From around the 50s I think.

This is my personal project from a few months ago, I needed to machine some features that wouls have been easy on a live tool lathe, but quite a pain on manual machines, so I built a dividing attachment for my lathe spindle, as well as driven tools, than can be used radially or axially for milling and drilling, everything is very rigid and has no problems even in steel. The drive is via a custom built flexible shaft, this allows me to use multiple tools with the same motor, and also keeps the motor in a more convenient location.

Used my high dollar lathe (my truck in reverse at 900rpm) custom cutting bits (harbor freight wood chisels) and a very complex tooling guide (a concrete block, angle iron, and vice grips) to achieve a diameter of 22.08” as determined by the engineer (me and my iphone calculator with middle school math skills) confirmed measurements with precision instruments (a string and a tape measure). Satire description aside, i doubted this method but the old heads swore by it.

These are supposed to be the same, the one on the right was my first one (how it SHOULD look), and on the left was the one I messed up on...

Single-point threading on a lathe...

Hi, relatively new to this. Have this old lathe at work, but not so sure what the different controls does. Any help is apreciated!

Looking at Facebook marketplace, want to move up from a little machine shop benchtop mill to something with a bigger table, more travel, more rigidity, and hopefully less deflection. Saw this pretty cheap on Facebook marketplace but I’ve never seen a mill with a column like this or a head like this. Seller wants 500 dollars and I’m wondering if it’s worth it because it doesn’t look like the head articulates at all. Seller claims it is a Bridgeport series one but doesn’t look anything like them.

putting this out here for anyone who may need it. i got a weiler lz280 recently that needs to be rebuilt. i didn't get any docs with it, but was able to find an old typewritten manual online that was mixed english/german and had some typos etc. - wasn't very readable.

i used a few ai tools to rebuild/refresh it to clean english, fix the errors, and add additional pictures/diagrams, instructions etc.

hope it helps anyone looking for one. will also be grateful for any errors you notice or might be able to correct.

Link: Weiler LZ280 User Manual

Made the mistake of ordering 1” instead of 1/2” A36 Steel. Already water jetted. Originally planned on milling it down, but it’s going to take like 10 hours. One option is to use a vertical bandsaw, but not sure how to cut it precisely in half. Also thought about using a face mill, but would still take a considerably long time. Any tips for vertically bandsawing this nightmare

Made some more progress on turning my piece today in class. Doing good so far. Made lots of chips today.

my first lathe for at home. I was able to get it from work for 300 bucks!

I’m setting up a small custom motorcycle shop (mostly Harley stuff) and want to start doing cylinder boring and engine work as a paid service, not just hobby use.
Right now I’m stuck between these two machines:

Precision Matthews PM-1340GT
https://www.precisionmatthews.com/collections/lathes/products/pm-1340gt

Grizzly G0824 (14x40 class lathe)
https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-14-x-40-2-1-2-hp-gunsmithing-metal-lathe-w-dro/g0824

From what I understand:
The PM 1340GT is more of a higher-end Taiwan-built precision machine with tighter tolerances and better fit/finish
The Grizzly is cheaper and bigger (14x40), but probably more of a “good enough with setup” type machine

What I’m trying to do with it:
Bore Harley cylinders (Sportster / Evo mainly)
Do general engine work and fabrication parts
Offer services to customers and actually make money with it
Eventually build this into a legit machine shop setup

My concerns:
Is the extra precision on the PM actually worth it for engine work?
Does the larger size of the Grizzly make it a better choice for cylinder jobs?
Which one would hold up better doing paying work regularly?

I know a real shop would use a dedicated boring machine + hone, but I’m trying to figure out the best starting point that can still produce quality paid work

For those of you who’ve run either:
Which would you pick and why?
Would you trust either of these for customer cylinder work?
Are there any alternative models you recommend better suited to my needs?
What would you do differently if starting over?

Appreciate any real-world input from people with hands on experience with these machines or real world experience doing similar work as I described im going to be doing.