Originally Posted by Liv2fish2 BW -
Have you used your manual 9x30 much?? It looks like a great lathe for around the $1k range. Thanks! |
I've used it quite a bit and like it a lot. I'm able to make parts to 0.001" tolerance all day long without being a whiz bang machinist. It is very happy cutting with my carbide insert tooling. It basically did all of this out of the box. You can make it chatter if you push it too hard, but it seems to work darned well most of the time.
I made a QCTP adapter and a DC treadmill motor conversion and these made the machine even nicer. It looks ideal for CNC because it is a lot more rigid than most of the cheaper Asian lathes. It isn't cheap as these lathes go, but they put their money into mass and a little better finish. So, no quickchange gearbox, you must use change gears. That absolutely won't matter for CNC.
There's a very happy community out there, though not as many modding projects as one sees for the basic 9x20. Still, most of the 9x20 stuff would work on a Lathemaster with a little thought and some, like the 4-bolt clamp, is just not needed.
Best,
BW