# Canadian CX701 lathe



## Brian Rupnow (Sep 19, 2015)

Are there any Canadians on here with a CX701 lathe from BusyBee Tools? I only have 110 volts available in my small machine shop, with no possibility of a 220 circuit. I have seen this lathe on their sales floor in Barrie, and it a very impressive looking machine. It is the biggest lathe I have found that runs on 110 volt. I plan on buying one in two weeks unless I hear of any major horror stories with it.----Brian
http://www.busybeetools.com/products/metal-lathe-12in-x28in-with-digital-readout.html


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## Barnbikes (Sep 19, 2015)

Looks like everybody with problems online have electrical issues (loose wire terminals). 

Does the one you are looking at have the dc motor?


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## Journeyman (Sep 19, 2015)

This is the same as the Warco 290V here in the UK. I have had it's smaller sibling for a number years without problems. There is a review of the WM 250 on my website. These lathes are from Weiss in China. The latest models have VFD drives which are reported to be much better than the older versions with DC motors. Quite a few people in the UK report problems with lack of low speed power and worn brushes with the DC version. That said the overall engineering on mine is quite good, wish I had the power cross-feed on mine.

Good luck with the new lathe.

John


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## Jasonb (Sep 19, 2015)

Lack or torque is not really a problem once you get used to them, I stalled mine once when it was new and I was learning what I could do with it. Now I just take a slightly shallower cut but run it faster so no real difference in time taken between one 0.050" cut at 100rpm or two passes of 0.025" at 200rpm

10.5" iron flywheel cut OK 

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2kPSYxB8cQ[/ame]

EDIT, with the 1.5Kw motor it sounds like you will have the AC motor with inverter control, so better torque than mine


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## mygrizzly1022 (Sep 19, 2015)

Brian
I don't 701 but I have the 700 and it shares the same lineage as the one you are looking at. Weight was an issue for me and I had to chose lighter.I am totally happy with mine. It lacks serious low end grunt but has done every thing I have had to do just fine.

this is in your neck of the woods may be worth a look.. it seems to have a taper attachment as well

http://www.kijiji.ca/b-ontario/standard-modern-lathe-lathe/k0l9004?origin=rs


Bert


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 19, 2015)

Mygrizzly---thank you for the link. I spent the first 3/4 of my life buying other peoples used stuff because that was all I could afford. In this last 1/4, I buy new stuff. Still---I ponder a lot before I spend the money.----Brian


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## petertha (Sep 19, 2015)

That might be the same BB model a guy around here has. If so, one quirk he experienced was replacing the stock tool post with a typical dovetail or piston style quick change / holder type. Typically the are sizes A,B,C.. by bracketed swing capacity. He wanted to run 5/8" shanked tools so picked the tool post based on the lathes swing (for example B). 

But sounds like that compound sits relatively high for a lathe that size & kind of boxed his options. Either getting the smallest size post (which then limited his tooling) or modifying the tooling blocks on the next bigger model so the would e low enough (pita). Hopefully I have the story straight.


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 20, 2015)

I have a little confusion going here, and I will try to resolve it tomorrow when BusyBee is open. The motor is listed one place as having 1.5 HP 1.1 Kw 110 volt and 12.3 amp. 4600 rpm.  In another place it is listed as being 1.5 HP 1.1 Kw 90 volt DC and 12.3 amp with 4600 RPM.  It is possible that both are correct, meaning that the motor is 90 volt DC and required 110 volt AC to operate the system. I am not an electrical guru, so I can't say much about it right now.


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## Tin Falcon (Sep 20, 2015)

A 90 volt DC motor running off 110 ac line voltage is fairly common. The motor controller rectifies the the current and sends out dc pulses to control speed. Thus the term pulse width modulator. 

Or it could be that lathe was shipped both ways either should run of 110 house voltage. 
Tin


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## canadianhorsepower (Sep 20, 2015)

Brian Rupnow said:


> I have a little confusion going here, and I will try to resolve it tomorrow when BusyBee is open. The motor is listed one place as having 1.5 HP 1.1 Kw 110 volt and 12.3 amp. 4600 rpm.  In another place it is listed as being 1.5 HP 1.1 Kw 90 volt DC and 12.3 amp with 4600 RPM.  It is possible that both are correct, meaning that the motor is 90 volt DC and required 110 volt AC to operate the system. I am not an electrical guru, so I can't say much about it right now.



Brian 
it`s the same thing first it`s 120 and not 110.
and 120 volts ac x.707 give you = 84.84 dc. 
and 84.84 dc x square roots of 2 = 120. volts ac

cheers


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## johnny1320 (Sep 21, 2015)

I looked at the 701 as i liked the quick change gear box, didn't like the small belt drive on the 701, i opted for the CT089 110 vac, comes with stand 701 doesn't. it's been a great lathe, good power


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## johnny1320 (Sep 21, 2015)

I have made .100" full depth cuts in aluminium with no problems on my CT089


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## Jasonb (Sep 21, 2015)

Just to save any confusion the 3 knobs on the front are not a full screwcutting gearbox. You get 2:1, 1:1 and 1:2 drive to the leadscrew or feed shaft so thats three different screw cutting pitches per setup of the change wheels. The other two knobs are to select left or right direction and screwcutting or feed.

I have taken 0.100" cuts on steel with my version of the 701


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## johnny1320 (Sep 21, 2015)

Is that full depth .100" for steel? so .200" over all. the other reason I went with the CT089 was the price, I bought the floor model $1500 and the fact that it comes with a stand even without the discount the CT089 is cheaper. 701 is on sale right now for $3299.00 reg $3599.00. The CT089 is $2799.00 reg $2999.00 plus it has 12.5 swing over bend compared to 11.5. The 701 is nice looking but I think the CT089 has better value


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## johnny1320 (Sep 21, 2015)

One other thing to mention is you get standard and metric dials with the CT089


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 21, 2015)

Johnny--Thank you so much for stepping up and offering this information. The CT089 lathe from Busy Bee may be an even better choice for me than the CX701 and is in the same price range. I can not find many positive reviews on the CX701, but there are many very positive reviews on the CT089 lathe.  It seems to do everything I need, has the same 1.5" spindle bore and power cross feed, and uses a "standard" 1 horsepower 110 volt AC drive motor. It is much heavier than the CX 701, and heaviness in a lathe means a more stable cut. I don't do a lot of threading, but this lathe certainly seems to offer a wide range of threading capabilities. (Weird that it doesn't offer 1"-8 tpi though.) I will go up to the Barrie BusyBee tomorrow and see if they have one on their sales floor.
http://www.busybeetools.com/products/metal-lathe-13in-x-24in-with-stand.html
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHRGfMFBjxo[/ame]


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## johnny1320 (Sep 21, 2015)

No problem Brian, like I said I have been very happy with this lathe.


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## canadianhorsepower (Sep 21, 2015)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Johnny--Thank you so much for stepping up and offering this information. The CT089 lathe from Busy Bee may be an even better choice for me than the CX701 and is in the same price range. I can not find many positive reviews on the CX701, but there are many very positive reviews on the CT089 lathe.  It seems to do everything I need, has the same 1.5" spindle bore and power cross feed, and uses a "standard" 1 horsepower 110 volt AC drive motor. It is much heavier than the CX 701, and heaviness in a lathe means a more stable cut. I don't do a lot of threading, but this lathe certainly seems to offer a wide range of threading capabilities. (Weird that it doesn't offer 1"-8 tpi though.) I will go up to the Barrie BusyBee tomorrow and see if they have one on their sales floor.
> http://www.busybeetools.com/products/metal-lathe-13in-x-24in-with-stand.html
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHRGfMFBjxo



That's what I had before changing to my 12x36 LOVVEEED it


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 21, 2015)

Luc---I don't see a thread cutting dial on the CT089 lathe. I simply don't know enough about thread cutting to know if this is a problem or not. Is there a suitable work around to let you know when to engage the half nuts so that you don't start a new thread in a different position when you advance the cutting tool for a second or third pass?---Brian


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## canadianhorsepower (Sep 21, 2015)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Luc---I don't see a thread cutting dial on the CT089 lathe. I simply don't know enough about thread cutting to know if this is a problem or not. Is there a suitable work around to let you know when to engage the half nuts so that you don't start a new thread in a different position when you advance the cutting tool for a second or third pass?---Brian




Brian, 
I could not answer this if my life depend on it.
I never purchase a lathe to make bolts, I get a good tapping set
to do that.
But if you will be satisfied whith a CT089 1000% sure you will
cheers


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## johnny1320 (Sep 21, 2015)

It has a thread cutting dial Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 22, 2015)

profilhaibay27 said:


> http://evenserver.org



this appears to be spam of some kind--moderator please remove it----brian


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## johnny1320 (Sep 22, 2015)

The video is incorrect the lathe cuts 5,6,8,10,11 and up all common TPI


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 22, 2015)

This morning I went to BusyBee tools. First I looked at the CT089 lathe. a very good looking machine! Then I made them bring out an extension cord and plug it in. My God it was a noisy brute of a thing. I would go crazy with that amount of racket from the gear head machine!!! Next, I went over to the CX701. I had taken my dial indicator stand and 1/2" travel dial indicator with me. I confirmed that the cross feel dial, the compound rest dial and the tailstock dial all read in thousandths of an inch as advertised. I checked the headstock for runout at the chuck, and the chuck mounting flange is true to within .00075" . I confirmed that the extension cord was plugged into a circuit with a 15 amp breaker, and with the machine running at 850 rpm in low range I shut the lathe off, then restarted it 3 times in quick succession without dialing the speed down any. I then changed the belt drive over to the high speed pulleys and ran the machine up to 1600 rpm. in high range, and again shut the machine off, then restarted it 3 times without dialing the speed down, and nothing tripped the breaker the cord was plugged into. Total price including lathe, stand, two chucks, a faceplate, steady rest, follow rest, 5/8" tailstock chuck and tailstock live center and a quick-change toolpost and 13% sales tax came to $4300 Canadian. I can't think of any other tests that I can legitimately perform in their showroom floor. The machine is much, much quieter than the gear head lathe.


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