- This topic is empty.
-
John,
I know the feeling. It is hard to make a choice when it comes to lathes. Probably the answer is that you need more than one, since no single lathe can do everything
, but money makes that not always an option and one has to look for a compromise. What I think is important in a lathe, aside from its basic capacity, accuracy etc, is the availability of accesories. You don’t have to buy them all, but the possibility to buy them when needed is certainly a big advantage. In that respect I think that Sherline wins from Taig and sometimes I regret not to have bought a Sherline. Not that I cannot do everything I needed the Taig for. Another big difference is that Sherline has a lead screw whilst Taig uses a handwheel on the cross-slide (although a power feed is now available).
I would advice the following when you would go for Taig;
– Basic lathe with or without power feed. I don’t have the power feed, so I cannot comment on that. There is a retro fit kit, but as far as I know quite involved to install.
– 3 or 4 jaw chuck: 3 jaws is easier and faster, 4 jaws more accurate but more involved for setting up. I have both
– I would buy the lathe with a ER-16 headstock. You can still use all the accesories (except the Taig collet set which you would not need then). Using the ER-16 headstock is more accurate than using the standard headstock with the ER-16 adapter for the standard headstock.
– Of course the electric motor. I have the standard 1/4 HP motor (single phase, induction, capacitor started) with constant speed. Lathe turning speed is set using pulleys.
– The mounting assembly supplied by Peatol is quite convenient.
– V-belt.
– Drilling tailstock (with Jacobs chuck). I use this a lot!
– toolpost. I bought several. They are cheap and saves you time to adjust the height each time you change your cutting tool, just leave the tool in the toolpost.
– tool bit set.
– headstock spanner to remove chucks.
The above is in my opinion absolutely necessary. Following items are extremely useful:
– compound top slide.
– steady rest
– milling attachment, not that it will turn your lathe in a real milling machine but also handy when you need vertical displacement. A milling vice is nice to have with the milling attachment.
– slitting saw arbor and slitting saw.
– If you want to cut threads you might use the tailstock die holder. The only way to cut threads on a Taig since there is no leadscrew.The above list is compiled based on my experience when using the Taig lathe for clock work. Maybe someone else can give you a list for Sherline so you can make a comparison. I think both Sherline and Taig are of the same overall quality but as I said Sherline has more accesories available.
Of course then there is the whole series of chinese made mini lathes, but I have no experience with those.
Hope to have been of some help, not confusing you even more
Jan
Hi John,
I have had a look over that e-bay lathe, best I can just with photos, and I don’t think it has had much use. If you look at the little vice you can see the black has worn from the top edges, you can’t see that sort of wear anywhere on the lathe.
Obviously you know exactly what you are getting if you buy new but when you look at the cost of a new lathe and, what you are getting if you bought this one from ebay, it would leave you a lot of spare cash to buy any attachments you might need.
Just a thought but whichever way you go we are here to help
Paul.
William- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.