Thread: Need a lathe... Hafco AL-320G?

Hi Steve,

I have owned and used an AL-320G for about 4 years. I am quite happy with it on the whole.
As for accuracy, it is as accurate as I want but this could depend on how well it is set up. I spent a fair bit of time setting mine up.
One drawback of this lathe is the lack of a quick change gearbox. That is, the feed speed is controlled by change gears so basically there is only one feed speed available without a lot of messing around. I don't really find this a problem as I am not usually in that much of a hurry. You can always do fast roughing cuts by hand feed.
There is one distinct design fault with this lathe and that is the feed control lever. It is very easy to pick up the cross feed when clicking out of the longitudinal feed and vice versa as there is no really positive detent between the two settings. The results of this can be quite disastrous to the work and the tooling. I have overcome this by a simple foolproof modification involving two removable 3/16" ss pegs set in holes drilled in the saddle body, one on either side of the feed lever when in the neutral position. Simply remove the peg to allow the direction of feed desired and replace when finished using this feed direction. Haven't had a problem since.
The change gear chart supplied with this lathe shows 0.5mm thread pitch as the smallest metric pitch. It may be possible to achieve 0.25mm pitch using gears that are not supplied as standard but it is possible that there is simply not enough room to fit these gears in without fouling other parts of the gear train.
I can't comment on how this lathe compares with the Sieg products, having never played with them at all.
Good luck with your deliberations.

Alan

I have had a 320G for about 2 years and am quite happy with it.
The main shortcoming is the lack of a quick change gearbox, but it has a lot of other features for the price.
Modifications I have made are, an idler/tensioner on the drive belt, allows easy belt adjustments which are required for some speeds, in practice I rarely do this. A lockout arrangement for the cross feed lever (essential). Replaced the circlips that hold the change gears on the shaft with a sheetmetal clip with a wingnut, this makes changing gears a much quicker and easier job.

The lathe is accurate enough for my purposes, I have found the large spindle bore VERY handy, also I just love this lathe for threading, for some reason it seems so much easier for threading than any other lathe I have used (once you have got the gears sorted).
There are better lathes around, but for the price this one would be quite hard to beat IMHO.

I seem to recall reading a post a while back on the AL320G about some issue with lubricating the small gearbox for the reverse tumbler.

Or some thing similar?

Is that right?

I had the AL320G on my short list years ago, but the lack of the QCGB put me off.

It's probably the biggest Chinese lathe you can buy without one.

Rob

Thanks for the info all!

Has as anyone done a DTI test for a run out reading on these machines? I know it will vary slightly from machine to machine but is it in the 0.00001" to 0.0001" range or are they more than that? (The problem is I'm in Cairns and the closest one of these lathes to me is in Brisbane... :/ ) Could I turn/thread 4mm OD rod ok?

It is a shame about the gearbox... So there are a few things you can mod to make it easier though.

Rob: You said it was on your short list, what did you end up getting and why?

Again, thanks heaps all for the info! The more info the better

Hey fellers, any chance of some pics of your arrangements for the feed control lever stops? That is a must-do in the near future for me.
Generally happy with mine except for going through start capacitors on the motor quite regularly, will eventually replace the motor. Only mod has been to put a 2" rubber grommet in the hole in the gear cover door.

Originally Posted by SkydivingSteve

Thanks for the info all!


Rob: You said it was on your short list, what did you end up getting and why?

Again, thanks heaps all for the info! The more info the better

I got a CQ9325 10 x 18.

This is big enough for my needs, has a 27mm spindle, QCGB, reverse tumbler, morse 3 tailstock with cam lock, morse 4 headstock.

No longer sold in Oz unfortunately.

The agent replaced it with another model, which has a smaller morse 2 tail stock, no reverse tumbler, and no camlock TS - for about the same money.

I've flogged the living daylights out of mine and it's stll good.

If I was lookig at something similar to an AL320G in size, I would add about $300 - 400 to the budget. There's quite a bit of stuff on offer around that price with all the goodies.

If you keep the unit 10 years, the extra cost will be well worth it.

Rob

Hi Steve,
After living with a lathe with out a QCGB for a long time and now having a lathe with one i would never recommend buying a general purpose lathe without one.
Even having one like Rob (Nearnexus) has, with a simple 3 speed box is far better IMHO. Not for the ease of threading, but for feed speeds. Especially on smaller machines you need to juggle the feed speeds and spindle speeds to get the best results and avoid chatter.

Now i know i say this every time someone asks about buying a lathe, but have you looked at a 2nd hand machine? I'm specifically thinking of a Lam/McMillan/Lantain etc. Not sure on the spindle bore though. There seems to be stacks of these on the market at the moment, you may need to arrange transport or go on a road trip to Brissy or somewhere.

Cheers,
Ew

Rob: its definately is a downfall of the machine. Plus no QCTP either which is another 500 on top... Can you run off some brands with similar sized machines that you mentioned as 300-400 more than the al-320g please? Or places to get them? If they come with a QCTP, QCGB, 4 jaw chuck with the same bore size and the other good features of the al-320g it will be the same price if not cheaper anyway. The only real question is quality. Like ive said its not set in stone yet.

Ew: yes I have looked in the second hand market for a machine. Everything I have found so far is well above my budget $5k to $10k... Plus with out touching them first I wouldnt know how clapped out they are. I would need someone to look at them for me. Another reason for new is I wont have to spend money on fixing what is broke but I could luck out and get a much better machine for the same price as a new one, but then why would they sell it if its in good condition? I dont know?

Thanks for the info and recommendations all! Please keep it coming!

Steve

Here are some more options-

http://www.paramountbrowns.com.au/in...tand-610mm-bc/

http://www.paramountbrowns.com.au/in...tand-910mm-bc/

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sieg-C8-3...item51b8ca9103

http://www.assetplant.com/epages/sho...oducts/12-0123

With regards to a QCTP you certainly don't need to spend $500, either do an ebay search for AXA toolpost or look here http://www.cdcotools.com/ or http://www.ctctools.biz/servlet/the-...81PC%29/Detail

Cheers,
Ew

I remember trying to get across the point on this forum that a QCGB is not (just) about threading. It's about feed speeds, as this is something you're going to use way more than the few threads you will ever cut in your life.

Even with a QCGB the odds are that you will still have to swap a few cogs for threading anyway - depending on how big a range the machine has.

In a situation where you are intending to turn axles, a QCGB would be an absolute must.

There's no way I would want to turn an axle by hand - not when you can just engage the feed and watch it do it's thing.

I may have been a bit liberal with the additional cost, but if you look around there will be machines available not too far up the dollar range.

I would never recommend any brand of new machine, as anything made in China can be variable. It's a bit of a lottery.

People rave about Seig, but I don't think it's anything special. They have their problems same as the rest, and charge a premium price for not many features. Red paint must cost more

Here's a reasonable looking job:

http://www.paramountbrowns.com.au/in...tand-910mm-bc/

And as Ewan suggested, these larger machines often come up on Ebay and Gumtree way below new cost.

Many non industrial machines have often done stuff all work. People buy in and then lose interest, or discover you have to learn a few tricks to use them.

Don't rush in.

Cheers

Rob

The above lathe is also regularly listed on Ebay by ozmestore

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/36-X12-91...item51b9afd27b

and available for pick up ex Port Adelaide warehouse.

Looking at his Completed Listings, the 6 or so sold for between $2000 and $2400. Fair bit of lathe for that money.

I think this one would need a BXA size QCTP though.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

The above lathe is also regularly listed on Ebay by ozmestore

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/36-X12-91...item51b9afd27b

and available for pick up ex Port Adelaide warehouse.

Looking at his Completed Listings, the 6 or so sold for between $2000 and $2400. Fair bit of lathe for that money.

I think this one would need a BXA size QCTP though.

The other thing about a lathe like this one is you get a stand, light, coolant 4 jaw etc. The coolant is really by the by, except if you are wanting to cut harder materials (say an axle...) but you really need a work light and a stand. I'd rather this lathe and live without a QCTP for a while than have the 320G. these larger machines also have a camlock chuck mount and removable gap for swinging larger stuff like flywheels if you want to keep to the automotive theme....

Ew

Ozmestore also sell the 10x22

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Quick-Cha...item51b9c6c884

or of you want EVS with that

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/METAL-LAT...item2eced54ec5

Hmmm... http://www.paramountbrowns.com.au/in...tand-610mm-bc/


Is this one with a qcgb? I cant find anything in the speck sheet? Only a 26mm bore though... The next step up is this http://www.paramountbrowns.com.au/in...tand-910mm-bc/ but if it comes with a QCGB and if I can get them to throw in a QCTP as well it may be worth it... Huge machine though...

Quite te a few replays popped up whilst I wrote this!!! Lol