Buying advice: lathe and mill drill in Australia

[ausjet]

Hey fellas,
I've recently sold my pedestal drill press as the lack of ridgidity whilst drilling was starting to get annoying. (Even with vices bolted to the table) so I'm now looking for a mill/drill and lathe later on.
Second hand, there's not much around. Mostly either really really old or 8k + CNC machines. There seems to be a limited number of brand options in Perth (Australia) for buying new. There is a machinery house local to me called Hare and Forbes, has anyone had any experience with their mills or lathes? My budget is under $3k for a mill drill and under 4k for a lathe.
Or has anyone in Australia bought a lathe/mill and had it delivered across the state?
Thanks guys,
Keith

[pitciblackscotland]

G'day Keith,
Have you look on ebay and gumtree ?? I got this milling machine off ebay,works well but i will upgrade to a bigger mill now that i have 3 phase power in the workshop. I had a chinese lathe that was very good to use but have gone up to a 2 ton lathe which is 50 years old. I'm very happy with this lathe,they don't make them like this anymore. There is some really good second machines on the market, make sue you get tooling with the machine if you going to buy second hand. I had a crane truck delivered my lathe to my place which was not very far, but they do deliver interstate cost was $450 cash for 2 hours was worth it they know what they are doing and are very helpful. I can give you the contact number if you like. Here is the mill i have at the moment,this seller is in SA and will post out.

www.ebay.com.au/itm/Geared-Head-Dovetail-Milling-Drilling-Machine-1100W-240V-Mill-Drill/382278586957?hash=item590194524d:m:mkVhDhzve60oQxgB5qMxnZg

Cheers,
Mark.

[ausjet]

Hey Mark, thanks for your reply, yeh I've looked on gumtree, slim pickings. I was staying away from eBay machines as their quality Is unknown- unless like you said, a particular one has been recommended 👍🏻
This is one I've been looking at
www.machineryhouse.com.au/K012

The next one up:
www.machineryhouse.com.au/K014
has a geared and tilting head for ~$300 more, what would you go for? I'm keen to learn, but don't have any milling experience. So far, I've read that if I crash it, the belts would just slip, rather than gears breaking, plus I've heard that belts are a lot quieter.
Advantages of the gear head- more rigid dovetail column, although less of a speed range, changing speeds is quicker, and can tilt 90 degrees either way.
Cheers,
Keith

[racket]

Hi Keith

Get the dovetail column and tilting head , I don't have them on my old Chinese mill but wished I did , also you'll be needing a rotary table for it , I use a 6 inch one but since starting work on bigger engines wished I'd spent the extra money and got the 8 inch one .

Good old Hare and Forbes , purchased my first lathe off them 45 years ago , they were working out of an old tin shed in Paramatta (Sydney) at the time and only dealt in second hand stuff , they've gone "upmarket" since then ;-)

Cheers
John

[pitciblackscotland]

Hi Keith,
Yeah as John said go for the dovetail column mill, I think all the dovetail column mills are all gear head. I snap two mill cutters so far with my gear head mill, but no gears breaking the spindle is still running straight may have to check it with the dial indicator one day. If you are going to buy a lathe from them as well see if you can get a deal on the price or ask them to throw in mill vice and some tools,Machine mounts for the lathe and mayvbe ask for a good deal on a rotary table.

Cheers,
Mark

[ausjet]

Can quite easily lose track of time walking around the Hare and Forbes wearhouse! Not a place to take the misses that's for sure.
Thanks for the feedback guys, I'll go for the gear head and see what they can throw in.

[jetjeff]

Hi Keith,

I'd look for a rotary table that can be mounted horizontally or vertically, a handy feature. My old 12" rotary table can only be mounted horizontally.

Regards

Jeff