[donr]

Hello everyone
I am new to this forum and am new to anything that is related to lathes and milling. I need guidance in purchasing a tool. The problem lies in the fact that I do not know which tool or if I should buy new or used. I will let you know what I want to do so that might help. I do a lot of mechanical repairs on cars and motorcycle as well as electronics and woodworking as a hobby. Diversified I know. Sometimes, I would like to be able to make my own things instead of buying. One example is making a set of forward controls for my motorcycle. This consists of round and flat metal parts that would put the shifter and brake in a more forward position so I would not have to ride cramped all the time. Price for ready made around here, is from $700 to over $1000. Turning rotor disks when they are perfectly good instead of buying new. Price for turning is $20.00 each. Mostly it would be to make custom parts. Now turning 12" rotors would require a lathe with a minimum 12.5" clearance over the bed and to machine flat parts would require a milling I would imagine. Now here in the Montreal area, I have been looking at lathes on the used market. I have found many in my price range of $1500.00. They range from small Hardinge turret lathes @ $650.00 to larger engine 10" to 17" lathes (Southbend, Atlas, etc). Some of them have 3 phase motors that would need replacing and they weigh over 1000 pounds. So, I need to set this up in a small garage that 2 or 3 people could bring in.This would put the weight at 600 pounds or less. It needs single phase 110/220V motor. Now, knowing nothing about machining and knowing no one that could come with me, I am hesitant in buying used. Some of these things are quite old and I do not want to put money into a lathe other than maybe having to buy a motor. On the other hand, I saw on this forum that Busybee tools is selling a Craftex 13" X 24 for less than $2000. This is new and under warranty. I am also considering the fact that I will have to learn to operate whichever machine I buy plus tooling and stock. Most of my custom work would be with aluminum and steel, and drilling accurate holes. So, this is long winded but describes well enough what I am into. I would appreciate any type of feedback.
Thank's a bunch
Don