Looks rock solid, that's excellent.
Id be shitting rainbows if it were at my shop! :D
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Looks rock solid, that's excellent.
Id be shitting rainbows if it were at my shop! :D
So, I have seen this concern in the Seam site video and now in this video, it looks like the chuck handle or ring around the chuck is not straight, does that make a difference in use? I understand that it meets together nicely when glass is in the chucks but this handle or bar is something that has always turned me off about this lathe.
The rings is for convenience only that was added as most of my customers asked for it.
Reason is when you are fusing 3 or for perks or other item in the tube cutting and fusing, chances are one or more will droop, what you
do is heat or flame that item and use the handle to hold and release till the particular item is straight if not the price of the water pipe
goes way down . this cannot be done when there is no ring as the teeth projections or the chuck slots will injure your hand, I have
come across so many injuries in factories in Los Angeles that it gave me an idea to put rings on the chucks and the injuries stopped ,
the work comp kills your profit.
The chucks and lathe runs true and if some one does not like can take it off with a L N tool which is in the tool box we supply .
Ali Khan
I was just telling my shop mate about these yesterday. Its great to see the posts from the customers, and the speedy responses from the seller!
I drove down to fullerton over 600 miles last week because I was skeptical that a lathe with such a budget price could run true. I wanted to watch it run before I handed over the cash. We wanted the larger standalone wih 85mm bore. It looked really precise holding rods and tubes of varying sizes. Before I left with the lathe, Ali's mechanic took apart the chuck assembly and went over all the maintenance points and intervals, as well as how to make calibration adjustments. They forklifted it right into the bed of my truck and we were on our way. They even gave us a handful of bungee cords to hold our tarp down better.
After a bumpy ride 12 hour drive back it doesn't appear to need any adjustments, still running extremely good tolerances.
I will update with more info as I get more time on the lathe, but my initial reaction to the purchase is it's great value for the price and capabilities.
I'm glad to be hearing such good feedback on these so far. I like it when that happens. :D Would love to see more pics.
That is pretty nice looking. Hope to hear an update from you in a few months.
Been working on the lathe for a couple weeks now and my overall impression is still positive.
Hard to say much more about it than that it runs true, as that's my primary concern when working on a lathe.
The chucks are pretty sweet to work with, now that I have the choreography down it's really nice to have the metal tubing to grab onto for quick changes of glass.
The tailstock and fire carriage have gotten much smoother after getting use and greased up. Motor is fairly quiet, pretty much the same as my buddy's American Lathe.
Really enjoying the 85mm bore, been working some 65mm now that I don't have to worry about handspinning.
Not much to complain about yet!
I'm curious about what factors you consider in judging a glass lathe. By "you" I mean y'all. Chucks need to run true and coaxial and the sync needs to be accurate, other than that the machine doesn't do anything, right? It's basically mechanical fingers to spin a tube, right?
Not knocking it, just seems like there isn't much to them. I'm very familiar with metal lathes and quite handy with them and I'm sure i would love the hell out of a glass lathe! Metal lathes need mass and rigidity for the cutting forces but glass lathes don't need to support cuts or heavy forces.
These Seam lathes look blocky and crude but for what the machine actually "does" it seems hard to justify another $10k for a Litton or other well known brand. I buy and use machine tools so i do know that there are soft advantages to consider; tech support, repair parts, accessories, ergonomics, etc but glass lathes are very different than what I am familiar with. This is a legit question, i would like to know more about lathes and would totally love to put my hands on one for a few days. I also totally get the import/America consideration and how that influences the support/repair situations.
What do you look for and consider when choosing a lathe? If this should be a separate post please let me know. Or just move/delete.
Cast iron beds should be rough machined close and thrown outside to stress relive for 6 months to several years then finished machined and ground.
They creep over time but its not much.Cast is a crystalline structure that does not bend and take a permanent set like steel, its more like glass in that respect.
The better lathe beds are induction hardened. I doubt any glass lathe is induction hardened. It would make for a very tough machine.
This is a vendor's sales thread. Please keep all discussion of other lathes or other sales in their appropriate threads, which is not this one. If you have questions or comments on Seam lathes, this is the place. Thanks! :)
Let me explain a little about Seam lathes and the Preconception or Misconception of an Indian lathe that it is Ugly, Blocky and crude and that it bends or wraps under constant heated condition is all hearsay.
Seam lathes base are made of Cast Iron in a sanded mold compress machined to take out the mold residue and cured for 3 months before it goes on the assembly line and sent to Fullerton California facility to assemble the lathe with Bearings, sprockets and accessories bought locally from granger and calibrated.
It is almost noiseless smooth; speed control makes it spin forward and backward the motor is half HP and Voltage 110.
WE at Seam originally made lathes for scientific laboratory equipment’s but in 2005 designed and made the bench top lathe to make lab accessories, but our first customer bought it and started making water pipes and that is how we are now catering to this industry. We now make Floor model 110 mm, 120 mm and 85 mm and Bench top model in 50 mm and 85 mm, 85 mm is back order and booked till September or early October, only 50 mm is available now along with 85 mm floor model.
This Seam lathes are easy to dismantle and assemble very easy with the tools we supply along with jaws [teeth] extra to switch at the time to cleaning the propane, oxygen and oil residue. With our tech support which is only a phone call away.
Glass blowing is an art and a career at the same time which requires a no hassle lathe to work with, smooth, noiseless machine with a reliable tech support a call away.
There are lots of lathes in the market, Indian, Chinese and American repaired or refurbished lathes and very competitive. We sell a lot because of our quality and tech support and loyal customers.
Ali Khan
all apologies, I did not even realize this was a sales thread.
I absolutely love my benchtop model... Thanks to the people a SEAM( Ali) for manufacturing a quality lathe at a very competitive price point. I have not had a single issue in the few months I have run this machine..
Phantom it's good to see you're loving your machine. I am in the market for a lathe soon so I'd love to hear updates as you use the machine more. and anyone else who has one. Pics are always awesome. :D
@pyrochixrock...
I am loving my SEAM bench top lathe... I have completed a few projects in which having the lathe made life so much easier. I have absolutely ZERO complaints.
99% of my work is production, that I have been contracted through my wholesaler, so I am not at liberty to post pics of the work due to contract restrictions. Otherwise I would be showing how clean and true these machines run. If you are ever in Montana I would be happy to open my shop to you and let you work on my machine so you can get a feel if it could work for you. I hope this helps.
Phantom could you just show it running true with some basic rod or tube. I'm curious myself as this looks awesome so far
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