Hi Ian. I have a similar size lathe 14x40 with 2" spindle bore. and it is a real work horse. Took some tweaking to get it dailed in. Like you just a hobbyist on making parts, it is a great why to spend time in the shop making your own tools and the like. Cheers
@@Randysshop Thanks Randy. Much appreciated. I’m just learning & only just found your channel, so look forward to watching more of your videos. Lathes going great but my Bridgeport Mill is kicking my butt at the moment. I’ll figure it out eventually. 😜😂😂👍
@@ianmoone2359 Machines will do that from time to time LOL Would Love to get a Bridgeport, I really don't have to space for one at the moment. So make do with what I have, and for 95% of that it works just fine. Cheers👍
Thanks for the overview Ian. I brought the 3 phase model about a year ago and I am very happy with it. Just one safety tip with this lathe. I always lift the chuck guard when I'm not using the lathe, or if I need to reach over to do anything on the lathe or to the work in the lathe. I have not done it unintentionally, but that 'go' lever with the red knob is very easy to bump with your hip, which will start the lathe. I have tested it intentionally and the lever is usually pushed up which means the lathe will run in reverse. The chuck guard has an interlock which stops the lathe starting up in the event of accidentally moving the go lever. I'm currently making a video on changing the oil in one of these lathes. The documentation does not explain anything on how to change the oil.
@@thehobbymachinistnz That is very sound advice, & thank you for making the effort to post this. I think I will start leaving the chuck guard up even when it’s powered off, so that if anything happens that lever gets moved the lathe won’t start up when I power it on. I have a 3+ year old grandson who loves to get into grandpas shed when he visits on Saturdays & I have to be super vigilant because he loves to fiddle with things to see what they do as all toddlers do, and that lever is within his height range / reach so ostensibly he could move it up or down and leave it in that position, & if I’m not aware and power up the lathe, and the chuck guard is down then I’m guessing it could be an issue for sure. If I get in the habit of leaving it up, then that won’t be an issue. 👍
lol. whereas the first thing i removed was the guard, the hinge, and the switch... cant say ive ever knocked the handle by mistake... then again i often keep my foot on the brake... gives me a few inches of extra reach!
Thanks for the tip - much appreciated. I’m at the beginning of a long but hopefully enjoyable learning curve. 👍 I’ve yet to run the lathe in, after which I shall change out all 3 oils and do my best to flush out any casting sand residues, and re-fill with new oil. The 3 jaw chuck is definitely going to need a strip, clean lube & re-assemble because I notice the scroll & jaws tighten considerably as the jaws close in on each other near the centre. It’s fine when the jaws are further apart. I’m expecting to find grinding dust & maybe swarf or something in the scroll once I open it up.
@ianmoone2359 yes the gear box's are real bad on the import lathes casting sand and rust and deart. And small metal chips in them. I see one take out the bearing in 6 months. Because it was not cleaned out first. The chucks are the same a good cleaning will help. Light oil one the jaw side and grease in side is just fine. It took me 7 years to put together my shop. So if you stick to it you can do anything you put your mind to. I have experience in manufacturing. But not as a machinest. And have heard so much hear on TH-cam. There are some great people hear. Growing and learning together. I love making things in the shop. I pray you will find the same in your quest. God bless joe
@@josephlovell6951 Thank you very much, I’ve already been blessed to meet a couple of local machinists who have been guiding / mentoring me thus far, but I’m the first to admit I have an awful long way to go. I will spend considerable time cleaning out any / all debris that I can find & remove. Probably add a rare earth magnet or two in the bottom of gear boxes to hopefully catch any metal particles and hang onto them as well.
Pretty much my reasoning for buying new.. if you already have the skills & knowledge & another working lathe & mill you can probably restore / rebuild an old lathe, but even then you might have to send out work like re grinding induction hardened bed ways etc. I need to spend my time learning such skills & acquiring such knowledge, not fixing some old machine that I don’t have the ability machinery or knowledge to do. I respect & admire those who do have that ability, I just recognise that I am not one of them at this stage, yet. Maybe one day I might get to that point IF I live long enough, maybe.
*_Hey mate. I've been subbed to your channel a while now. I haven't had time to comment yet. Your shop looks good. Your Bridgeport looks like mine. Anyway thanks for stopping by. Look forward to more of your videos._*
Thanks Opie, I’m still learning the lathe & mill. As you have seen my background is in timber - but I’m enjoying my foray into metal working. I should do another video at some point. I’m finding I have to concentrate pretty hard learning to operate the new lathe, so having my attention distracted at this early stage trying to film my feeble efforts probably isn’t wise just yet, but hopefully not too much longer. The Bridgeport is a uK Adcock Shipley Bridgeport Series 1 J head from 1952. It belonged from new to the engineering shop at the University of Western Australia & has chromed ways & a full 48 inch X table. It doesn’t appear to have done a great deal of work from what I can tell. It’s a 3 phase 440 Volt 1 horsepower motor. It honestly scares me to use it because my lack of knowledge & experience, the fear factor trying to do anything other than drill a hole or two so far is all I’ve been game to do thus far. I have a project I’m working on that’s going to require more use of the Bridgeport so it will be a pretty steep learning curve for me. Hopefully I don’t mess up. When I am unsure I usually check with Max for advice before hand. 😂😂👍
@@ianmoone2359 I totally hear you on the filming. Im in the same boat. Its extremely time consuming and does divert your attention so I generally do just update videos and they aren't as popular or exciting but oh well. LOL. Don't be afraid of the machines. What I would recommend is develop a safety protocol. More than anything as you know already these machines can hurt you. I take time to plan out what Im going to do and Ill take several days to think about. Even after I lay it all out, I think and look and consider and run my head through the process and so far Ive made very few mistakes. Im learning like you. Im a mechanic by trade, not a machinist. Go lightly. Take light cuts but be aware that you do have to make cuts. The cutters are designed to dig in and make cuts. If you go to light, you're going to have issues and could even damage your cutters and tooling. On the Bridgeport, they all have chromed ways in some areas and not others. If you took that mill apart I think you will find a bit of wear on the saddle and table. You can check my videos where I took mine apart when I had the table top reground. I have a new lead screw and head bearings and it does a good job so far despite the wear. Max is something else. LOL. I have to say, you aussie machinists on youtube have the americans beat by a long shot. Cutting edge, max and matty are doing things way and above anything I've seen on American YT channels. I get a lot of my learning from these channels. And max, he's a beast. He has a full time job on top of what he does in his shop. WOW! You'll be fine. Dont be afraid to jump in, just be safe more than anything.
I think they have a sale in November? usually each year. The discount can be up to the equivalent of the GST (10%) often. You will still need a live centre with 4MT arbor as well as a Drill Chuck with 4MT arbor - & levelling feet - so buying your lathe during the sale can free up a little extra $ for the things you will need to be able to fully utilise the lathe after it’s delivered.👍 Just mentioning, I’m not sponsored by or in any way associated with H & F other than I spent my hard earned $ to buy my lathe from them.
@@ianmoone2359 Hare and Forbes are having an EOFY sale at this moment and there are some considerable saving to be had Chris. I bought the next one down from Ian,s, mine is the .AL346.very similar specs with some variations. I bought a HM46B mill also at the same time in last years EOFY sale and saved over $700 on the deal. I continually check prices and I am sure that at the moment Hare and Forbes are offering some really good deals on their lathes for the End Of Financial Year sale. Check it out mate it might be worth your while. Cheers, Bruce.
@@ianmoone2359 Chris Hare and Forbes are having an End Of Financial Year Sale at this moment and, from what I am seeing, there are some really good deals to be had. I bought the AL346 and a HM46B mill at last years EOFY sale and saved around $700. I check the prices yesterday and they are offering even better deals than I got last year. Have a look mate, you never know, you may save a packet by buying during this sale. Cheers Mate, Bruce.
That Machine looks very nice. There is one question it doesn't have any plastic gears in it. We have some inexpensive lathes here in the USA 🇺🇸 but those cheap lathes that have plastic gears ⚙️ I won't buy there is company called Little Machine Shop and they happen to sell metal gears to replace the plastic gears. Anyway good luck with your machine and I hope it doesn't have plastic gears.
At 11.38 you can see, all metal gears. Worst case scenario, I have a dividing head on my Bridgeport mill that I can machine replacement metal gears if I had to. 👍
Most Taiwanese lathes also have imperial leadscrews, so you need a 127 tooth gear in the mix for everything metric. Chinese made lathes are usually fine at the higher price points.
Thanks for the info, that’s something I wasn’t aware of and had not considered. This is one steep learning curve. Occasionally my head wants to explode at the end of each day trying to learn, comprehend & remember “new stuff”. I seem to max out my ram memory in my brain at 3 new things a day. 😂😂
Great video mate I’ve been wanting this model myself for a while now. Hopefully this year 🤞 Out of curiosity how smooth are the slides/compounds after you cleaned it up? The display models in Perth felt really crunchy but they haven’t been cleaned up.
Your right. After cleaning & oiling they are surprisingly nice. The oiling makes all the difference, I was pleasantly surprised at the difference it made, immediately after going through the machine at every oiling point and operating the handles, I was taken aback at the difference it made. They also seem to settle in with use. Cutting a taper yesterday with the compound and oiling and use has it smoothing up nicely. When trying it straight out of the crate, initially I wasn’t impressed, but cleaning & oiling and use is the key. You have to be prepared to do a little “finessing” when you first get it. Inside the chuck for eg, needed a good clean out with CRC 5-56, because there was grinding dust in there on the scroll & jaw T slots that was binding it up. Inside the T slots is really rough / burrs everywhere. I’ll have to go through it by hand and relieve all the burrs, it’s just nasty in there. But taking out the grinding dust helped a heap. Accept the fact you’re going to have to put in the time & effort to clean it out & oil it up to make it nice to use. Pretty much unavoidable with all the cosmolene it comes coated in, and the left over grinding dust from manufacture. After “run in” I will drain head stock, gear box & apron oil, flush & wash out well & refill with new Telus 32 oil, just to get any residual casting sand out that might be sitting in the bottom of those oil reservoirs.
@@ianmoone2359 that’s awesome feedback mate! Thanks heaps can’t wait to finally get one! While I wait hopefully I’ll see more video of you using yours :)
@@blakelieschke14 All I have for making vids is my IPhone - no selfie stick etc, & no computer to edit etc, so I can only do vids in one take, one handed, which makes it hard to do Lathe vids. Also this is my first ever use of any metal lathe, so I have to concentrate 110% so as not to screw up and crash the lathe etc. I’ll need a tripod or something to hold the phone & really because I’m only learning, I shouldn’t be videoing what I’m doing in case I’m doing something wrong or unsafe & inadvertently teach someone else a wrong method or unsafe technique for eg. Maybe in time as I gain knowledge & skills I might be able to film a lathe & mill video or two. Right now I’d just be embarrassed at whatever content I could put out. I just realised your in Perth so if you want to see one running and see how smooth it runs etc your welcome to take a look. I’m NOR near the Galleria Shopping Centre in Morley. Hit me up if it will help you any. Retired commercial skipper, so we probably have a bit in common. 😉
Dad was a fitter and turner tool maker so I've been around lathes and mills since I was in primary school. Been looking at a lathe for my own use and what I think is important, which made me ask the question of why you picked this model? Spindle size, bed length, chuck size coolant system, DRO or all of the above ?
I agonised over buying this lathe for more than 2 years. I spoke with 4 local You tube Machinists, about my choice. (Max Grant, Bruce Whitham, Matty Johnston & Ted Roza). It was a toss up for me over a used AL1000D 3 phase machine 16 years old, low hours & minimal wear for $8.5k, so no warranty, smaller spindle bore. D1-3 Chucks, No “variable speed” potentiometer - unless I added a VFD to the 3 phase motor but that was an extra $2k Out of the 4 guys who advised me - 3 said buy the 16 year old AL1000D because it’s Taiwanese made. The 4th (Ted Roza) actually has a AL356V and invited me around to see his in use on a project. The fact his looked and works fine and has larger spindle, D1-5 Chucks, Variable Speed single phase, DRO, some tooling etc and was $9.5k was what finally convinced me. I was so close to pulling the trigger on the used AL1000D. I think it would have done everything I could possibly need to do, & likely I’d have been just as happy with it. It’s 20 years old that AL1000D model, the benefits of the New AL356V swayed me in the end. I bought my 1952 J head 1 hp Bridgeport Mill used and the x axis Bridgeport Vari Speed 3 power feed on it wasn’t working. It was a nightmare for a new chum like me to swap it all out for a new Power feed - because I’m a wood butcher with zero machining metal experience & I didn’t want to go through that stress again with a used lathe if there was anything wrong with it. I did consider buying a NEW AL1000D but they were $12.5k not $9.5k and outside my budget without waiting another maybe year to save up the extra coin. I’ve bought a lot of machines (wood working) over the last 40 odd years, always used. I just felt that I wanted a nice new machine for a change and the new AL1000D was out of my budget so it sort of came back to my best choice being the AL356V Remains to be seen if I regret my choice in time to come. There’s a new AL356 Review Video been uploaded by Ted Roza who has had his AL356V for 12 months and just uploaded his review video if your interested in another opinion on how they are by someone who owns & used one. Hope that helps out.
Engine crane might stretch to get the height you need to get the skid out from under it is the only possible issue & the reason I went for gantry & block & tackle /endless chain. I’ve seen others achieve it with an engine crane tho so it probably could be done. I was petrified I’d tip it over. 😂👍
@@nickking8317 I did have a guy with 2 engine cranes I could have borrowed. The “issue” was that the spread of the legs on the engine cranes wasn’t wide enough to get past the pallet the skid was strapped down to, to allow the engine crane to get close enough to the balance lifting point of the lathe. It’s not so much the weight your lifting at 600 kilos, it’s the ability to get the engine crane close enough in to the lathe to be able to lift it and still get the height you need. The pallet is ~ 6 inches tall, and the skid is another ~ 4 inches above that. So your lathe is already 10 inches up in the air. The bolts securing the skid to the lather are about 8 inches long and the bolt locations are in a recessed pocket on the base of the lathe so you can’t pull them up through the top to get them out, you have to pull them downwards, meaning the lathe has to go up another 8 inches to get the securing bolts out of the skid from underneath. So the lathe is then 18 inches off the ground. I suspect you will find as I did, that you won’t get the engine crane in close enough because of the pallet, and that with the lifting slings and lift bars & shackle etc that you will run out of lifting height on your engine crane before you get the lathe high enough to get the securing bolts out. I could of course be proven wrong. Others do seem to manage it on TH-cam videos, so I can only assume they are braver & smarter than me most likely. 😜😂😂👍
Contrary to popular belief and a lot of propoganda. China can and DOES manufactuer very high end percesion machines if needed. Their manufacturing capabilities are very sophisticated. The "cheap chinese garbage" also exist in loads a lot due to fly by night companies looking for the cheapest crap possible to push on buyers. But you can absolutely spec very high quality manufacturing out of some of those same factories as well. Cheap chinese garbage may have been a universal statement 40 years ago but it isnt anymore even though all us in the west just repeat that line over and over. China is leaving a lot of the west behind in not only manufacturing capability/capacity but also in quality. We dont even have the tooling in the west to make some stuff anymore all the equipment has been shipped overseas to foreign factories. Covid opened up many eyes and some companies are slowly moving equipment bacn out of china but its going to take years and years to get production up and running outside of china, they are got bit in the ass by their greed.
Well said. I think some of the Chinese castings are common on Taiwanese lathes these days to. There is rubbish out there, particularly in the cheap import mini lathes. I’m hoping this one doesn’t fit that category. Someone I know has had one for 12 months. I went and saw it operating / in use a couple of times Holds very tight tolerances and runs nice and quiet. That convinced me to pull the pin on this one. It was a battle to decide between the Taiwanese AL 1000D 3 phase model. A 16 year old used one was available at the same time for $8.5k so essentially the same price & it was in very good condition for its age with little sign of much actual use. But it came with no warranty, and the smaller spindle diameter and smaller chucks etc. If you’re a machinist and have other lathes, you can use them to help you fix / restore older used lathes that you might buy cheap. But that doesn’t apply to me. I don’t have another lathe (or the skill set yet) to be able to restore an older machine if there’s something wrong with it after I’ve bought it. So for me, this one the AL 356V made more sense now. Maybe that might change in time to come - who knows.🤷♂️
Hi Ian. I have a similar size lathe 14x40 with 2" spindle bore. and it is a real work horse. Took some tweaking to get it dailed in. Like you just a hobbyist on making parts, it is a great why to spend time in the shop making your own tools and the like. Cheers
@@Randysshop Thanks Randy. Much appreciated. I’m just learning & only just found your channel, so look forward to watching more of your videos.
Lathes going great but my Bridgeport Mill is kicking my butt at the moment.
I’ll figure it out eventually. 😜😂😂👍
@@ianmoone2359 Machines will do that from time to time LOL Would Love to get a Bridgeport, I really don't have to space for one at the moment. So make do with what I have, and for 95% of that it works just fine. Cheers👍
Thanks for the overview Ian. I brought the 3 phase model about a year ago and I am very happy with it.
Just one safety tip with this lathe. I always lift the chuck guard when I'm not using the lathe, or if I need to reach over to do anything on the lathe or to the work in the lathe. I have not done it unintentionally, but that 'go' lever with the red knob is very easy to bump with your hip, which will start the lathe. I have tested it intentionally and the lever is usually pushed up which means the lathe will run in reverse. The chuck guard has an interlock which stops the lathe starting up in the event of accidentally moving the go lever.
I'm currently making a video on changing the oil in one of these lathes. The documentation does not explain anything on how to change the oil.
@@thehobbymachinistnz That is very sound advice, & thank you for making the effort to post this. I think I will start leaving the chuck guard up even when it’s powered off, so that if anything happens that lever gets moved the lathe won’t start up when I power it on.
I have a 3+ year old grandson who loves to get into grandpas shed when he visits on Saturdays & I have to be super vigilant because he loves to fiddle with things to see what they do as all toddlers do, and that lever is within his height range / reach so ostensibly he could move it up or down and leave it in that position, & if I’m not aware and power up the lathe, and the chuck guard is down then I’m guessing it could be an issue for sure.
If I get in the habit of leaving it up, then that won’t be an issue. 👍
lol. whereas the first thing i removed was the guard, the hinge, and the switch... cant say ive ever knocked the handle by mistake...
then again i often keep my foot on the brake... gives me a few inches of extra reach!
Change the oil and clean it out . Clean and debur the chucks. And you will have a very nice lathe
Thanks for the tip - much appreciated. I’m at the beginning of a long but hopefully enjoyable learning curve. 👍
I’ve yet to run the lathe in, after which I shall change out all 3 oils and do my best to flush out any casting sand residues, and re-fill with new oil.
The 3 jaw chuck is definitely going to need a strip, clean lube & re-assemble because I notice the scroll & jaws tighten considerably as the jaws close in on each other near the centre.
It’s fine when the jaws are further apart.
I’m expecting to find grinding dust & maybe swarf or something in the scroll once I open it up.
@ianmoone2359 yes the gear box's are real bad on the import lathes casting sand and rust and deart. And small metal chips in them. I see one take out the bearing in 6 months. Because it was not cleaned out first. The chucks are the same a good cleaning will help. Light oil one the jaw side and grease in side is just fine. It took me 7 years to put together my shop. So if you stick to it you can do anything you put your mind to. I have experience in manufacturing. But not as a machinest. And have heard so much hear on TH-cam. There are some great people hear. Growing and learning together. I love making things in the shop. I pray you will find the same in your quest. God bless joe
@@josephlovell6951 Thank you very much, I’ve already been blessed to meet a couple of local machinists who have been guiding / mentoring me thus far, but I’m the first to admit I have an awful long way to go.
I will spend considerable time cleaning out any / all debris that I can find & remove.
Probably add a rare earth magnet or two in the bottom of gear boxes to hopefully catch any metal particles and hang onto them as well.
Looks and sounds good to me. Your not gambling on a clapped out second hand machine. Nice one. Cheers Tony
Pretty much my reasoning for buying new.. if you already have the skills & knowledge & another working lathe & mill you can probably restore / rebuild an old lathe, but even then you might have to send out work like re grinding induction hardened bed ways etc.
I need to spend my time learning such skills & acquiring such knowledge, not fixing some old machine that I don’t have the ability machinery or knowledge to do.
I respect & admire those who do have that ability, I just recognise that I am not one of them at this stage, yet. Maybe one day I might get to that point IF I live long enough, maybe.
*_Hey mate. I've been subbed to your channel a while now. I haven't had time to comment yet. Your shop looks good. Your Bridgeport looks like mine. Anyway thanks for stopping by. Look forward to more of your videos._*
Thanks Opie,
I’m still learning the lathe & mill. As you have seen my background is in timber - but I’m enjoying my foray into metal working.
I should do another video at some point.
I’m finding I have to concentrate pretty hard learning to operate the new lathe, so having my attention distracted at this early stage trying to film my feeble efforts probably isn’t wise just yet, but hopefully not too much longer.
The Bridgeport is a uK Adcock Shipley Bridgeport Series 1 J head from 1952.
It belonged from new to the engineering shop at the University of Western Australia & has chromed ways & a full 48 inch X table.
It doesn’t appear to have done a great deal of work from what I can tell.
It’s a 3 phase 440 Volt 1 horsepower motor.
It honestly scares me to use it because my lack of knowledge & experience, the fear factor trying to do anything other than drill a hole or two so far is all I’ve been game to do thus far.
I have a project I’m working on that’s going to require more use of the Bridgeport so it will be a pretty steep learning curve for me.
Hopefully I don’t mess up.
When I am unsure I usually check with Max for advice before hand. 😂😂👍
@@ianmoone2359 I totally hear you on the filming. Im in the same boat. Its extremely time consuming and does divert your attention so I generally do just update videos and they aren't as popular or exciting but oh well. LOL.
Don't be afraid of the machines. What I would recommend is develop a safety protocol. More than anything as you know already these machines can hurt you.
I take time to plan out what Im going to do and Ill take several days to think about. Even after I lay it all out, I think and look and consider and run my head through the process and so far Ive made very few mistakes. Im learning like you. Im a mechanic by trade, not a machinist.
Go lightly. Take light cuts but be aware that you do have to make cuts. The cutters are designed to dig in and make cuts. If you go to light, you're going to have issues and could even damage your cutters and tooling.
On the Bridgeport, they all have chromed ways in some areas and not others. If you took that mill apart I think you will find a bit of wear on the saddle and table. You can check my videos where I took mine apart when I had the table top reground.
I have a new lead screw and head bearings and it does a good job so far despite the wear.
Max is something else. LOL. I have to say, you aussie machinists on youtube have the americans beat by a long shot. Cutting edge, max and matty are doing things way and above anything I've seen on American YT channels.
I get a lot of my learning from these channels.
And max, he's a beast. He has a full time job on top of what he does in his shop. WOW!
You'll be fine. Dont be afraid to jump in, just be safe more than anything.
Thank Ian, I’m buying this lathe at the end of the year hopefully
I think they have a sale in November? usually each year. The discount can be up to the equivalent of the GST (10%) often. You will still need a live centre with 4MT arbor as well as a Drill Chuck with 4MT arbor - & levelling feet - so buying your lathe during the sale can free up a little extra $ for the things you will need to be able to fully utilise the lathe after it’s delivered.👍
Just mentioning, I’m not sponsored by or in any way associated with H & F other than I spent my hard earned $ to buy my lathe from them.
@@ianmoone2359 Hare and Forbes are having an EOFY sale at this moment and there are some considerable saving to be had Chris.
I bought the next one down from Ian,s, mine is the .AL346.very similar specs with some variations. I bought a HM46B mill also at the same time in last years EOFY sale and saved over $700 on the deal. I continually check prices and I am sure that at the moment Hare and Forbes are offering some really good deals on their lathes for the End Of Financial Year sale. Check it out mate it might be worth your while. Cheers, Bruce.
@@ianmoone2359 Chris Hare and Forbes are having an End Of Financial Year Sale at this moment and, from what I am seeing, there are some really good deals to be had. I bought the AL346 and a HM46B mill at last years EOFY sale and saved around $700. I check the prices yesterday and they are offering even better deals than I got last year. Have a look mate, you never know, you may save a packet by buying during this sale. Cheers Mate, Bruce.
That Machine looks very nice. There is one question it doesn't have any plastic gears in it. We have some inexpensive lathes here in the USA 🇺🇸 but those cheap lathes that have plastic gears ⚙️ I won't buy there is company called Little Machine Shop and they happen to sell metal gears to replace the plastic gears. Anyway good luck with your machine and I hope it doesn't have plastic gears.
At 11.38 you can see, all metal gears.
Worst case scenario, I have a dividing head on my Bridgeport mill that I can machine replacement metal gears if I had to. 👍
Most Taiwanese lathes also have imperial leadscrews, so you need a 127 tooth gear in the mix for everything metric. Chinese made lathes are usually fine at the higher price points.
Thanks for the info, that’s something I wasn’t aware of and had not considered.
This is one steep learning curve.
Occasionally my head wants to explode at the end of each day trying to learn, comprehend & remember “new stuff”.
I seem to max out my ram memory in my brain at 3 new things a day. 😂😂
Does it come with drive dogs?
Nope, no drive dogs included.
They are an accessory that you can buy from H & F for $55 according to their website.
www.machineryhouse.com.au/l081
Great video mate I’ve been wanting this model myself for a while now. Hopefully this year 🤞
Out of curiosity how smooth are the slides/compounds after you cleaned it up? The display models in Perth felt really crunchy but they haven’t been cleaned up.
Your right. After cleaning & oiling they are surprisingly nice. The oiling makes all the difference, I was pleasantly surprised at the difference it made, immediately after going through the machine at every oiling point and operating the handles, I was taken aback at the difference it made.
They also seem to settle in with use.
Cutting a taper yesterday with the compound and oiling and use has it smoothing up nicely.
When trying it straight out of the crate, initially I wasn’t impressed, but cleaning & oiling and use is the key. You have to be prepared to do a little “finessing” when you first get it. Inside the chuck for eg, needed a good clean out with CRC 5-56, because there was grinding dust in there on the scroll & jaw T slots that was binding it up.
Inside the T slots is really rough / burrs everywhere. I’ll have to go through it by hand and relieve all the burrs, it’s just nasty in there.
But taking out the grinding dust helped a heap.
Accept the fact you’re going to have to put in the time & effort to clean it out & oil it up to make it nice to use.
Pretty much unavoidable with all the cosmolene it comes coated in, and the left over grinding dust from manufacture.
After “run in” I will drain head stock, gear box & apron oil, flush & wash out well & refill with new Telus 32 oil, just to get any residual casting sand out that might be sitting in the bottom of those oil reservoirs.
@@ianmoone2359 that’s awesome feedback mate! Thanks heaps can’t wait to finally get one! While I wait hopefully I’ll see more video of you using yours :)
@@blakelieschke14 All I have for making vids is my IPhone - no selfie stick etc, & no computer to edit etc, so I can only do vids in one take, one handed, which makes it hard to do Lathe vids.
Also this is my first ever use of any metal lathe, so I have to concentrate 110% so as not to screw up and crash the lathe etc.
I’ll need a tripod or something to hold the phone & really because I’m only learning, I shouldn’t be videoing what I’m doing in case I’m doing something wrong or unsafe & inadvertently teach someone else a wrong method or unsafe technique for eg.
Maybe in time as I gain knowledge & skills I might be able to film a lathe & mill video or two.
Right now I’d just be embarrassed at whatever content I could put out.
I just realised your in Perth so if you want to see one running and see how smooth it runs etc your welcome to take a look. I’m NOR near the Galleria Shopping Centre in Morley.
Hit me up if it will help you any.
Retired commercial skipper, so we probably have a bit in common. 😉
Dad was a fitter and turner tool maker so I've been around lathes and mills since I was in primary school. Been looking at a lathe for my own use and what I think is important, which made me ask the question of why you picked this model? Spindle size, bed length, chuck size coolant system, DRO or all of the above ?
I agonised over buying this lathe for more than 2 years. I spoke with 4 local You tube Machinists, about my choice. (Max Grant, Bruce Whitham, Matty Johnston & Ted Roza).
It was a toss up for me over a used AL1000D 3 phase machine 16 years old, low hours & minimal wear for $8.5k, so no warranty, smaller spindle bore. D1-3 Chucks, No “variable speed” potentiometer - unless I added a VFD to the 3 phase motor but that was an extra $2k
Out of the 4 guys who advised me - 3 said buy the 16 year old AL1000D because it’s Taiwanese made.
The 4th (Ted Roza) actually has a AL356V and invited me around to see his in use on a project.
The fact his looked and works fine and has larger spindle, D1-5 Chucks, Variable Speed single phase, DRO, some tooling etc and was $9.5k was what finally convinced me.
I was so close to pulling the trigger on the used AL1000D. I think it would have done everything I could possibly need to do, & likely I’d have been just as happy with it.
It’s 20 years old that AL1000D model, the benefits of the New AL356V swayed me in the end.
I bought my 1952 J head 1 hp Bridgeport Mill used and the x axis Bridgeport Vari Speed 3 power feed on it wasn’t working.
It was a nightmare for a new chum like me to swap it all out for a new Power feed - because I’m a wood butcher with zero machining metal experience & I didn’t want to go through that stress again with a used lathe if there was anything wrong with it.
I did consider buying a NEW AL1000D but they were $12.5k not $9.5k and outside my budget without waiting another maybe year to save up the extra coin.
I’ve bought a lot of machines (wood working) over the last 40 odd years, always used.
I just felt that I wanted a nice new machine for a change and the new AL1000D was out of my budget so it sort of came back to my best choice being the AL356V
Remains to be seen if I regret my choice in time to come.
There’s a new AL356 Review Video been uploaded by Ted Roza who has had his AL356V for 12 months and just uploaded his review video if your interested in another opinion on how they are by someone who owns & used one.
Hope that helps out.
These come in 415v and have speed levers same lathe I'm getting but the 415 v version grand or 2 or cheaper. I'll use my engine crane
Engine crane might stretch to get the height you need to get the skid out from under it is the only possible issue & the reason I went for gantry & block & tackle /endless chain.
I’ve seen others achieve it with an engine crane tho so it probably could be done.
I was petrified I’d tip it over. 😂👍
Good one Ian 👍
@@swanvalleymachineshop Thanks Max, much appreciated. 👍
@@ianmoone2359 shouldn't mines rated to 2t
@@nickking8317 I did have a guy with 2 engine cranes I could have borrowed. The “issue” was that the spread of the legs on the engine cranes wasn’t wide enough to get past the pallet the skid was strapped down to, to allow the engine crane to get close enough to the balance lifting point of the lathe.
It’s not so much the weight your lifting at 600 kilos, it’s the ability to get the engine crane close enough in to the lathe to be able to lift it and still get the height you need.
The pallet is ~ 6 inches tall, and the skid is another ~ 4 inches above that. So your lathe is already 10 inches up in the air.
The bolts securing the skid to the lather are about 8 inches long and the bolt locations are in a recessed pocket on the base of the lathe so you can’t pull them up through the top to get them out, you have to pull them downwards, meaning the lathe has to go up another 8 inches to get the securing bolts out of the skid from underneath.
So the lathe is then 18 inches off the ground.
I suspect you will find as I did, that you won’t get the engine crane in close enough because of the pallet, and that with the lifting slings and lift bars & shackle etc that you will run out of lifting height on your engine crane before you get the lathe high enough to get the securing bolts out.
I could of course be proven wrong.
Others do seem to manage it on TH-cam videos, so I can only assume they are braver & smarter than me most likely. 😜😂😂👍
Contrary to popular belief and a lot of propoganda. China can and DOES manufactuer very high end percesion machines if needed. Their manufacturing capabilities are very sophisticated. The "cheap chinese garbage" also exist in loads a lot due to fly by night companies looking for the cheapest crap possible to push on buyers. But you can absolutely spec very high quality manufacturing out of some of those same factories as well. Cheap chinese garbage may have been a universal statement 40 years ago but it isnt anymore even though all us in the west just repeat that line over and over. China is leaving a lot of the west behind in not only manufacturing capability/capacity but also in quality. We dont even have the tooling in the west to make some stuff anymore all the equipment has been shipped overseas to foreign factories. Covid opened up many eyes and some companies are slowly moving equipment bacn out of china but its going to take years and years to get production up and running outside of china, they are got bit in the ass by their greed.
Well said. I think some of the Chinese castings are common on Taiwanese lathes these days to.
There is rubbish out there, particularly in the cheap import mini lathes.
I’m hoping this one doesn’t fit that category.
Someone I know has had one for 12 months.
I went and saw it operating / in use a couple of times Holds very tight tolerances and runs nice and quiet.
That convinced me to pull the pin on this one.
It was a battle to decide between the Taiwanese AL 1000D 3 phase model.
A 16 year old used one was available at the same time for $8.5k so essentially the same price & it was in very good condition for its age with little sign of much actual use.
But it came with no warranty, and the smaller spindle diameter and smaller chucks etc.
If you’re a machinist and have other lathes, you can use them to help you fix / restore older used lathes that you might buy cheap.
But that doesn’t apply to me.
I don’t have another lathe (or the skill set yet) to be able to restore an older machine if there’s something wrong with it after I’ve bought it.
So for me, this one the AL 356V made more sense now.
Maybe that might change in time to come - who knows.🤷♂️