Buying a lathe

[michael weaver]

Hi everyone. This is my first post to the forum. I do not have a lathe yet and I am looking at two different ones. Is there a difference in quality between a Peerless and a Boley?

[tmac1956]

Michael:

Welcome to the forum! One of the residing experts here is David Pierce. He usually checks in everyday and he can give you a TON of information about lathes.

Again – welcome!

Tom

[chris mabbott]

Yes welcome Michael, and I can only agree with Tom, ill be curious to hear the answer myself.

Chris

[david pierce]

Mike,
The short answer is no. I have several models of both Boley and Peerless and both are fine machines. The long answer is more difficult and has to do with your present and future needs for the lathe. One extremely important consideration is the acquisition of accessories. Without accessories the lathe is useless. My Boley lathes take the standard Starrett 8mm collets and my Peerless lathes do not. Some Peerless lathes do, so make sure before you buy the machine. If you plan to work on watches only take a good look at the Sincere lathe. I have one of those as well and love it. It is affordable, all necessary accessories are affordable and available, and as long as it is used only on small watch size parts (not clock parts) it will produce beautiful work. As it is a Geneva style lathe it is not as strong and massive as the American design WW lathe and should not be pushed.
Are you the Mike Weaver from the Black & Decker company? If so I am the same David Pierce.

[michael weaver]

Thank you guys for the warm welcome. I talked to Bob today and he told me that David would chime in and he came through! The answer you gave was definitely what I was looking for. So as I understand it I technically would only need the Sincere lathe. If I decide to do some clock work later down the road the Sincere would not be able to handle the larger work load? It may seem that a Boley might be the best answer for the long haul. 1) easier parts to get 2) could handle the work load of clock parts. Do I have that correct? Also, I was considering the Peerless that Larry has for sale if you have seen it I would love your opinion. Also, I am not that Mike Weaver I work for Missouri Gas Energy. Thank you again for all of your responses.

[michael weaver]

Tom, I just did some searching and found a previous post with your lathe questions as well. Looks like you were looking at the same lathe.

[david pierce]

Mike,
Ask Larry if the Peerless he has for sale will accept standard 8mm WW Starrett collets. He will know. If it does then you Will be in good shape. Peerless lathes are great as long as you can get the accessories you need. If it takes the most common and available standard then there won’t be any problem.
david

[michael weaver]

Thank you David. I called Larry and all is good in the world. It appears that I will be the proud owner of a beautiful Peerless lathe! I appreciate all of your input.

[willofiam]

Hey Mike, how fun is that!!!! be sure to post up some pictures of your new addition,(maybe in the shop section) so we can all drool over it I use the watchmakers lathe for all kind of things, with the right set of collets and a 3 jaw or 4 jaw chuck I do all my clock pivot work on mine, turn arbors ect…ect… It should do most things for you even for clocks, then if you start doing anything larger you will get the chance to buy another lathe, then maybe another, then a mill and another lathe and and and……. have a great day. William

[michael weaver]

It’s very exciting! I will definitely post pictures. I also bought a motor and switch from him. It’s a nice looking Racine.

[david pierce]

Mike,
It would be a good idea for learn how to take these machines apart and clean out the bushings. I use Q-Tips and hydraulic oil to chean and lubricate them. You can be rest assured that when you dismantle the spindle there will be 30 years worth of nasty gunge packed in there. I prefer to use rubber O-Rings for belts and if you decide to go this route, you will have to learn how to disassemble and reassemble the lathe anyway. If you go to Youtube an bring up the watch repair channel, Mark Lovick has a video showing how to take the headstock assembly apart.
david

[michael weaver]

I am very interested in learning as much as I can about it. I love taking stuff apart and trying to make it new again. I appreciate the advice about the video and belt. Larry said he would send me a melt together type but I’m guessing the knocking sound will get annoying after a while. Be prepared to see me ask obnoxious questions….. 🙄

[david pierce]

Mike,
Even if the belt was welded perfectly and you could not see the seam, the material would still be harder at that spot and would still make the clacking sound. What I do use the weld type belts for is to find out the size (length) belt I need in order to purchase the O-Ring.
david

[michael weaver]

So I called in an order and went into Jules Borel today to pick it up and you wouldn’t believe who’s name came up?? Yup, David’s. The lady was telling me all about this guy that knows everything about lathes. I thought to myself what are the chances I throw his name out and it’s him. So I said his name wouldn’t happen to be David Pierce would it? And she immediately said yup that’s him. I could not believe that she just happened to be talking about you. How freaking weird! Anyways I thought you would get a kick out of that.

[david pierce]

Mike,
I’m David Pierce and I can’t believe it myself.
david

[Author]

Posts