Thread: Titan TL250V metal lathe -- user experiences sought

Hi gtc and welcome.

Whilst i know nothing about said lathe i have heard some pretty bad things about Titan.

Not really much help am i?

Ew

Originally Posted by Ueee

Hi gtc and welcome.

Whilst i know nothing about said lathe i have heard some pretty bad things about Titan.

Not really much help am i?

Ew

Thanks for the welcome.

I have read some adverse comment about Titan initially not being responsive to emails about problems with surface rust on a new mill, but that a guy called Staurt did eventually respond with a compensatory offer of some sort.

I was interested in the Titan's TL250V when looking for a lathe some time ago. I rang Titan and asked if he could do a better price for machine and freight, he told me no, I'd be netter off buying somewhere else - so I did. Not the best customer service and there have been a few complaints. Stay away from H&F's AL-250, lots of better machines than that one - IMHO.

Originally Posted by th62

I was interested in the Titan's TL250V when looking for a lathe some time ago. I rang Titan and asked if he could do a better price for machine and freight, he told me no, I'd be netter off buying somewhere else - so I did. Not the best customer service and there have been a few complaints. Stay away from H&F's AL-250, lots of better machines than that one - IMHO.

Thanks for the feedback on Titan customer service. I guess they figured you're close to Paramount Browns.

What did you end up buying?

In my research I have lined up the specs and features of the following:

Paramount	Paramount	Paramount	Hafco	Titan
CQ9325	CQ6125	FI-610SM	AL-51G	TL250V

I'm using the discontinued CQ9325 as the reference machine. Paramount says the CQ6125 is their replacement for it, but it's lower spec as regards spindle bore, and Morse taper sizes.

The FI-610SM is looking good, but I do like the Titan's variable speed capability. Just wondering if anybody has actually bought one?

If you're in Adelaide, there's an FI-610sm on Gumtree for $1250.

Which makes it pretty good value.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/gawle...the/1043173530

For a "tidy" lathe it's pretty dirty, but probably only superficial. Also has a QCTP.

I notice that some overseas lathes similar to the Titan variable speed, use a three phase motor, instead of DC.

Rob

Thanks, but I'm in Sydney (should be showing against "Location") and closer to Titan than Paramount, but closest to Hare & Forbes. Shipping of a new lathe from SA has been quoted at around $140 which isn't too bad.

Looking for a single phase unit.

This thread has had hundreds of views but so far not a single Titan user has chimed in. Starting to think that there aren't any.

After considering all those on your list, and a few more, I ended up buying an Optimum Maschinen 280 x 700G re branded as Impala. I had an AL-51G and an AL-250 a while back. The AL-250 was rubbish, got rid of that one real quick: noisy gearbox, blew a couple of capacitors, gearbox needed work to change gears smoothly – not a good machine. The AL-51G is a very popular lathe, it has a strong fan base and several web sites devoted to it (google 9x20 lathe for more info). It does have a few drawbacks (as do all lathes): 20 mm spindle bore, no reverse tumbler, tool post not very rigid, and a few more. And of course changing change gear sets all the time does get annoying. There are mods to overcome these problems on the web sites I mentioned. The lathes from Ozmestore look good on paper but without being able to inspect one I thought it a bit of a gamble. I didn’t like the Paramounts, thought them a little rough (like some of H&Fs) but that’s a personal opinion, I know a few people who swear by them. Again, like all lathes the 280 x 700G Impala has its draw backs: auto feed works off the lead screw thread rather than a keyway and it’s a 6 speed unit with two drive belts which have to be swapped to get all six speeds, but in comparison with the other lathes I looked at it is extremely well made. You have to make compromises with any lathe you get, fact of life. Pick the features you must have and learn to live without those that aren’t that important – ‘to you’. For me I wanted a quality machine with good thread cutting capabilities and at least a 25mm spindle bore. If this is your first lathe, doesn’t matter if you get it wrong, second hand lathes in this group hold their prices well and sell quickly. The stands that come with a lot of these machines aren’t the best, if you can get a machine that satisfies your criteria and doesn’t come with a stand, no biggy, just make a stand yourself. Pretty well anything is better than the stands they supply.

Originally Posted by th62

If this is your first lathe, doesn’t matter if you get it wrong, second hand lathes in this group hold their prices well and sell quickly.

That is an important point and under realised by most people new to just about anything that requires "equipment". If you are learning/ developing new skills the first time you buy (regardless of how carefully you researched it) your equipment will always be a compromise. As your skills develop as do your interests you will find things that don't suit or you don't like.

You may be better looking for something that does most of what you want to do but most importantly will enable you to learn. As some stage you will decide that you need more bed length, more swing, greater rigidity, bigger bore, higher speeds or what ever and decide that the lathe you have is not the best for what you want to do - but that is alright because you have used it to learn what you want to do. If you asked anyone here with reasonable experience about their machines you would probably find that either they are not using the machinery they started with and/ or they have modified it to augment or expand on it's capabilities.

So, don't worry about looking for perfection as unless you are only going to use a fraction of the lathe's capabilities it will always be wanting in some way. It's more important to gain the experience that will enable you to make a better decision next time...

Michael

Originally Posted by th62

After considering all those on your list, and a few more, I ended up buying an Optimum Maschinen 280 x 700G re branded as Impala.

From what I can see on Optimum's website that looks to be a nicely built machine. Impala's website seems to be one of those woeful "under construction" affairs with no useful information on it.

I had an AL-51G and an AL-250 a while back. The AL-250 was rubbish, got rid of that one real quick: noisy gearbox, blew a couple of capacitors, gearbox needed work to change gears smoothly – not a good machine. The AL-51G is a very popular lathe, it has a strong fan base and several web sites devoted to it (google 9x20 lathe for more info). It does have a few drawbacks (as do all lathes): 20 mm spindle bore, no reverse tumbler, tool post not very rigid, and a few more. And of course changing change gear sets all the time does get annoying. There are mods to overcome these problems on the web sites I mentioned.

Thanks for the comments in the Hafco lathes. I have been researching for quite a while before it was suggested that I come on here and ask about Titan. I have gained a lot of useful info on the Paramount CQ9392 (and Chinese lathes in general) from:

http://users.picknowl.com.au/~gloami...cq9325rev.html

and Rob's YouTube videos

also from:

http://phelum.net/info/CQ9325/

The lathes from Ozmestore look good on paper but without being able to inspect one I thought it a bit of a gamble. I didn’t like the Paramounts, thought them a little rough (like some of H&Fs) but that’s a personal opinion, I know a few people who swear by them. Again, like all lathes the 280 x 700G Impala has its draw backs: auto feed works off the lead screw thread rather than a keyway and it’s a 6 speed unit with two drive belts which have to be swapped to get all six speeds, but in comparison with the other lathes I looked at it is extremely well made. You have to make compromises with any lathe you get, fact of life. Pick the features you must have and learn to live without those that aren’t that important – ‘to you’. For me I wanted a quality machine with good thread cutting capabilities and at least a 25mm spindle bore.

Point well taken about compromises. That's life. Again, the CQ9325 spec would suit my purposes nicely and if they were still on the market I'd buy one, now.

If this is your first lathe, doesn’t matter if you get it wrong, second hand lathes in this group hold their prices well and sell quickly. The stands that come with a lot of these machines aren’t the best, if you can get a machine that satisfies your criteria and doesn’t come with a stand, no biggy, just make a stand yourself. Pretty well anything is better than the stands they supply.

Yes, I'm seeking my first lathe. To date if I needed anything turned or faced or through drilled I took it over to a mate who has a classic 1930s South Bend in his garage and has built motorcycles and a rat rod from the ground up with it. I can still rely on that lathe for any big stuff, but a 250mm swing 600mm centre lathe with a 25mm bore is quite sufficient enough for my purposes, so budget is around $2K. Within that I'm looking for best quality and least hassles. I do like the low speed high torque capability of a variable speed DC unit.

Point taken about the stands supplied. I very much like the stand that Rob built (as per his website).

I have a Titan TM20LV mill and a TL180V lathe.

The quality, as expected for cheap Chinese machines, is poor (at best).

The lathe was hardly usable in stock form, the compound is rubbish and the handle would hardly turn.

The mill is passable, I'm 2/3rds the way through converting it to CNC.

Originally Posted by pippin88

I have a Titan TM20LV mill and a TL180V lathe.

The quality, as expected for cheap Chinese machines, is poor (at best).

The lathe was hardly usable in stock form, the compound is rubbish and the handle would hardly turn.

The mill is passable, I'm 2/3rds the way through converting it to CNC.

Many thanks for the direct experience feedback on Titan. I looked past the TL180V as it's too small for my purposes.

(Wish a moderator would kindly release me from moderation!)

Originally Posted by Michael G

So, don't worry about looking for perfection as unless you are only going to use a fraction of the lathe's capabilities it will always be wanting in some way. It's more important to gain the experience that will enable you to make a better decision next time...

Your point about gaining experience though use is well taken, but I don't think I'm looking for perfection. These are Chinese "budget" lathes after all. However, given that there's a number of lathes on the market within my budget I'm lining them up against each other in an effort to pick the one that gives what I feel is best bang for buck, as one does, manufacturing quality issues notwithstanding.

With any of these Chinese lathes, with the various manufacturers' machines parading under a variety of local brands and model designations, and with the subtle changes to spec that you can find even within the one brand, I feel there's a degree of pot luck involved anyway.

I acknowledge that many members have moved onwards and upwards over the years, but I'd certainly like to avoid buyer's remorse in the short term. I'm not in a hurry to decide. I'll mull this over for some time yet.

Originally Posted by gtc

Your point about gaining experience though use is well taken, but I don't think I'm looking for perfection. These are Chinese "budget" lathes after all. However, given that there's a number of lathes on the market within my budget I'm lining them up against each other in an effort to pick the one that gives what I feel is best bang for buck, as one does, manufacturing quality issues notwithstanding.

With any of these Chinese lathes, with the various manufacturers' machines parading under a variety of local brands and model designations, and with the subtle changes to spec that you can find even within the one brand, I feel there's a degree of pot luck involved anyway.

I acknowledge that many members have moved onwards and upwards over the years, but I'd certainly like to avoid buyer's remorse in the short term. I'm not in a hurry to decide. I'll mull this over for some time yet.

Be aware when buying a Lathe or Mill that your budget needs to allow for the tooling. You can easily spend as much on the tooling as you paid for the machine.

Roger

If you come across Ausino Engineering Supplies or Liw818 via Ebay in your search for Optimum gear, please take my advice and keep looking. Do not deal with this guy.

If buying a chinese machine customer service is absolutely essential and you wont get it from this guy