For a beginner this may be more important. If you go with and Asian lathe (Boy am I going to take heat on this one) I think you will find a better package of features. If I read between the lines, you want to get into this hobby and see if you like it. Ok, I have had my little joke, so let me get a little more serious. Well, if money is no object to you, I'll sell you mine for $2,000,000 /ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif'%20alt=' Here is a site that you can browse and see many lathes. Less if you can find a private sale.Р”Р„ 3 in 1 combo should not even be considered because there are too many compromises in their design and implementation. For a machine in good shape expect to pay up to $2500 at auction. I would buy it again even knowing it's limitations. I'm partial to South Bend since I've had one (9' cabinet) for many years. These brands are very plentiful and easy to find, as are extra tooling and parts. There are others, but I don't want to confuse the issue with too many choices. I say used American such as Atlas, Clausing, Logan and South Bend. For your 'first metal lathe for home/hobby use' get something 9 inches or larger.

What will you pay for these? If it's in good used condition, thousands. There are others that are excellent I'm sure, but these are the ones I'm sorta familiar with. The latter I ran for two years at Worthington. If money were no object (really?) I would pick, in no particular order a Monarch, a Hardinge, a Swiss Schaublin or a Japanese Ikegi. And any answers you receive will be somewhat subjective also. This machine is powered up and available for inspection.Well, your questions are somewhat paradoxical in context, but I'll give you my two cents. Nearly every collet is Hardinge brand and many of them have never been used. There is a complete set of metric change gears for all metric threading pitches. This lathe comes with the pictured tooling, including 2 trays of 5C collets. The drive unit is now very smooth in all RPM ranges. The oiling lubrication system functions as it should as well. All the power feeds function as they should and the gearbox works as it should. I have ran and tested the lathe for several hours without issue.

The bed plate on this lathe is in excellent condition. This machine is in good mechanical condition and is ready to be used right away. Removed, cleaned, & adjusted cross slide Replaced both bearings in drive unit counter-shaft Flushed fluid in apron-Replaced both bearings in AC electric motor Replaced both motor and spindle drive belts with new

I have done an initial cleaning and some general maintenance to the lathe which includesРІР‚В¦ The graduated dials on this machine are in metric units. I do not have a way to test if these scales are still working. At some point this machine had an Anilam DRO on it and all that is left now is the scales. It sat unused from 1991 up until I purchased it.Р’В This is a 1976 machine that has many late model features such as a tapered Hardinge spindle, wide bed plate with teflon lined carriage, ball bearing carriage rack gear and more. This machine was purchased new by IBM in Austin, TX and was then sold to a company in Florida in 1991. This is a good, tight, & original machine and has never been repainted or abused. Up for sale is this Hardinge HLV-H Super Precision Tool Room Lathe.

Leveling an hardinge hlv-h lathe