Thread: Hare and Forbes Sale

I also got their catalogue, but Im not rushing in, I paid good money for a Heavy duty garage trolly jack from them , as I didn't want a cheap quality one only used it 6 times in 12 months I wanted to use it yesterday and it just leaks oil from the hydraulics and no lift. My 20 tonne press leaks oil, the scope I bought lost it's colour screen then stopped working. The rattle gun kit, the wrench stropped working, the rattle gun forward/ reverse slide bar, now pushes out if not careful.
Everything has happened when warranty runs out.

The large pedestal drill however has been good, even though the cheap plastic flip up safety eye shield broke on it's 2nd use.
The wall mounted air hose auto retrieve reel functions beautifully
A mate just spent $13K on a lathe and mill for his home garage, he hasn't had any probs.
but I'm going to be a bit more careful of their products
I was considering a Mig /Tig and plasma cutter, but a bit turned off

If you're planning a lathe mill drill combo...bear in mind they are quite small.
I have the AL-280P which has the mill head rising from the headstock.
Good in theory but no way of power feeding past the mill, can't reverse the leadscrew to cut left hand threads, and the height above centre and swim numbers look good but come at the cost of any sort of rigidity....
Much better getting the slightly more expensive one with a separate mill motor that mounts mid-bed. Yes it has small swing but you can actually use it without too much chatter....

If you must have a milling machine, think on this from the former owner/operator of a machine shop (me). It is said that a yacht is a hole in the water into which you throw money and a swimming pool is a hole in the ground into which you pour money. A milling machine is a black hole at the back of the shop at which you throw money. Every time you go to do a job on it you seem to have to buy a cutter, a fixture, a jig. If you must have one don't bother with those near useless tiny model makers combined lathe-mill-drills. Get a proper machine. A rigid one that will take a decent cut. A universal mill with motorised overarm and a vertical head. Buy second hand and look for the accessories, arbors, vertical head, collets, autolock, dividing head and tailstock with gear train, that should be with it. Lotza lolly if you don't get them and have to find and buy. Russians made good machine tools.

Edit:- by "take a decent cut" I mean 10-12mm cut with a slab mill on the arbor. Also look for height between the table and the arbor. No point in having a machine where you can't get the table with mounted workpiece low enough to go under the cutter.

Originally Posted by mick88

Just a tip!
If you are looking at getting a lathe make sure you get one with a reasonable size spindle bore and good size swing. As most here are into playing with or restoring series vehicles a lathe that can take a 10 or 11 inch brake drum (without removing the block) is handy.
Other than that it is endless what can be knocked up in a lathe.

Cheers, Mick.

"Reasonable size spindle bore". The AL320G Hobby Lathe package is a 38mm spindle bore. Is that "reasonable"? The next size up seems to be 51mm SB, but it's a giant price step and crosses the "unjustifiable" boundary.

"good size swing". The AL320G is 600mm between centres and 160mm centre height. That should do 320mm diameter, which is well more than 11", but not sure about allowance required for jaw chuck to grip a brake drum. I really hadn't thought of using it for something as big as a brake drum, but you make a good point worth considering.

I appreciate your input.
Cheers
John B

Originally Posted by JayBoRover

"Reasonable size spindle bore". The AL320G Hobby Lathe package is a 38mm spindle bore. Is that "reasonable"? The next size up seems to be 51mm SB, but it's a giant price step and crosses the "unjustifiable" boundary.

"good size swing". The AL320G is 600mm between centres and 160mm centre height. That should do 320mm diameter, which is well more than 11", but not sure about allowance required for jaw chuck to grip a brake drum. I really hadn't thought of using it for something as big as a brake drum, but you make a good point worth considering.

I appreciate your input.
Cheers
John B

Buy length in a lathe. If you are an automotive hobbyist, sooner rather than later you are going to machine a shaft or long bar. As to spindle bore, I recommend 75-80mm so one can get a decent bit of bar or tube up the spindle. Between centres I would like 1500-1800mm. Check the spindle speeds. A good lathe will have a speed range from 30-40 rpm to over 2000. The low speed is for amateurs and apprentices to practice screw cutting and the high speeds are necessary for small diameters and tungsten carbide tooling. The AL320 is by my standards a small hobbyist lathe suitable for light chuck work. I had a long bed Hercus in my shop and all it got used for was light chuck work, making bushes, mandrels, etc. Everybody's favourite machine was the 8' Colchester.

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Combined mill and lathe would be awesome .

The AL280P? I had one 20 years ago (heck, is it that long!?) but sold it as I felt it wasn't that good/useful.

Agreed....

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

Buy length in a lathe. If you are an automotive hobbyist, sooner rather than later you are going to machine a shaft or long bar. As to spindle bore, I recommend 75-80mm so one can get a decent bit of bar or tube up the spindle. Between centres I would like 1500-1800mm. Check the spindle speeds. A good lathe will have a speed range from 30-40 rpm to over 2000. The low speed is for amateurs and apprentices to practice screw cutting and the high speeds are necessary for small diameters and tungsten carbide tooling. The AL320 is by my standards a small hobbyist lathe suitable for light chuck work. I had a long bed Hercus in my shop and all it got used for was light chuck work, making bushes, mandrels, etc. Everybody's favourite machine was the 8' Colchester.

Errr, wow! That's like a $15k lathe ... for "an automotive hobbyist"? Sounds like serious workshop professional to me. I'm guessing you had a pro workshop of some sort. A shaft that big, that needs lathe work, will get farmed out or replaced. How many complete S1 Land Rovers could I buy with $12.5k? ($15k less the $2.5k for a hobbyist lathe?). That'd be somewhere between 6 and 30 in my own experience.

So with a SB of 38mm, swing of 160, centres of 600mm and speed range of 60 to 1600rpm, the AL-320G doesn't cut the mustard. Food for thought.

Cheers