The right lathe

[Andy Bennett]

I am hoping to have the opportunity to spend around £1500, possibly a little more, on a hobby lathe. Appreciating there are occassionally second hand lathes to be had I am looking for suggestions for a new hobby lathe, possibly including milling attachment. I am tending towards table top as appreciate a stand will add to the required budget. I have a 30A supply in my workshop if needed. Whilst there are the obvious from Clark etc I am sure there are others I should be looking at.
I would appreciate any knowledbabgle souls offering their twopenneth and of course from Tony as the resident 'lathe man'.

Thanks
Andy

[Reckless Rat]

I have a Myford ML7 with a full range of change gear wheels & accessories and it does me OK. Not really much use for "big" stuff - a Colchester Student might be more appropriate but they're a lot bigger, heavier and take up a lot of space. Mine is bench mounted...

   

[Ivor Hawkins]

I had to get rid of my big Norton, which was a wonderful lathe, but I was moving to the Isle of Wight and replaced it with a six speed Clarke.

I had to pull the Clarke to bits and shim/adjust everything to get it somewhere near accurate, but it’s okay for most things.

Bruce is right, a low mileage Colchester student would be an excellent choice.

[Parazine]

Don't write off second hand lathes, there are some real bargains to be had in ex-industrial quality machines at the same money as you will pay for poor quality Chinese stuff!
I have a Colchester Bantam, a minature heavy duty lathe. I don't have room for a Student, which is quite a lot larger and heavier The Bantam is superbly built, mine is ex-school, so not really much used. I converted it to single phase but could have used it with an inverter.
Much better than a cheap far-eastern lathe. which you should avoid at any price and more versatile than a Myford which, although a quality job, is really a modelmakers machine at 3 1/2" centre height (7" swing). Several local Austin 7 friends have Bantams as well.
Another alternative is a Boxford, which is not quite as robust as a Bantam but well made. Raglan Little John lathes have a keen following.

[Charles P]

I would much rather spend £1,500 on a good second hand lathe than the same amount on any new machine that I've seen.
Your mention of "table top" suggests a smaller machine so Myford, Boxford, EMCO, should be your hunting ground, either with or without a stand, where possible.
And bear in mind that a decent vertical slide would almost certainly give a better milling experience than one of those "3 in 1" imported Machine Mart type of set ups.
If you did go Myford then you have the occasional chance to upgrade to one of the vertical milling attachments designed for them. But bear in mind that Myford always seems to come with a higher price than IMHO the better Boxford machine.

[Austin in the Shed]

Go for as big a lathe as you can,at least a boxford,41/2” centre height lathe.
You can always do small jobs on a larger lathe but you can’t do larger on a small one.
Vertical slides are hard work and always too small to do much on,then you need to turn something once you’ve got it set up.
Remember there’s no substitute for cast iron,(for ridigity)

[Charles P]

Go for as big a lathe as you can,at least a boxford,41/2” centre height lathe.

I did that and bought a CVA. 
Brilliant machine but now we're contemplating moving house and the 1.5 ton machine in the back of the workshop does present it's own challenges

[Andy Bennett]

Excellet, thanks everyone, much food for thought.

[Tony Griffiths]

Hello Andy, £1500 will get you an excellent lathe. It might be a little out of date but see: https://www.lathes.co.uk/page2.html
A stand will not make much difference to the price - and most lathes over 5-inch centre height come with one anyway. As others have suggested, a Colchester Bantam is an excellent choice (it was made in Mk1., M2 and Mk.3 versions) https://www.lathes.co.uk/bantam/ The Harrison M250 is similar and also a good choice https://www.lathes.co.uk/harrison-m/
The Boxford in the right version is also very handy - a late-model the top-of-the-range VSL with its large spindle bore is the one to go for - though a good one with lots of accessories can sell for more than £1500. The AUD is the next one down and also a good machine with lots usually available. Late Boxfords were made with a 5-inch centre height - a modification easily spotted if one compares the base of the tailstock on the two versions. For details of the whole Boxford range and the ones to avoid see: http://www.lathes.co.uk/boxford
Another one to consider - and often fitted with a powered vertical milling attachment - is the Emco V10 and V10P https://www.lathes.co.uk/emco/page2.html
This page often has better-than-usual lathes advertised http://www.lathes.co.uk/page3.html with links to pictures etc at https://store.lathes.co.uk/adverts e.g. https://store.lathes.co.uk/adverts/for-s...erial16580
Here's a rather left-field job, a rare geared-head Myford that looks to be a good buy - if it runs quietly: https://store.lathes.co.uk/adverts/for-s...-280-lathe
If you come across something you need more information about and need advice, do give me a call on 01298-871633. I'll be happy to help if I can.

[Andy Bennett]

Much appreciated Tony