Harbor Freight Lathes?

[black85vette]

I still have my HF 7x10 even though I now have an Atlas 12". My first 4 engines were done on it. You make lighter cuts and slower feed rates on a small lathe. On the pro side; the imports are well supported by Little Machine Shop who stocks parts and tools for them. Almost everything for them is pretty cheap including cutting tools, chucks, and faceplates. You do need to go through them and check every adjustment before use. There are several websites that have pages on what needs to be done. I added a Taig milling attachment to mine and that was my entire "machine shop" for several years.

What else are you looking at?

 

[rake60]

The Harbor Freight lathes are the same Sieg manufactured machines
that are sold by Grizzly, Enco and a host of other retailers.

The price differences are due to accessories and features added
by the other sellers. When shopping for my 9 X 20, I decided on the
Grizzly version because it included a 4 jaw chuck. The extra paid
was a waste of money. That chuck is just a step above useless.

Another thing is customer support. Harbor Freight offers very little.
Grizzly has excellent support. I can't speak for Enco or the others
since I have no experience with them.

I have heard there are quality control differences between the companies.
I have helped set up and operated lathes from all three of the vendor
I list. I have never seen a difference it the quality of the machines.

Rick

 

[enginebob]

Well fellas thanks for the imput . I was looking at some affordable 8X12" lathes. I looked at atlas and harbor freight. I picked the 8X12" because I felt it would be easy for a beginner for things not too big and not too small. This is my first lathe :-[ and I was assuming that the size engine you can build and the size lathe you have go hand in hand.
EB

 

[heidad01]

Great choice for a small lathe. 8x12s are much more rigid than 7x10s. Post some pictures of your lathe if possible. Good luck. DavidH