AL-320G observations

[gngh]

I’m after some info on the AL-320G, does anyone have one and what are your observations? It looks as though the auto longitudinal feed relies on the leadscrew halfnuts, is that correct? I assume the change gears also have to be assembled by hand?

[rodweb]

If you can afford the $ and the space get the AL336. I had the $ but not the space so I bought an AL320G in January.

i like it a lot and leaves my old one for dead. You get a 38mm spindle which lets you use 5C collets with an adapter, and is much more useful than a 25mm spindle. You also get a 4 jaw chuck as standard. I love having a power cross feed.

it is heavy, has heaps of grunt letting you take deep cuts which has taken a bit of getting used to for me. I get much better finishes. The problems I had at the start were a 4 jaw chuck with a tight jaw. I took it back and discussed it with H&F and decided to keep it and spend a bit more time working on it. Also, the oil sight glass is only plastic and I'd broke before I had it fixed. They air bagged me one and gave me 5 litres of oil and it did it again overnight. I bought a steel threaded sight glass and problem was solved for $12.

Threads require setting change wheels manually and there is a high and low speed belt. Each belt is supplemented by 6 gears so you don't need to change belts often. When you do it is very easy to do.

i bought a BXA quick change toolpost from CTC Tools in Hong Kong which was easy to fit. All I needed to do was get a 16mm bolt and bore and thread it internally. The QCTP H&F sell for it is very expensive and looks like a major job to fit.

My travels so far since purchasing this lathe are to documented here

Rod's Aussie Shed - Home Model Engine Machinist (http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/f15/rods-aussie-shed-19885/)

[Stustoys]

It looks as though the auto longitudinal feed relies on the leadscrew halfnuts, is that correct?
No*
Powerfeed and thread cutting use the same shaft but the powerfeed is driven off a keyway in the leadscrew. You dont touch the half nut handle when using powerfeed(I assume there will be a lock out stopping you from engaging both at the same time)

Stuart

*I think..... its been a long time since I had a good look at this lathe

[gngh]

I assumed the power feed was driven via the half nuts because I can only see two levers one for crossfeed and one for half nut engagement. So, the half nut engagement lever must have two positions then, is that correct?

[Stustoys]

the halfnut lever(the one on the front) up is disengaged, down in engaged
the powerfeed (the one on the top) push it away from you is crossfeed, pull it towards you is carriage feed. Middle netural.
http://images.machineryhouse.com.au/L141/6/700
This assumes that H&F have their pictures up to date.

Stuart

[Gavin Newman]

Stuart is correct, I had an AL320G previously and can confirm that the power feeds (longitudinal & cross-feed) are driven from the keyway in the lead-screw and are independent of the half-nuts.

There is a lockout between the feed lever (on the top of the saddle) and the thread lever (on the front of the saddle) so they cannot be operated at the same time.

The gotcha with the feed lever is that it is possible to go from long feed to cross feed unintentionally if you are too forceful with the lever. My Al960G has a dog-leg between the long and cross feeds (which is more foolproof). Having said that you will only overshoot with the AL320G once (guess how I know).

Change gears are manual as you say.

There seem to be good examples of these lathes and bad ones, I had no problems with mine apart from a leak from the gearbox (fixed under warranty) but others report significant issues with them. They seem to sell like hot cakes so there must be a lot of satisfied users.

The fit and finish is not nearly as good as the Taiwanese lathes but they are still worth looking at.

Bear in mind that they have a fixed flange spindle (as opposed to a threaded or camlock system) so your choice of additional chucks will be limited.

[rodweb]

(I assume there will be a lock out stopping you from engaging both at the same time)

Stuart

*I think..... its been a long time since I had a good look at this lathe

Correct, you can't engage both.

I will say having finally got around to checking the runout on the spindle, there is basically none on the internal spindle taper. I am waiting for a Tesa .002mm indicator to arrive to confirm.

As said elsewhere, moving the lever too far can cause a crash and I can also confirm you only do it once! Fortunately, it was with plastic. Once you experience this, you miraculously develop a much better feel to the lever and it never seems to be a problem again!