Specs state that the distance between centres is 700mm - that’s 70cm which in funny scale is about 26 inches I believe.
My question is, is that 700mm before chuck and spindle is added or after, meaning once I have the chuck and spindle on, is there 700mm between them, or less? If less, I imagine there would still be adequate room to turn pipes? How long is the longest wood bit on a Bb set of pipes?
I’m guessing it is before, but why not ask the manufacturer? Your blanks will be a bit longer than your final working length. My finished Bnat chanter is about 22.75". I’m not sure, but for a Bb you would probably want a couple more inches. See if they have a longer bed available just in case.
David, engine lathe spindles are usually ground with an internal taper to fit a precisely ground center…the work is then driven by a faceplate & lathe dog. I suspect this is the distance specified…and it will probably be a couple of inches more than with a chuck installed.
Ask them if a steady rest is available.
I’m assuming it’s of mainland Chinese mfr…so it might be prudent to cruise by the machinist forums to ask about quality on that brand. Some are fine…some aren’t.
Size looks fine to me. I wish I had a lathe that big.
250mm swing = 9.8425"…700mm center dist. = 27.559"
Not as fancy as the one you are looking at, but reasonable quality for the money.
It’s only 550mm between centre, so it’s less with the chuck in place.
A useful dimension to know is the spindle bore. This is the size of rod you can push into the chuck and out the left side of the machine. This can give you a lot more capacity in terms of length if it is large enough.
I’ve just bored out some rosewood for C drones. It seem to me there is plenty of room but I’m not currently looking at Bb and I’m not very experienced at pipe making.
My current problem is how to fit a bar to support hand turning tools.
I’m looking at Concert and C# initially so I guess the length is adequate. I’ll check on spindle bore diametre and also country of manufacture and reputation too. Thanks people for the input. Not in a hurry so plenty of time to do more shopping around.
Looks like I might go with the one you have David. The supplier is local, and it’s good to know there’s someone else with the same machine in case I run into problems. Where was is manufactured?
Can you take the back wall off for if you want to mill or fly cut long pieces using the top slide?
FWIW I have a Myford ML7 which quotes 20" (508mm) between centers. With a bit of finagling I can actually turn stock that long even with a live center in the tailstock and a 3-jaw chuck in the headstock. This is the samemodel of lathe Geoff Wooff uses for making Bflat sets, so I figure it’s big enough.
The chanter length for Bflat is only about 18.5". I think the longest section in any case would be the baritone regulator, which might need to be a little longer than the chanter.
It looks like the same lathe. It is Chinese, Chester Uk will even provide you with a map to locate the factory.
The rear spalsh guard comes off, I took mine off straight away.
There is an optional verical slide (£100) which I have not bought, for doing milling stuff.
After following Myfords and Boxfords on ebay for a month I needed a lathe as these drones have to be completed before I start teaching again.
This was an all in package with stand and delivered to my door. It comes with a years guarantee and full spare parts support.
I read the review John links to, talked to a few people and decided to go for it.
