[Ace12GA]

Hi everyone, this is my first post; having said that, I feel like a complete newbie.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has some information on the Craftex 10x18 lathe that Busy Bee offers here in Canada. http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/pictu...&NTITEM=B2227L

Unlike the 9x20 that seems to be rebranded by almost everyone out there, I cannot seem to find a whole lot on the 10x18 Craftex. This page is probably the only source of info I could find aside from a couple of cryptic forum posts, and the Busy Bee page. http://users.eastlink.ca/~howarde/Lathe..html

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help me out.

[vulcom1]

I was looking at this one when I purchased my mill/drill from them. Not sure if I remember right but I don't think you can mount a 4 jaw chuck. I would check as it comes in very handy along with a faceplate for mounting. Even though the bore is a shade smaller on the larger one I would probably go there if you can't mount the other accesories.
John

[JWOOD]

I have the 10x18 from busy bee and have been using it for almost 2 years. The lathe is fairly well built and quite rigid for its size. For the price it is a good deal.

That said there are a few problems I have found with it:
Leadscrew is an odd 7TPI
Feed screw dial on cross slide says inches but are really millimetres
Leadscrew handle graduations are not even close, I have never actually used it.
Motor is underpowered but that could be me, when your used to removing a 1/4" per pass at work you don't always take it easy.

When I first turned the lathe on it ran for all of 5min. then their was a nice puff of smoke from the motor. That said busy bee was good and expressed posted a new motor to me no questions asked.

As for mounting a four Jaw chuck I just made an adapter plate out of a cast iron barbell weight from walmart I think it cost me $6.88. They do have a face plate for it but I'm cheap. I would recommend buying the steady rest for it.

So far the only modifications i have done are to add a QCTP and modify the stand from a 3 in 1 machine to fit it.

The main thing i find to be a pain is not having a QC gearbox, that said most of the time i can cut the threads with a die.

For only a thousand buck it's a good deal. I had it pay for it's self the first 3 months.

[Ace12GA]

So after a nice long visit with 2 Busy Bee location today (Concord, and Pickering) there isn't a single one of these available in Canada right now. Heh. Looks like I am waiting atleast a month, probably more. Apparently its one of their best sellers; to which I can't understand why there isn't more info on the next about them.

In regards to mounting a four jaw, I was pretty much planning on making my own plate. I never thought of using a cast iron dumb bell plate though, thats a great idea.

Thanks guys. If anyone else has some more info, bring it on.

[BCwanderer]

http://www.lathemaster.com/LATHEPRODUCTS.htm
It is worthwhile checking out lathemaster.

Also Harborfreight
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...267&pricetype=

and Grizzley
http://www.grizzly.com/products/cate...t=metal_lathes

Also read the comments at
http://www.mini-lathe.com/

It may be worthwhile importing from the USA
The Busy Bee prices are not cheap in Canada
And today our Dollar is up to $0.90 whoopeee!!!!

[Mcgyver]

Jwood, you must have lucked out with a good dumbell, as the metal has really no other function than to be heavy, they use the worst crap they can find, I have tried to enlarge the hole in one once and found it almost not machinable - chill spots that ate carbide

Personally, I'm bearish on the bee. Never owned a machine of theirs, but what i have bought as been of such poor quality it wasn't usable. I recognize there's a price/quality continum, but for my money i'd spend that month looking at some used stuff. heck the the spind bearings alone used in a run of the mill north american lathe, say standard modern (which you can find in the gta) would cost more than the bb lathe, but then again its the mini forum so maybe thats a non started for you.

KBC have some small lathes don't they? not sure if the are the same or better the bb's though, but worth checking out

and wanderer, stop pumping the dollar, its killing our economy!

[JWOOD]

The dumb bell worked really good, i had no problems machining it what so ever. As for KBC thier prices are rediculous for thier equipment considering I can by identical machines from other local suppliers for 2/3's the price. Here in B.C. I have found the used machine tool market to be slim pickings. What is available is in pretty bad shape unless you spend almost as much as new for an import machine.

You guys in Ontario and Quebec are lucky, you have alot more for used equipment, trust me I've looked both for myself and work. I also looked into importing equipment from the US but at the time our dollar was alot lower and with the duties it was not going to be a good deal.

Had I been able to find a good used lathe in my price range it would have been my first choice.

[Geof]

and wanderer, stop pumping the dollar, its killing our economy!

Never mind your economy; I am an exporter ... it's killing me!

[Ace12GA]

Well guys, the main reason I am looking at this lathe is two fold. First off, I don't have a lot of money. There are many reasons for this, but essentially if I save up more than say $1500, my wife will be on me to spend it on our new house, and not a hobby. Sadly I can't argue with her logic. The second reason is simply the fact that of all the mini lathes I have read up on, including all the 9x20 models floating around out there, this one appears to be the best made one. Not to mention its got a full gear head, as opposed to changing gears and belts to adjust the spindle speed. My understanding is that the tool post is also quite rigid compared to the vanilla 9x20. All those factors are whats bringing me in this direction.

Would I like an american made tool room size lathe? Hell yes! Can I find one in reasonable shape for a reasonble price? Not at all.

As for looking into getting one from the states, if I could find a place in the states that carries the same model I would check into it. As it stands I have no interest in the 9x20, especially after using one. The tool post was so wobbly I thought it was going to break the cutter. I didn't even get into adjusting spindle speed. And that nylon final drive gear made me cringe. Sure, it comes with a stand here, some tools, etc.. Well, I'm not sure what my point is, but my mind is pretty much set on the 10x18 model. Now, if I happen across a nice little tool room model in the next month for around $1000, then I will be all over that. Since I have been looking locally for the last year for one, I can't imagine thats going to happen this month. Its nice to dream however.

Oh, and to be more specific, I will probably be machining mostly aluminum with this, maybe some brass, but almost certainly not steel. I'll be hoping to keep a .005" tolerance on everything I make, but can live with .010".

[Mcgyver]

thats what i mean Geof, Canada sells more to the US than we do to ourselves - our lower dollar compensated for lower productivity. unless there is a corresponding increase in productivity, a rising dollar will hurt exports, specifically manufactured goods (resource to a lesser degree)

Jwood, you must of got one of the free cutting ones.

on the used machines, depending on the machine, paying as much as new (import) or several x's that still could represent excellent value, but I hear you if its an area of slim pickings, I've just always like the old iron but your right, if its not available don't have a lot of choice. You hear about people driving across country to trek home their finds, great if you have the time but can't see it myself. The best stuff seems to be at auctions or through networking, again something that takes time and investment....still if, for example, you're picking up a machine in great shape that sold for 15k 20 years ago for $2500, its compelling. Who knows, chatting up the local model engineering club guys might turn up myford or such.

The other gta place that has some smaller lathes and accessories is Ford Machinery in Richmond Hill. I'm of two minds in giving the recommendation, he usually has a good selection, but thinks its made of gold (maybe thats why he has a lot )

[acrook]

Hi Guys

Here are some of my thoughts on Craftex Lathes. I bought a Craftex CT089
13 x 24 lathe some 6 months ago and so far it has been at best a so so lathe. The Busy Bee web site claims that this lathe is "Ideal for professional metal workers, light industry shops and gunsmiths" ha what a bad joke. Have you ever tried cutting a thread on a lathe without a thread dial indicator sure it can be done by setting the clasp and cutting in both directions but don't try this with this lathe the gear train is so loose that if you try to reverse the motor at the end of a pass that the tool bit will not run in your original pass and it will cut an entirely new set of threads with every change of direction, back to taps and dies again. Here's the real clencher though has anyone ever heard of a lathe with plastic/nylon gears? I know I havn't but I found this out the hard way when I was parting off a cast iron coupling and I must have advanced the bit to agressively (I really didn't think that .0025/rev was agressive) and I heard a nice loud bang from the gearbox and my chuck stopped turning. I opened up the gearbox and found that my nylon gear had broken in 2 and was sitting in the bottom of the gearbox. So I called up Busy Bee and the said that they would be happy to send me another gear, big deal, Ihave been using metal lathes for some 30 years and this is the very first time I have even broken anything on any lathe on any ship or workshop that I even been. I also asked as why would anyone been so stupid as to put a nylon gear in a metal lathe and the clerk just laughed at me. Iguess the jokes on me for buying a Busy Bee lathe and trying to save some money as far as I'm concerned go buy anything else but their stuff the extra money will be well spent. Well I'm off to change the crappy nylon gear and I guess I should order a couple of dozen more for the future before Busy Bee stops making them.

Cheers Al

[Ace12GA]

I'm sorry to hear your troubles. I've had mine for a while now, thats the B2227L model, and so far its been pretty solid. The gearbox is fully metal gears, no plastic anywhere in the drive train on mine. I haven't put anything serious on it yet mind you, just aluminum, but I have done some pretty heavy facing with 3" dia aluminum bar stock, that certainly made it work.

Hi Guys

Here are some of my thoughts on Craftex Lathes. I bought a Craftex CT089
13 x 24 lathe some 6 months ago and so far it has been at best a so so lathe. The Busy Bee web site claims that this lathe is "Ideal for professional metal workers, light industry shops and gunsmiths" ha what a bad joke. Have you ever tried cutting a thread on a lathe without a thread dial indicator sure it can be done by setting the clasp and cutting in both directions but don't try this with this lathe the gear train is so loose that if you try to reverse the motor at the end of a pass that the tool bit will not run in your original pass and it will cut an entirely new set of threads with every change of direction, back to taps and dies again. Here's the real clencher though has anyone ever heard of a lathe with plastic/nylon gears? I know I havn't but I found this out the hard way when I was parting off a cast iron coupling and I must have advanced the bit to agressively (I really didn't think that .0025/rev was agressive) and I heard a nice loud bang from the gearbox and my chuck stopped turning. I opened up the gearbox and found that my nylon gear had broken in 2 and was sitting in the bottom of the gearbox. So I called up Busy Bee and the said that they would be happy to send me another gear, big deal, Ihave been using metal lathes for some 30 years and this is the very first time I have even broken anything on any lathe on any ship or workshop that I even been. I also asked as why would anyone been so stupid as to put a nylon gear in a metal lathe and the clerk just laughed at me. Iguess the jokes on me for buying a Busy Bee lathe and trying to save some money as far as I'm concerned go buy anything else but their stuff the extra money will be well spent. Well I'm off to change the crappy nylon gear and I guess I should order a couple of dozen more for the future before Busy Bee stops making them.

Cheers Al

[philbur]

What lathes have you used in your 30 years that allow you to cut a thread in both directions. Its not possible, at least not on any conventional machine. The basic method is to retract the cutting tool before you reverse the drive to get the cutting tool back to the start. If you are able to reverse the leadscrew but keep the spindle going in the same direction you will cut a lefthand thread over the top of the original righthand thread. If you reverse both then you would have to turn the cutting tool upside down in order for it to cut. All "normal" lathes have sufficient backlash in the gear train that the tool would never follow the same path in reverse in any case.

Regards
Phil

Hi Guys

....Have you ever tried cutting a thread on a lathe without a thread dial indicator sure it can be done by setting the clasp and cutting in both directions but don't try this with this lathe the gear train is so loose that if you try to reverse the motor at the end of a pass that the tool bit will not run in your original pass and it will cut an entirely new set of threads with every change of direction. .....

[gmfoster]

I'm sorry to hear your troubles. I've had mine for a while now, thats the B2227L model, and so far its been pretty solid. The gearbox is fully metal gears, no plastic anywhere in the drive train on mine. I haven't put anything serious on it yet mind you, just aluminum, but I have done some pretty heavy facing with 3" dia aluminum bar stock, that certainly made it work.

Actually many of the lathes come with at least one plastic gear. Also when you reverse the motor you have to retract the tool. You can't cut threads forward and backwards....

And a threading indicator is pretty easy to make for a lathe like this..

One most lathes that have inch leadscrews you have to cut metric threads without a threading indicator.. Maybe a good bool or two is in order.... There are also some DVD out there now on the basics..

Garry

[Ace12GA]

Actually many of the lathes come with at least one plastic gear. Also when you reverse the motor you have to retract the tool. You can't cut threads forward and backwards....

And a threading indicator is pretty easy to make for a lathe like this..

One most lathes that have inch leadscrews you have to cut metric threads without a threading indicator.. Maybe a good bool or two is in order.... There are also some DVD out there now on the basics..

Garry

I've had mine right apart, its a double belt drive from the motor, and all steel gears throughout the transmission. All the gears for the quick change threading drive are also steel. I was thoroughly impressed. The only reason this lathe costs less than the others from Busy Bee, is because it comes with no tooling. It comes with a 3 jaw chuck, a couple of dead centers, and thats it. I've spent probably three or four hundred dollars on tooling by now. Probably spend a lot more as time goes by. I'll snap a pic of the inside of the transmission the next time I change the oil.

[vulcom1]

I have the Mill/drill from Busy Bee and as a hobbiest I am quite happy. Yes it is not the best quality but it does what I want. As for the lathes I was looking at them last week and they may need some adjusting and other items but it is the same if you bought somewhere else. As for reversing in the middle of a thread cut I would say good luck but from what my amaturist experiance with lathes is with the free play in your gears you are going to mangle and strip what you have already cut. That's what the indicator is for. If you think they have problems with clearances then come down and play with my TMH48 Atlas.
I think the plastic gear is probably a good idea in that what happens if you run the carriage up and hog in real hard. On mine the belts slip but on a gearhead what else will break. Cheaper probably in the long run and besides you can probably replace it with steel and strip the rest.
When looking at used and if you know who ran it you wold probably be okay. But if not check out the cost to rebuild and still not be new. I liked the 14 x 40 gear head with the gap bed but I am afraid it would be awhile.
John

[Mcgyver]

Ideal for professional metal workers, light industry shops and gunsmiths" ha what a bad joke.
Cheers Al

yup, wonder what else they lie about.

Have you ever tried cutting a thread on a lathe without a thread dial indicator sure it can be done by setting the clasp and cutting in both directions

this is an impossibility. even if there was no backlash in the gears (also impossible) you would have to stop and turn the tool bit upside down.

you can can cut threads without a thread dial, but you do not cut in both directions, you retract the tool without disengaging the leadscrew and then reverse the motor direction to return to start the subsequent pass - by never disengaging the leadscrew there is no need have an indicator to tell when to engage it! enough of a pita that you should make an indicator though.

Here's the real clencher though has anyone ever heard of a lathe with plastic/nylon gears? I know I havn't but I found this out the hard way when I was parting off a cast iron coupling and I must have advanced the bit to aggressively (Cheers Al

yes, but certainly not on a lathe 'perfect for the professional'!. this is very light duty construction. careful just replacing with steel however as the plastic gear serves the function of shear pin as well, if you replace with steel figure out somewhere else to have a shear pin in case of crash. it does strike as a poor design however that the spindle motor was able to keep up but the feed wasn't, you'd think there'd be more of a balance

[acrook]

Hello, about a month ago I told you of my problems with the CT 089 lathe, thanks to all those with good ideas regarding my techniques. So heres an update for you on the nylon safety gear that some people seem to like, for one I don't run my carriage into the chuck so I was not looking for this type of "safety device" but now here is the clitcher, after 3 hours dismantling/repairing the gearbox and replacing the gear I went back to work again, this time cutting down some cast iron,again taking into account the above problem and after a little over 2 hours the chuck started to slow down, I opened up the gearbox and poof there were no teeth left on the nylon gear, I guess this lathe is made to cut soft butter not metal.

[Al_The_Man]

I am helping a friend convert a Lathemaster 9x30 (they also have a 8x14), I don't think you can get any better service than from Bob at Lathemaster if you have problems.
It is quite a bit better quality/finish than I have seen in other Imports, flame hardened ways etc, comes with 3&4 jaw and back plate and other accessories, It has belt change, but as he wants to convert to variable speed spindle, the gearhead was a bit of a waste.
All the gears are steel also, no plastic.
Eventually he want to convert to CNC as Bob Warfield is doing.
http://www.thewarfields.com/MT/MTLatheCNCHome.htm
Al.

[Ace12GA]

Hello, about a month ago I told you of my problems with the CT 089 lathe, thanks to all those with good ideas regarding my techniques. So heres an update for you on the nylon safety gear that some people seem to like, for one I don't run my carriage into the chuck so I was not looking for this type of "safety device" but now here is the clitcher, after 3 hours dismantling/repairing the gearbox and replacing the gear I went back to work again, this time cutting down some cast iron,again taking into account the above problem and after a little over 2 hours the chuck started to slow down, I opened up the gearbox and poof there were no teeth left on the nylon gear, I guess this lathe is made to cut soft butter not metal.

How big a cut are you taking? What is the diameter of the part you are working on? What I'm getting at is, how much stress are you placing on the lathe from a cut? I won't take more than .01 per pass when cutting mild steel on my lathe. Usually its more like .005 per pass. In softer materials I will get daring and maybe do .02 per pass. Cast Iron can be a real ***** to cut, with hardness varying by as much as 30 rockwell (c scale) per square inch. Its hard on the machine, and the cutters.