Bolton Lathes info and or thoughts

[sonmtn]

Just wondering if anyone knows of Bolton Lathes
i was looking to move up from my old South Bend and saw one on e bay
13"x40" gear driven Thanks

[jfk]

Just wondering if anyone knows of Bolton Lathes
i was looking to move up from my old South Bend and saw one on e bay
13"x40" gear driven Thanks

I got hooked into this thread when I got off work this morning. After reading for a few hours, it seems the larger Bolton lathes are okay but the standard accessories are limited compared to other dealers. I saw the Bolton 13x40 on Ebay for $2,299, buy it now. I'm actually about 70 miles from that seller. The freight charge to me was $299. I would personally stick with Grizzly, Jet, or Enco (no particular order).

My little 9x20 Jet gave out about a month ago after almost 15 years of daily use. I bought an older 12x36 Jet lathe (green colored) from a friend about four years ago but it still has been sitting in his shop. Neither of us had time to clear a path in our shop to move it. I will probably get the green Jet into my shop within the next month or so and will probably get a smaller lathe (poss. 11x27 or even a 10x22) as a back up lathe.

[jreinke]

My personal favorite: http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1127VFLathe.html

[jfk]

My personal favorite: http://precisionmatthews.com/PM1127VFLathe.html

I was considering that lathe also. Could you give give a review with pics. That would be greatly appreciated.

[CMV]

That's the lathe I want but a call this week to Matt in Pgh left me with the impression it's at least a 6 month lead time. What's on the boat now is filling orders from last fall. That does look like the most bang for the buck for a 1.5" spindle bore. My feeling after talking with him was that his estimate for a lead time would be exactly that - an educated guess - no schedule or real way of knowing exactly how many or in what timeframe the factory in China would be shipping.

My google-fu is weak, but I can't find that same lathe for sale in the US under a different brand. A place or two in Canada with much higher prices (and no relief from currency conversion - maybe another bailout would help?) & then you'd pay customs fee, import tax, higher freight, etc. Tacking on $1,000+ to the price tag doesn't make that such a great value any more.

[CMV]

I was considering that lathe also. Could you give give a review with pics. That would be greatly appreciated.

There are a few videos from owners I found.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5lsU-EeZpA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2VR1e7vpfs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gAb3fiWbpA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An5wWGWTX40

The 1127VF-LB is the specific model I want - the LB is for large bore. For $200 more you go from 1 1/6" to 1 1/2" spindle bore. There are several Grizzly (et. al.) models with the 1 1/2" spindle bore as well, but they don't have the power cross feed, left hand threading ability (if that's important IDK), or some other features. Seems anything I've compared to that specific model - on paper at least - comes up lacking or costs a lot more. 110V also.

[Capt. Link.]

I was considering that lathe also. Could you give give a review with pics. That would be greatly appreciated.

There are a few videos from owners I found.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5lsU-EeZpA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2VR1e7vpfs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gAb3fiWbpA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An5wWGWTX40

The 1127VF-LB is the specific model I want - the LB is for large bore. For $200 more you go from 1 1/6" to 1 1/2" spindle bore. There are several Grizzly (et. al.) models with the 1 1/2" spindle bore as well, but they don't have the power cross feed, left hand threading ability (if that's important IDK), or some other features. Seems anything I've compared to that specific model - on paper at least - comes up lacking or costs a lot more. 110V also.

I don't see anything special about this machine other than the variable speed.All other functions are standard on most machines even if not listed.At 650 lbs its a fly weight machine.A D1 spindle and a MT-3 tail would be nice if it had it.Compare it to the G4002 at 2600.00 even with the short bed its a mighty mouse!

[CMV]

$740 less (including difference in freight charge), 110v instead of 220v, power cross feed, no changing gears (I think, but i might be confusing that with another model we talked about), variable speed, DRO for spindle speed.

The grizzly model you pointed out does have some advantages - 2hp vs 1.5hp, 350 lbs heavier, comes with more stuff standard, 1" more swing, & the removable bed section (if that's a plus IDK)

Neither is available right now, but I'd assume the Grizzly would be available earlier.

I'd prefer 110v vs 220v just because it's easier to PnP in my garage. My breaker box is full since I switched from gas to electric hot water & added a hot tub - both those 220 circuits filled the panel.

Anyway, I'm not saying it's the end-all of lathes but it is a very good value considering what you get for your $. I wouldn't put it in a tool room or industrial setting, but for a home workshop hobbyist it looks like a good choice - but so are many others.

[CMV]

10-12 week lead time - just found that out today - so not nearly as bad as I thought from our previous conversation.

Also the feed only does a low, med, high type deal. So there are gear changes required for threading unless those combinations just happen to be what you need.

If you pay the full price when ordering (~12 weeks before it's here in this case) you get 5% off. If you buy 2 machines at once you get 5% off. If you pay cash you get some more off (not sure how much but it wasn't 5%), but all the discounts don't stack perfectly - like if you paid in advance, bought 2 machines, and used cash/check you wouldn't get a full ~13% off. The % off is for the whole order including accessories. For me it would work out to about $450 total savings so that's pretty good.

I also asked about setup. He said about 30 min per machine to uncrate & make chips assuming you have the ability to lift it on the stand easily. Asked about cleaning off goop & Matt said they do all that when they arrive. They clean & inspect each machine prior to shipping but they do add a rust prevention that you have to wipe off. But you're not dousing the stuff in kerosene trying to remove a ton of cosmoline or anything like that.

PM30MV mill, PM1127VF-LB, spider for lathe, premium pkg for lathe (to get mostly the stuff Grizzly includes with theirs + the QC tool post), & residential freight will be right around $4,085 with the discounts. I think that's the largest/most capable 110v setup out there & a lot of machine tool for $4k. Pales in comparison to 'real' industrial equipment, but for just a guy in a small home shop doing small projects I think that will be a pretty nice setup that doesn't take up much space or cost a small fortune.

We talked about the lathe pros/cons already. The mill has 1.5 hp, R8 spindle, depth & spindle DROs, & 90° head tilt. About $200 more than a Sieg super X3, but you get the extra HP, larger table, more table travel both ways, stand included, & a little heavier (70 lbs). It doesn't have the coolant thru spindle or tapping mode (quick reverse button) that the super X3 has.

I'd really like a surface grinder too. Not something you use frequently, but when that's the right tool for the job, it sure is nice to have. Nobody (that I could find) makes a small, cheap one. Around $4k for the smallest & I don't want it that bad. I'm wondering how hard it would be to make a mount and mod a regular bench grinder to make it rigid enough that could attach to the lathe. Would need to copy something like they do on the larger mill/lathe combo machines that have the mill near the center of the lathe. As long as it was rigid & allowed fine up/down movement wouldn't that work?. It would be kind of slow & clunky using the cross & top slide, but would probably get the job done.