RE: Time to buy a lathe
Big machines small machines they all most always do what they are intended for. Sturdiness and accuracy as well as available tooling and parts are a major concern. As has been said before buy as big as you can afford. You will never regret that extra few inches of machine. Small machines equal smaller cuts so if you want to be efficient you will spend a little more effort to buy your stock closer to finished sizes. Accessories and tooling for some may only be available mail order so make sure your machine comes with enough to let you work with it. I have bought a small lathe (Unimat) which everything had to be ordered to fit that particular machine. Nice machine expensive accessories. When you get into the bigger machines you can take larger cuts and machine much more without having to reset everything. Clearance holes behind the chuck through the head of the machine are pretty well standard for each size of lathe. The ones that tend to have larger holes in the smaller lathes are usually referred to as gunsmith’s lathes. These usually have clearance to put a rifle barrel in the chuck with the rest of the barrel sticking out through the head of the machine supported by 4 centering screws at the very back so you can accurately chamber the barrel for the shell. These extra clearance machines make ideal home lathes. Clearance on my 36 inch is 1.625. Buy what you can afford and enjoy.
Enco better Chinese made lathe.
Shop Fox
Jett
Amazon and Ebay have some good deals on new and used equipment.
Dennis