new lathe

[Swifty]

I've never removed the gap in my lathe bed, too hard to get them back in the correct position despite having dowels.

Paul.

 

[cam081]

hi gardnep I am sorry to hear about your lathe I can say I have done around 75hours work with mine and had no trouble.

hi john thanks for your input you are spot on about the screw cover some time its a real pain. I have been lucky so far and have been able to just change my set up to get around it. I don't think I will ever have to take the gap out as I have another much much larger lathe I can use if needed.

thanks cam

 

[Blogwitch]

Cam,
In all honesty, the first mod that needs to be done is the tailstock one, to stop the MT spinning, it only takes an hour and does a permanent cure. Many have now been done, and not only on this type of lathe, and only good vibes back.
The second one is the locking up of the cross slide, if you are making lots of bits all with the same diameter, that really does solve the problem of cross slide creep. I know it looks complicated, but in fact, if it is done in easy stages, a couple of hours should see it tucked nicely away.
Again, very good feedback from people who have done this mod and not only on a lathe, it can be used on any dovetail either to give a bit more friction or total lock up.

John

 

[Moper361]

I Realise this is an old thread but just thought id drop a line and see how everyones al336s are hanging in .I am actually looking at these with interest as ive been looking at al250 but to me it seems to make sense to go for al336
Bigger spindle bore
Foot brake
More threading options
The list goes on

Yes its a bit more in price but think id be kicking myself if i went al250 road .

Any feed back would be good to here on mods and how there hang uo after a couole of years

 

[rodw]

There is not really anything to mod if you buy the D version. A friend has one and its been used almost daily for years and its still hanging on.
It still has the same sized spindle as the AL250G but it has a geared head and removable chuck.
I think the biggest issue with them is the spiral feed screw covers stop you from getting close to the chuck. The AL960B does not have this problem and neither does the 250G as it has no covers!

 

[Moper361]

There is not really anything to mod if you buy the D version. A friend has one and its been used almost daily for years and its still hanging on.
It still has the same sized spindle as the AL250G but it has a geared head and removable chuck.
I think the biggest issue with them is the spiral feed screw covers stop you from getting close to the chuck. The AL960B does not have this problem and neither does the 250G as it has no covers!

Rod is there another version of AL250G as the ones i have been looking at have 26mm bore and AL336 that i have looked at have 38mm bore bothe have gear head and also gear box for thread cutting however the AL336 can do both metric and imperial without to much fuss aposed to the AL250 is a little limited to metric .Also AL336 has foot break but neither the 250 or 960 have this option

 

[rodw]

Ooops sorry, I was referring to the AL320G I had previously not the 250. But if you have the room, the 336 is better again. Yes I would like a foot brake but heck, I bought my 960B equivalent for $4k used from H&F and when I polished it up it looked like new!. Some of the accessories were still in their original wrapping! and it had coolant and a DRO which H&F don't offer for it.

 

[Moper361]

Ooops sorry, I was referring to the AL320G I had previously not the 250. But if you have the room, the 336 is better again. Yes I would like a foot brake but heck, I bought my 960B equivalent for $4k used from H&F and when I polished it up it looked like new!. Some of the accessories were still in their original wrapping! and it had coolant and a DRO which H&F don't offer for it.

Yes seems like you were in the right place at right time Rod
I do like the 336 and i have a similar version in thailand but its a 750 between centers and is perfect for fitting in a room with limited space .But theý do not seem to have the 336 here and smaller than a 900 between centers .This is why i was looking at the 250 however it has its disadvantages of no foot brake however i think a simple foot brake could be fabricated to fit out of small motorcycle disck rotor and callipar etc.It does have smaller bore but in reality the work i do is small and ive never really needed it maybe twice in 8 years on the lathe i have i also have access to my fathers larger lathe around the corner .I would like to know what the threading gearbox and gear head gears are made out of on the AL250 as a lot of plastic is being used these days .I knoww 336 is all steel but 250 im not sure and this is what keeps throwing me of the 250 .there is a nice Boxford over here again smaller but in very nice condition with quite a lot of tooling and a mill attachment it also includes a nice german made drill press but both 3 phase 3000 aud however i really dont know if its a decent deal or not

 

[deeferdog]

I have the AL250 lathe and it suits me down to the ground. MT 3 in the tailstock is a real bonus. I fitted a brake about a year ago, works fine. I posted about it, here is the link if you are interested. Cheers, Peter. https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/lathe-brake.27173/