Hercus 260 as a first lathe?
I'm looking to buy my first lathe and have found a Hercus 260 for $1500.
From the ad: "3 & 4 jaw chucks, norton quick change gear box, metric lead screw, roller bearing head, good working order"
I've only seen a picture of it, and am going to have a look at it this weekend.
I'm a complete novice and have ordered some books to tell me what to do(!).
My main use is to generally have a play and to make the odd part etc. for my motorbikes.
I'm interested in any wisdom you might have:
- Is this a good machine to buy?
- Have you any advice as to how I might assess it when its in front of me?
- If its ugly, what would I have to replace (spindle bearings, rack etc.) to make it beautiful? Is it financially realistic to replace such parts if necessary? (For example I've think I've read somewhere about a Hercus 9" that needed new precision bearings that could cost $1000).
- What sort of accuracy would I expect from such a beast?
- I want to cut imperial threads. Do I need an imperial lead screw to do this, or is this where the magical 127 tooth cog comes in? I've ordered the book on screwcutting, so its not an explanation of screwcutting I'm after (yet!), just an evaluation of the difficulty (or ease) to set it up to cut imperial threads.
Any other thoughts etc. would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Darren
Imperial threading using an ATM
Good to some one else is bamboosaled with thread cutting. Can any one inform me as to what gears are required for imperial threading with my metric 260? and a source of such gears.
also wouldl gears from hercus 9 be suitable? thanks fellows.
cheers
kev.