[Biff]

Awesome. Keep the pics coming.

I bought one of these new last year and have been fiddling with it mostly just to remember how to use one as it's been a few years. When the weather's warmer I think I'm going to give mine a full tear down too.

What DRO unit are you using? link?

Thanks,
Ryan

[Biff]

Sorry for the double post.

[legendboy]

Awesome. Keep the pics coming.

I bought one of these new last year and have been fiddling with it mostly just to remember how to use one as it's been a few years. When the weather's warmer I think I'm going to give mine a full tear down too.

What DRO unit are you using? link?

Thanks,
Ryan

I bought one of these ones

http://cgi.ebay.com/9-x-20-Lathe-DRO...QQcmdZViewItem

I called him directly and asked him for a better price since 299 is creeping up on mister dro's. I got the 2axis kit with display for $285 shipped to canada. Its a $39 dollar savings, i figured i would give it a try since I don't plan on hunting tenth's much on this machine. I also asked him to supply me with just the parts and none of the mounting hardware since i won't be mounting it the same way he has it setup.

If it sucks i will just re ebay it and go with the mister.

[legendboy]

Here is that sketch



I don't know if anybody else uses inventor, but autodesk finally fixed dimensioning isometric views on layouts! woot

[legendboy]

DRO came in, they seem alright. I checked the scales over about 4" travel with a digital mitutoyo vernier and it indeed seems accurate to at least a thou.

Not sure why the glass looks weird in the picture, it is smooth and clear in real life.



The QCTP came in too but didn't take any pics yet

[legendboy]

current state

[legendboy]

chinese oil galleys

[legendboy]

cleaned and dressed with a file

[legendboy]

a bit hung up on the half nut pin....i bent it quite a bit removing

[LpGibson]

Hello everyone. I am new here and was very happy to find some fellow Craftex users here. I just purchased a B2227L with all the goodies. I am a Mechanic by trade 32yrs. I was involved in a very bad industrial accident that has left me disabled but I still do a bit of ATV and Snowmobile repairs as well as light car and truck. I used a lathe many years ago for simple parts machining but nothing to elaborate. I think the fanciest thing I ever built was that stupid tack hammer in high school that i used to crack my shop teacher in the head with after he tried to accuse me of leaving the key in the lathe chuck. It wasn't me it was the kid in front of me that was bleeding like a stuffed pig from the head. He was so busy poking me in my chest to see the guy laying on the floor. What can I say I snapped plus i needed some time off school so I could work on my rod. Any way I look forward to chatting with you guys and learning some new tricks. I am a 50 year old dog but I can still learn new tricks. Great reading you guys have posted and looking forward to picking your brains. Later guys.. Fred

[LpGibson]

Hi legendboy. I took your advice on the stand and got the same one you bought. You were right the stand for this unit is pretty wimpy. I bent up a pan using your drawing from 12 gauge stainless. Works great and fits me fine. How is your DRO unit working out and do you have any pic's yet of how you installed it. Thanks for all the great posts. Fred...

[MrAR15]

Hi Guys

Just wanted to chime in and let you know I'm a new Craftex b2227L 10x18 owner as well. I also bought the 1976 Mill/Drill form Busy Bee. I'm kinda of new at this stuff and I haven't found any other forums that deal with the Craftex line of machines so I'm very happy to have found this small group.

I've only had my lathe and mill/drill for 2 months and so far I am really pleased with my purchase. I've had Taig equipment for about 6 years but my projects are out growing them. Now what I need is a place to bounce ideas off of and solve problems as they arise. I hope this is the place.

I'll be here checking in on a regular basis and contributing when I can.

My first order of business is getting a DRO on the mill. I have scales set up on the lathe that I canabalised from my Taig. I have the same dro display as legendboy except mine is the 3 axis. I had to send it back to Discount Machines last week as after 13 months it just stopped working. The display lit up but there were no numeric readings in the LCD, just the green background light. They are going to repair it for $50 and send it back. Be aware that those scale do not like any kind of liquids on them, especially cutting fluid. Keep them clean with Isopropal Alchohal and dry and you should be ok.

For the mill I'm looking at Shooting Star Technologies here in Canada. Looks like a nice unit and I haven't heard a lot of bad things about it.



John

[cr17]

Hi guys - interesting site and thread. I'm a big Busy Bee fan and have been agonizing over which lathe to buy. Could you give me some pointers on what moved you to the 10x18 2227L rather than the 9x19 CT039 ? A first glance the package that comes with the 9x19 adds up to buying the same stuff separately for the 10x18?

[MrAR15]

I bought mine from Busy Bee in Mississauga. The saleman (Ken Adams) really knows his stuff and steared me to the 10x18 as it is far more robust and its even heavier than the 9x19. The spindle bore on my 10x18 is 1" where the 9x19 is only 3/4". This was important for me for re-crowning .960 target barrels. Also, comments on other forums were much more in favor of the 10x18 as overall its just a better lathe than the 9x19.

[Biff]

That's what I've read too, though I'm can't say from personal experience. If you take away the cost of all the tooling that comes with the 9x19 you end up with a cheaper lathe which it appears is exactly what it is. My 10x18 does feel pretty sturdy for a small lathe.

[MrAR15]

Another thing that came to mind was the fact that the lathe performed perfectly right out of the crate. Lots of asian stuff needs tweaking to perform up to, lets say, "normal" specifications and I've had my share of crap already. The 10x18 lathe, after a bit of a cleaning, checked out just fine. I indicated all of the major areas and didn't find anything out of wack. I was very pleased. Of course the manual, like most asian manuals is in chienglish so don't expect too much for reading material. Do pay attention to the BREAK IN PROCEDURE. Most important to avoid future problems. You will want to consider dial indicators or a DRO on the major axis as the dials on most of these lathes suck badly. There is a nice little unit from SHARS that uses the chinese digital scales. I had them on my TAIG lathe and mill and I put them on my 10x18 lathe. The mill got the Star Technologies DRO unit and what a delight that is. The other major (and its not really major) modification will be a QCTP which went on in a snap. Now tool changes are fast and accurate.






BTW, if this thing is going in your basement, beware. It took four strong guys to get it down the stairs into the basement and I was a little unsure as to whether the stairs could take it. I also bought the mill/drill and that was a real nail biter going down the stairs.

[LpGibson]

Hey guys. I was wondering were to get the Shooting Star 3 axes DRO for my Mill. I was hoping to get a better price than direct from Shooting Star. Fred

[cr17]

Another question - is anyone running their lathe on 220v? I assume that they are convertible -- one of the added advantages of most Busy Bee equipment.

[MrAR15]

The 10x18 lathe is 110v only. My mill, on the other hand, is 220v and it needs all it can get as it is quite the powerfull little beast (for a mill/drill that is) It can be rewired for 110v but I was discouraged from considering that as a possibility and after using it for three months now, I understand why.

Just to change the topic for a moment, I was wondering whether we could get the moderators to give us our own little forum for Craftex lathes and mills. We don't really fit into the mini lathe forum and I haven't found any other forums that would cover our area of discsussions. I know that there is a 9x20 group but it doesn't get much use. What we need is a broader coverage of equipment but still specific to our discussions. I think that a Craftex Lathe and Mill forum would gather more users then scattering them around in others areas. We would of course need sufficient activity to make it worth while (read-chime in everbody who thinks this is a good idea).(group)

John

[LpGibson]

What quick change tool post are you guys using on the 10x18. Were did you get it and how much. Thanks... Fred