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Town Woodhouse Junior 70 Lathe

~xXiXx~

Plastic
Joined
Aug 11, 2022
Hi, long time viewer first time poster. I have been long wanting to own a decent lathe (I have a 8x16"/1HP mini lathe though) but the price (+ shipping) was prohibitive for me. I recently found a Town Woodhouse Lathe for $1K. The lathe needs TLC and fine tuning but no major issues. Is it worth it? Normally Colchester lathe seem to be ~$4K so I'm wondering why this is low? This is only 2HP vs 7.5HP for Colchesters so that may be an issue. Also the max RPM seems to be ~600. For a hobby newbie, I think that is prefect. If I do need high RPM I can use the mini lathe.

In google, I could find only 1 other page for that once offered TWH lathe for £800, so similar to mine. So I don't have any other comparison to see if $1K is a good price. Any suggestions?
 
Tony has a glowing review of this 14 x 36 (or more?) engine lathe. I will mention that an English 7" center height lathe is called a 14" swing lathe in the USA. To me, it looks equal to a Colchester or most any industrial quality lathe of that size. As to value, the late model with L0 spindle would be worth much more than the early ones with the smaller threaded spindle. But condition is the most important thing with lathes of that age.


Larry
 
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Thanks Vanice. I did look into it and yes it was good review. Looking at the cabinet, I believe this is 1955 model as shown in that page and not the 1957.

But I think I will get this one as its good price for a hopefully ok condition lathe.
 
Hi, long time viewer first time poster. I have been long wanting to own a decent lathe (I have a 8x16"/1HP mini lathe though) but the price (+ shipping) was prohibitive for me. I recently found a Town Woodhouse Lathe for $1K. The lathe needs TLC and fine tuning but no major issues. Is it worth it? Normally Colchester lathe seem to be ~$4K so I'm wondering why this is low? This is only 2HP vs 7.5HP for Colchesters so that may be an issue. Also the max RPM seems to be ~600. For a hobby newbie, I think that is prefect. If I do need high RPM I can use the mini lathe.

In google, I could find only 1 other page for that once offered TWH lathe for £800, so similar to mine. So I don't have any other comparison to see if $1K is a good price. Any suggestions?
Colchester is a recognized name, so they can bring a higher price, orphan machines with unknown names typically sell for less, because there is no support and parts can be scarce.
 
That lathe is cute. If I did not already have more lathes than I could shake a stick at I might want one. I used to say you cannot have too many lathes, but I am getting older and it is starting to hurt to work.
 
Colchester is a recognized name, so they can bring a higher price, orphan machines with unknown names typically sell for less, because there is no support and parts can be scarce.
Thanks for bringing out that point! But saying Woodhouse is an orphan gonna anger British forum members here :D
 
Hi, here are pages from a brochure (thanks, KiwiPete), the code on the back cover suggests 1962. I have higher resolution if required, send me your email address via PM. Peter

If you click on the thumbnail, then click on the image, you will get an enlarged view.

Town Woodhouse 70 Junior 7 inch centre lathe pg 1.jpg Town Woodhouse 70 Junior 7 inch centre lathe pg 2 & 3.jpg Town Woodhouse 70 Junior 7 inch centre lathe pg 4 & 5.jpg Town Woodhouse 70 Junior 7 inch centre lathe pg 6 & 7.jpg Town Woodhouse 70 Junior 7 inch centre lathe pg 8 & 9.jpg Town Woodhouse 70 Junior 7 inch centre lathe pg 10 & 11.jpg Town Woodhouse 70 Junior 7 inch centre lathe pg 12.jpg
 
i note that induction hardened bed is an optional extra.........so Id expect to check carefully that the bed is hardened ............it was a tenet of UK lathes that a soft bed could be re scraped every year ,and many users wanted soft beds....then of course there was the pennies saved..............this is the big deal with Colchesters....hardened beds ,when only US made lathes had hardened beds.
 
i note that induction hardened bed is an optional extra.........so Id expect to check carefully that the bed is hardened ............it was a tenet of UK lathes that a soft bed could be re scraped every year ,and many users wanted soft beds....then of course there was the pennies saved..............this is the big deal with Colchesters....hardened beds ,when only US made lathes had hardened beds.
Ahh, now that $1K makes sense. Thanks John!

But I'm going with it cause I'm not going to afford a Colchester for quite some time. And I can get familiarized with a regular lathe for next few years before I can buy a Colchester
 








 
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