English lathes

[steamjohn248]

There are several English built lathes, Colchester, Harrison, Myford, currently on E Bay which dont seem to be attracting very much interest To anyone who does,nt fancy a nice shiny Chinie, complete with mould sand!, might be worth a look

[3405jimmy]

Yep I have been watching a number over the last few weeks. There was a Dean Smith and Grace tool room lathe went for £700 recently. Gone before I discovered DS&G are still in existence so spares would not have been a problem. B***r!

Jim

[alanstepney]

DS & G are also the "Rolls Royce" end of the market.
They seem to go on and on for ever, so spares arent likely to be needed. Hopefully!

As for the rest of the English lathes, in my opinion, far more robust and adaptable than the Chinese clones.

[cardiffpat]

I've noticed some amazingly cheap machinary on ebay & wonder if there is some catch to all this, on the other hand has anyone else noticed that ' Home & workshop machinery' seem to have breathtakingly high prices?

[greasemonkey]

Hi All
Ive often wondered about Home and Workshops prices, even more so given the way engineering companys in this country seem to be closing down on a weekly basis and there is a surpluss of kit kit out there. Doesnt seem to stop people buying it though from the crowds around the stand at exhibitions.

Andy

[3405jimmy]

alanstepney said:

DS & G are also the "Rolls Royce" end of the market.

Yes Alan when I was an apprentice we were never allowed anyway near the DS&G’s. If I remember you seemed to need to have at least 10years on the clock before the foreman would give you the nod.

Jim

[ron]

I started out in engineering as an apprentice with ICI many moons ago, I've used most makes of lathe at one time or other either as a job or a hobby, I think this current fad for slagging Chinese lathes is unfortunate, and possibly a hangover from the days when they weren't very good, yes the traditional British lathes are better and if they are going to be used day in and day out in a professional workshop will last much longer, but for value for money for the amateur the modern Chinese lathes are streets ahead. They come compete with accessories, they're accurate, cheaper in many cases than some of the dodgy looking offerings on Ebay. I looked at a couple of Myfords on Ebay before purchasing a Warco, the good ones were making serious money and the cheap ones were junk.
Ron

[Alan]

Hi
I have tried to accept the imported machinery from the far east but i always come back to the english makes.
I was quite pleased with my Warco minor mill until the slideways picked up and scored itself up.The people from Warco uk were excelent with their tech backup, even on a saturday

Alan