement home. The reason for this is that it probably has all the extras that will be extra cost if you buy a new one.

John

[POD]

Keep an eye on this one, looks like a good size:

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

or this

METAL LATHE | eBay

Both look like just the sort of thing. Unfortunately I don't have 3-phase power to the shed, not wanting to part with the money to connect.

[bee utey]

My little lathe was 3 phase. I just bought a suitable single phase motor for it. The only thing it doesn't do is reverse electrically. I have coped with that.

[POD]

I have one of them (different brand but same thing). I find it extremely useful for all sorts of things, way better than no lathe. But it is limited in size, and milling capability is very limited.

In general, get the largest you can afford (and have space for), but the best value is likely to be someone else's hobby lathe from a deceased estate or someone going into a retirement home. The reason for this is that it probably has all the extras that will be extra cost if you buy a new one.

John

Yeah I've always thought the way to go would be to get someone's lifetime of accumulated accessories and tooling rather than start from scratch. I'm thinking perhaps I'd be better to go for a fair-dinkum size lathe rather than one that can do a limited amount of 3 things. I already have a good drill press.
Saw one advertised yesterday that is 15 meters between centres with a 4.5 metre swing. Reckon that would be big enough for most of my stuff. But it was 3-phase.