Thread: Buying a New Hare and Forbs Lathe . Which one????

Hi Tim,
I think you have answered your own question really. Get the best you can afford and yes the AL32G is stronger, largest capacity lathe in your list and has more usable features.

Remember you can always do small work on a large lathe.

Tooling will cost you heaps so allow for this in your budget. At the least you will need a set of turning tools. I would recommend the indexable type until you can master sharpening HSS blanks.This will get you started without the frustration of - is it the cutter or the way I am approaching the job. Ebay is a good source for tooling - do a search on lathe.

H&F usually supply their lathes with chucks, faceplate and steadies but you will need a tailstock MT2 or 3 drill chuck, centre drill/s, micrometer or vernier, parting toool and later on a boring bar, knurling tool, dial gauge, etc ,etc.

I have the AL50GA and AL330A so if you want to know anything specific about these lathes let me know. By the way the only reason I got the AL50GA was because it is belt driven and runs a lot quieter than the large geared head lathe so I can use it a night.

A note about the stands - they are all too low for the average height Australian and expect some lower back pain if you get one with the lathe.

Also be real careful as metal swarf and rotating chucks are very dangerous. I have had more cuts (two that should have been stitched) in the last two years of metalworking than I have had with over thirty years of woodworking. Strange that I still treat woodworking with more caution than metalworking. :confused:

By the way I have overcome the cuts by a very useful tip I picked up on a lathe site. Put a rare earth magnet out of a computer hard drive inside a plastic bag and put your hand in there like a glove. Collect as much swarf as you can then turn the bag inside out and bin.

I have sent you a response to your email with a list of links for lathe sites. I find a lot of conflicting opinions as these people are like car owners and defend their choice even if they did buy a Ford.

Note that I am a weekend amateur and only relatively new to lathe and milling operations.

Thanks for that Rod.

Looks like i might get the AL-32G. Thanks for the heads up about the stand. I was thinking of making one anyway, now i will as i am 6 foot tall

This will be my first lathe so dont know what toos i will need or what there names are, Are any of the tool kits or packages worth getting ? I already have Verniers and a dial gauge. I know what a knurling tool is and wont be needing one. What are the indexable type tools ?

I will be working with alloy mostly too so if i need specal tools for that let me know.

Thanks for the links too but they where blocked by my hotmail so i couldent use them
Tim.

Hi Tim
I had prepared a message twice for you but lost both while trying to get the links. I am a bit annoyed at myself for pressing the wrong button and loosing the messages so excuse me for only providsing the links.

You will learn a lot from them and there are hours of reading ahead.
Try this one first as it is an on line tutorial and covers most aspects of lathe work. Videos and all and it runs OK on a dial up connection.

http://www.jjjtrain.com/vms/library.html

Here are some Australian suppliers with priced online ordering (I make no recommendations on their products or prices)

http://www.engineering-tools.com.au/index.htm
http://www.hareandforbes.com.au/sample_2/home.php
http://www.minitech.com.au/
http://lprtools.eck.net.au/

Here are some lathe forums:

http://tokentoolroom.com/forum/
http://www.chaski.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?Cat=
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/cg...ultimatebb.cgi

Here are some other interesting sites:

http://users.moscow.com/oiseming/lc_ant_p/lnk_mtal.htm
http://members.optushome.com.au/terrybrown/
http://bedair.org/index.html
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~chrish/t-finish.htm

Hope this helps you

Thanks Rod, You are the best !!!!!


Because you are the only one on this forum that is willing to help can you tell me what i should be looking for in a lathe regarding the specifications ?

I see a lot of people have the 9 x 20 type lathe and are doing lots of mods to make them better.Would the AL-32G do away with needing these things done to it ? Is it like a slightly bigger 9 x 20 that has had all the beefing up done to it from the start ? I dont know if you know much about the AL-32G but you would probably know more than me. And anyone else out there who can help just jump right in.

Thanks,
Tim.

Originally Posted by Timox

Because you are the only one on this forum that is willing to help.

Deary me Tim that's a harsh call..... this is a Woodwork forum after all, with only a few with any detailed knowledge of things metal lathe!

Keep posting though guys, there's always something to glean!

P

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

Deary me Tim that's a harsh call..... this is a Woodwork forum after all,

Just trying to stir up some activity Things are very quiet round these parts.
Mabe i should have re-worded that to Because his is the only person ABLE to help.

Hi Tim
In my first post I wrote, "Note that I am a weekend amateur and only relatively new to lathe and milling operations." so please don't think I am an expert.

I have invested a lot of time researching and reading books so I hope that what I have said is reasonably close to the mark.

The AL50A and AL50GA are what the rest of the world call a 9X20 and the lathes are sold under many brands and models but all come from the same place and specifation. They are in fact clones of the Emco and they are marketed as an entry level lathe. Built to a price they do need some cleaning up and deburring but they can be used very successfuly without any further modification. There are lots of modifications suggested to improve the lathe but they are not essential.

I have not seen the AL32G but from the catalogue it does look a far more robust machine.

If this is any help my AL330A has been taken out of the crate, cleaned and used without modification or for that matter any adjustment and has performed very well.

The AL50GA was partly stripped down, leadscrew deburred, cleaned and re-assembled. I have built the 4 bolt toolpost and will be doing a couple of other mods to bring it up to a reasonable standard. Don't be caught up by the suggestions in the 9X20 Yahoo forum as some of them are fanatics and IMHO take it a bit over the top. They are a decent group and only too willing to help if you follow the 9X20 path.

Ok, well lets just put the Hare and Forbes lathes to the side for the moment.

What other brands of lathes in Australia are there that are of top quality ??? I am looking for the really good quality lathes that do not require any extra work and are very accurate and solid as a rock.... What about something Australian made? I know they will be expencive but you get what you pay for. Oh and i just want to mention that i want a machine that works, not just own high profile brand names.

Could someone list the top brands for me that are avalible in Aus and some links to there websites or links to other peoples sites that are using these brand lathes ?

Thanks guys,
Tim.

Hi Tim,
IMHO the H&F range is what is available on the Australian market. These lathes are made in China and Taiwan and it doesn't matter which seller you go to the same generic range will be offered but under different badging. By the way Taiwanese lathes are considered to be good quality.

If you look at the American market there are only a few lathe manufacturers still trading. The price of their machines is probably ten times more than a similar capacity lathe out of Asia. High labour costs and OHS standards have forced manufacture overseas. The chances of an Australian manufacturer still surviving are slim.

As a matter of interest American machinists are losing contracts to Asian machinists who compete for work over the internet. Apparently Asia can produce jobs and ship finished articles cheaper than their American counterparts.

There has also been a trasition in manufacturing from manual lathes to CNC which are highly specialised and very expensive.

I have provided alternative suppliers in the links I posted earlier and if you have a close look at the lathes they will be similar to the range offered by H&F. I am not an advocate of H&F but their range is typical of what the market has to offer.

In your first post you said you could only afford $1,800 for a new lathe so I think you are limited to the range we have been discussing.

Like you I was confused when I started out so take your time and properly research all you can before you make a decision. Also think about what you want to make because this will determine what you need to buy.

Thanks Rod,


Well it looks like the Hare and Forbes are good value for money.

I have a concern about the AL-32G that i am a bit worried about. The swing over the cross slide is only about 106mm where as on the smaller AL-50GA it is about 130mm. Is this something to be worried about ??? I am.

The AL-32G is bigger in all other measurments but the cross slide. So far i only have small work in mind but you never know when you might want to do something big.

I live and work on a farm ( my dad is my boss ) and he also wants to get a lathe for doing things on the farm so he said he would buy it for us boath now comes the problem when he wants do work on something big. The AL-32G is the most money he is willing to spend on a lathe including tooling so any bigger is not an option. Unless i chip in another $600 and we get the AL-300 ??? It looks like a great lathe. If only the cross slide swing was bigger it would be perfict.... Is it going to be a big deal?

If so then how good is the AL-300 ?

AL-300
center height- 150mm
swing over bed- 300mm
swing over cross slide- 140mm

AL-32G
center height- 160mm
swing over bed- 320mm
swing over cross slide- 106mm

All other measurments are the same.

So, if money was no object, between these two what would be the more usefull and accurate machine?.......As a hobby lathe that is.

Thanks,
Tim.

Don't overlook secondhand, I have owned for the past 11 years a 1950's australian made "Goodall" 13" swing on 36" bed, cost at the time was same as small H&Fs etc. I also have used a few large Nutall machines and believe apart from the metric/imperial thread issues, you would be hard pushed to find anything of similar tolerances this side of $20-30K.
this of course is only IMO

Turning a 100mm solid shaft is by my standards a big job. Steel is not cheap and you could be looking at $100/metre for this size.
Probably the best way is to think about the machinery you have and what type of repairs or manufacturing you want to do. This should set your mind on a suitable lathe.
Both machines look of similar quality but I suggest you ring them and discuss the merits of each.

I Just Bought A Al-54 Lathe And Very Happy With It Have Used It Straight Out Of The Grate After A Clean Up Of Cause,, And Had No Problems ,,and As Stated By A Few Others Belt Drive Is Quiter And Good For Late Nite Work If U Have Houses Close To U
Regards Peter

Hi Peter,
Great to see another wooodworker turning to the real dark side.
The AL-54 looks like a good machine and I thought about it before buying the AL-50GA. I settled on the smaller machine because I didn't need the capacity.
Did you get it from H&F or Fiora or .....?
The Yahoo 9X20 lathe group have just finished three PDF files that cover Getting Started on the Lathe and two on the 9X20 and Mini lathe.
I would recommend the getting started file as it covers the basics with lots of photos to show what is happening.
It is about 3MB and I can either send it to you or give you the group address. I think you will have to sign up to download the file though.