Look for an older Craftsman/Atlas, Clausing or Hardinge lathe. They are always on Craigslist. Wish I had the room for one. Not too many ChiCom tools I would buy. Never a lathe or welder. My $.02 . What's your location-ish?
Nice idea, but when it comes to used machinery, if you can't inspect the machine in question
IN PERSON you are just flat out gambling. Not saying you can't get a good one, just that it's a real crap shoot.
Jeremy, hearing that your brother is an experienced machinist
and has a good repore with the dealer in question is excellent. "Means you're not groping your way in the dark.
The old Atlas/ Craftsman (Atlas was the mfr.) were very nice machines when they were new, and you can still find good ones today. (Same goes for Logan, Le Blond and South Bend) The problem is that, in most cases, they haven't been built since the 1960's. The only way to get parts (other than bolts and some bearings) is to find someone who is parting one out of get them made. I say "the old Atlas" because the name is is now part of the holdings of a larger group that also includes Clausing and Colchester. Come to think of it, parts are getting thin on the ground for the old Clausing's even though they were built into the early 1980'S.
Colchester carries commonly used parts here in the States; non common, if available, generally have to come from from the factory in England.
The only manual Haringe models that really have any support is the production speed lathes (factory & aftermarket) they do not have threading capabilities. All their new machines are CNC and are built in their factory in Taiwan. Mills too, including the Bridgeport line of manual knee mills.
Now, Atlas, Clausing and Colchester are still having manual lathes (and other machines) built to their specifications by factories around the world; lathes in Taiwan and China. There are others that are importing from that part of the world as well that are bringing in decent stuff, but I won't bore you with it here.
A machine shop of your own can be a great thing; problem is, if a machine tool is wrong, the parts, if available , can be astronomical in price. It's a whole lot easier to buy a good one in the first place.
