Why are lathes so pricey?

**Jimi The Don** · 10-15-2013, 08:21 AM

i Work On a Lathe 40 Hours a Week And i Promise You, They Are Much More Than a Motor And a Clamp. a Lathe That Is Made By Someone Who Cares About The End Result Is Well Worth 10k. a Cheaply Made Lathe, a Poorly Assembled lathe, Or a Cheaply Made Poorly Assembled Lathe Is a Frustrating Waste Of Time. Also, Lathes Need To Spin Fast As Well As Slow, Using a Drill Is a Horrible Idea.

**Trevor** · 10-15-2013, 08:28 AM

drill=lathe same fucking thing, its a great idea. you couldn't possibly have anything go wrong or hurt yourself. trust me I've got tons of experience with this
just chuck up the biggest fucking tube you can and let er rip. if you can lay a drill press on its side that work even better
you will need a zip tie or excessive duct tape to hold the trigger down to its fastest position. lots of super glue works equally well
(please don't do this)

**jw721** · 10-15-2013, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by Trevor

drill=lathe same fucking thing, its a great idea. you couldn't possibly have anything go wrong or hurt yourself. trust me I've got tons of experience with this
just chuck up the biggest fucking tube you can and let er rip. if you can lay a drill press on its side that work even better
you will need a zip tie or excessive duct tape to hold the trigger down to its fastest position. lots of super glue works equally well
(please don't do this)

Might work better/be safer than whatever he pays china to develop and manufacture.

**DIMBW** · 10-15-2013, 09:01 AM

Wow, u guys are fucking ruthless.....

lol

**TlkQ** · 10-15-2013, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by DIMBW

Wow, u guys are fucking ruthless.....

lol

Welcome to the Melting Pot.

**Lmwfy** · 10-15-2013, 09:10 AM

**gmarv54** · 10-15-2013, 09:44 AM

good grief you guys act like if he chucks a piece of glass up in a drill
and lets it spin hes gonna die or something. seems to me the worse
that could happen is he might fling a piece of hot glass across his
shop. now tell me have you not done something like that, if not you ain,t
been trying.

**DIMBW** · 10-15-2013, 10:00 AM

Flinging molten glass across the shop is always the highlight of my night. Or maybe it's the hiss it makes when I pour beer on it.

**khan** · 10-15-2013, 10:13 AM

The reason is economics. If you make a product the first thing you have to recover is your machine setup cost. That means like paying for that tool or jig that you cant get from Harbor Freight ...nope..... it has to be made special for you because it does one thing over and over but it does it very well. So anyway you have to recover all that tooling cost that was put in just to make the product...(the lathe) worthwhile to make. So if you are going to sell 40,000 of the lathes you can recover your cost by making only say a 10 or 15% return on each one you sell..BUT... and this is where the rub is.... but if your gonna only sell say.... 500 units. You can see that you are gonna have to make a much better percentage return on each unit you sell to cover all that setup cost... So, now rather than making a 10% profit on each one you have to make a 50 or even 75% profit on each unit (lathe) you sell.
Litton lathes (and most of the top of the line lathes) use a cast iron base... nice and heavy so it doesnt move around while your working... and the headstock and tailstock are both again... cast iron casings. Notice on the new cheaper lathes they are sheet metal welded together. Well that cast iron had to be poured into a sand mold. All that equipment they have to make sand molds and heat the metal and pour it not once but in a production situation. They have to recover all that cost before they make even one dime on their lathes. Which one would you rather have??? a cast iron base that once you place it will NOT move until you are ready to move it or do you want to put your lathe on a home made 2 X 4 table that you put together in a hurry to hold your new lathe.??? i know what i would rather have.
Look at their chucks... the damn things are so well made that ppl are still buying them for several thousand dollars 20 years after they are put into service. See if anything you get at Lowes is even still around in 20 years.
Those expensive lathes you see were made to hold up in a production glass working situation not for me to put in my little shed and play around with. They are HEAVY DUTY SHIT>>>!!!
Thats why they are so pricey...
Khan

**khan** · 10-15-2013, 10:15 AM

Your not gonna hurt yourself putting some glass in your drill... shit...do it and have fun.
Khan

**Jimi The Don** · 10-15-2013, 10:17 AM

i Love Flinging Hot Substances

**BORO** · 10-15-2013, 11:11 AM

A lathe , or tube shop , is much more than just a 10k+ machine . ( yes the same machines were 5 or 6 k tops in 2004 ish , the market price is at a peak is my guess . As more options come available , it should settle down ) If you just lamp work at a bench , you can stretch supplies , a few hundred $ and you have glass to work with, a small kiln , and your set .................................................. ...................................... If you did aquire a lathe , now you can eat whole cases of 44 mm or what ever size you like, in just one sitting .( This is assuming you can make a saleable product , and the supplys are not wasted on learning curve .) You need a very large kiln , and electricity for it , the lathe ,saw , and the extra lathe vents . You will need a saw , no matter slits or not , you need a saw to cut sections for prep .You make all the small parts you need , in a timely manner , and clean enough to sell . All of this adds up quickly. Then you must make sales , but not a few sales to your local shops.( like bench work ) You need to sell a product that demands big money orders for just a few pieces . This means you need more outlets . Most shops won't carry 10 of each lathe product.The price range you must operate in , to be succefull with a lathe every day , reflects in the cost of all the equipment , and supplys you need . Rightfully so . If you can make it work , the profits can be proportionately larger . ( so everyone wants a lathe , they see $$$ , truth is , it's just not that simple . )

**byron3** · 10-15-2013, 11:53 AM

Here dude :
I Love Mad Scientist ..........

http://www.cartertools.com/

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Links.htm#mp

http://imajeenyus.com/workshop/20110...he/index.shtml

http://pw2.netcom.com/~sjnoll/glasslathe.html Check this link out!!

Damn the doubters, keep up the good fight, and above all keep me informed!!
Much love
B3

**byron3** · 10-15-2013, 12:04 PM

Mind you these are all small lathes, but using a Taig milling machine to fabricate parts, well I think you can make the connection. There is a whole world of hobby lathes, and just with oxygen technology, us mad scientist and closet inventors will take what we need from other industries and convert it over to our versions of glass lathes ..............................
The components exist in one form or another and simple machining can yield larger components. Understanding how precision bearings and zero tolerance nuts on simple machine such as the Taig series will translate over to knowledge that will scale up. No I do not think these small hobby lathes would serve as industrial work horses for every day prodo use, but the knowledge may prove to be invaluable latter on down the road. You have to be able to crawl before you can walk!!

**byron3** · 10-15-2013, 12:19 PM

Here this fine fellow was kind enough to provide you all the mechanical drawings, blueprints for a home made glass lathe!! cira 2000
http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/gwl/

**Riley** · 10-15-2013, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by lukem5

You know we can't get everything on our own soil. Why rape our own land for natural resources and cheap labor when we can rape china?

believe me guys America is winning here, for now. About to shift to china's side though.

Score one for the heartless dreamer. Usually raping anything isn't a good thing, not even China. This thread is but another worthless turd to stir up angst. Cheaper American lathes are on their way to market from several reliable sources. Ones I can call up on the phone right now. You should save your teacher's pension and ideas of rape and conquest and go find another forum to troll.

And yes, you can make a one headed lathe from a drill. Holds less than 10mm of glass, wobbles, and is only practical in the smallest applications, but I don't need tell you that, your a dreamer. Rape on dude.

**julian floro** · 10-15-2013, 01:15 PM

^^^

**gmarv54** · 10-15-2013, 02:38 PM

yeah whats wrong with flinging hot glass just watch where it lands and if it ain,t
touching flammable material just carry on, theres always the next time.
but all foolishness aside how many of you have never dropped or had a hot piece
of glass hit the floor and go skittering away. i dare say only you who ain,t trying.

**lukem5** · 10-16-2013, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by Icarus

From what I've been told, that was a lot easier to do before a crap ton of cheap janky chinese imports hit our markets....

them Chinese sure an pump out any object in existence fast and in high quantity (make sure you read QUANTITY not QUALITY), but they sure as hell can't do art from what i've seen.

**lukem5** · 10-17-2013, 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by Trevor

drill=lathe same fucking thing, its a great idea. you couldn't possibly have anything go wrong or hurt yourself. trust me I've got tons of experience with this
just chuck up the biggest fucking tube you can and let er rip. if you can lay a drill press on its side that work even better
you will need a zip tie or excessive duct tape to hold the trigger down to its fastest position. lots of super glue works equally well
(please don't do this)

ahah funny trevor, love the passive aggressive sort of insult at the very end there.

But what if you just spun the drill slowly or modified the trigger to make it spin slower so you don't accidentally press the speed trigger all the way down when you have a giant gob of molten glass on it?

Sounds safe as hell to me actually.

Originally Posted by Riley

And yes, you can make a one headed lathe from a drill. Holds less than 10mm of glass, wobbles, and is only practical in the smallest applications, but I don't need tell you that, your a dreamer. Rape on dude.

Wobbles? Hm cus last time I had a bit in my screwdriver it spun straight... you know like 99% of them do? I am pretty sure a round glass rod would behave much like a round bit but with less strength.

10mm, that one hell of a thick rod, I think that will hold quite a bit.

WOW I JSUT HAD A GREAT IDEA WHY CANT WE JUST MAKE AN ATTACHMENT FOR THE DRILL, THAT HAS CHUCKS ON IT!?!??!?!?!? would have a 5 mm standard bit end, attached to a fucking CHUCK to put any size tube you want. Somebody tell me this is a bad idea? Maybe I should erase this....