Any suggestions? I have found a used Springfield...only thing the guy that has it knows...It has a 13" swing and 69" between centers. It's 3 phase. I've been wanting a new toy...what should I look for? I'm sure it's worth the $800. My uncle is a retired machist and willing to show me a few things. Any thoughts?

Get someone who really knows to test run it for you to make sure all screws and drive is OK. Price a rotophase to run it or convert it to single phase. Sometimes used machinery is not really the bargain it seems like.

BTT,

I am just bumping you so Bgreen will see this and respond.

If you got some serious questions go to his webboard at http://www.alaskaoffroad.com

It is a slow moving board since Alaska is so freaking isolated but Brook know's his shiat! He is a machinist by trade and runs some awsome stuff.

This is the best machinist site that I have come across. They talk about used equipment alot and should be able to help you out.

Home machinist (http://www.chaski.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_machine/webbbs_config.pl)

Good luck. They have alot of info about building a rotary and static phase converter, but you are better off just buying a vfd. vfd, variable frequency drive, it allows you to change speeds by push of a button and some have single phase input with a three phase output. Heres one site you can get them cheap.

cheap motors and vfds (http://www.dealerselectric.com)

Hope this will help you.

Any more info? What about some of the "new"...most likely import machines...Like from Grizzly or Harbor freight etc...?

I am no expert machinist my any means, and most any old timer would be more help to you than I would be for your application. But, if that lathe works, its worth 500 bucks. If it has any tooling with it, give the guy his asking price. If your buying a lathe, its the tooling that is gonna kill ya. If he isnt selling any tooling and wont come down on his price, have him throw in a 4 jaw chuck and a nice live center. You will need a Drill chuck too. Do a quick inspection of the gear box and look at the ways, (thats the part that everyting slides on). Most older lathes have pretty worn ways, which makes it hard to hold size. Most are worn up close to the chuck. for O.D. turning thats not so bad, cause you can "fix" most of that with some emery and a file. It sucks when your boring something like an Internal Bearing fit, cause you cant just fix it with a file.

Look for a threading dial. If you dont know what that is, have the owner show you.

also see ask if it can cut metric threads if that might be important to you.

Does it have a taper attachment? That is a nice fearure, but not totally necessary for most 4x4 related stuff.

A steady rest will come in handy if your going to do any driveshaft work.

Dont be afraid of ugly looking machines. check out the slop in the cross slide. (turn the x axis handle one way then the other. it should only have about 1/4 turn of slop. be wary of more than 1 full turn.)

ask questions if you have any. I do repair work for a living and work with some very tallented old timers so if you have a ? that I cant answer, I can ask one of them.

edit: oops, Im kind of "Impared" :flipoff2:

:) Thanks alot....BGreen.