"Best" Manual lathe "ever" made?

[???]

Mazak
Ursus
TOZ
Graziano
Colchester Master VS3250

All toolroom lathes, can take a large cut and have a large bore.​

 

[triumph406]

NOT a Colchester!!!

OK?

get that thru your thick heads.

I come from the UK and have run a fair few Colchesters, while acceptable, they've never been great (run students,mastiffs, and one other)

 

[triumph406]

Best 2 lathes in the world?
My HLV and Graziano SAG14

 

[triumph406]

Best lathes I've run
#1 Okuma LS. wonderful, smooth, well laid out controls. Attractive looking lathe.
#2 L&S Powerturn.
#3 Mori Seiki MS850

 

[EmGo]

Best lathes I've run
#1 Okuma LS. wonderful, smooth, well laid out controls. Attractive looking lathe.

See, that's where personal taste comes in. I've used the Hyundai clone of that LS as little as possible because I hated it. Agree that the thing looks very nice but in actual use, really didn't like it at all.

 

[dutchgray]

NOT a Colchester!!!

OK?

get that thru your thick heads.

I come from the UK and have run a fair few Colchesters, while acceptable, they've never been great (run students,mastiffs, and one other)

Almost every old grumpy machinest I have ever met has said don't get a Colchester. I did briefly own a Master 2500 but I never used it, sold it straight on for a small profit.

I have a DSG 1307 so that's my vote

I have seen Holbrook's and they look proper (though one guy said that they had a pre war one that was a bit lightweight)

CVA's are supposed to be very good (but being a British 10EE copy they ought to be good)

I wouldn't discount a nice Smart and Brown 1024 either if I was after a 10" by 24" sized machine.

 

[morganfield52]

So far, my favorite is a Monarch series 60/61 in 13x30. Perfect size for the work I do. Controls were smooth and fell to hand. Easy to keep clean.
Just a wonderful machine. It would rough and take almost a half inch off the diameter and not complain then make a finish pass peeling off “steel wool”. I really miss that lathe.

 

[moonlight machine]

Colchester???? Better to remain silent and thought to be ignorant than speak up and remove all doubt. I have used a 10EE, My Holbrook C13 is every bit as accurate, 30" center distance with a 24" wide carriage! 12" wide bed. 4200 LBS of iron, stiff as all hell. I feel it is the best lathe I have ever used. My L&S Powerturn is a damn good lathe as well. I have never run a Schaublin so I don't know how they compare to my favorites.

 

[Bill D]

Rolls Royce made lathes and cars.
Bill D

 

[Titaniumfan23]

D-S-G toolroom series ,some schlaublins come close , but the DEAN SMITH & GRACE is beyond most other top end makes .
Metric and with the D1-6 camlocks

 

[john.k]

Colchesters are still available for the masses ,lathes like Weiler and Schaublin are in the millionaire price range.

 

[Milacron]

D-S-G toolroom series ,some schlaublins come close , but the DEAN SMITH & GRACE is beyond most other top end makes .
Metric and with the D1-6 camlocks

Nicer than a Schaublin 150 ? D-S-G pics ? https://www.ebay.com/itm/204545569732?itmmeta=01HSXXR83ARTB7KKMZSZWDVVMY&hash=item2f9fddb3c4:g:uKAAAOSw8oZkdOV3&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAAAwEU7kY+uEVkMJe8IX6wlsoKR3a2fuamN2gtwlaVdkLEWHr68UIyRmzXRsyCQ47buxDWwZsiKXnOh5yiJiQUxggcH5Fl1qOosL8X+FmgtnyAXnLhzfBSMqBGDD2EsWJVjBOJGoV14bKYgHRoN0I+RTNqmyqexGnnJFxjKprvkbvgV8gktAQpgwscYfpRLBsps9ftqY5Ulgiz5P0NA4w3NcPCb2gTtlBs13AKgpqSII4V8eEpWKMa5X/6hs2Ny5NwU7A==|tkp:Bk9SR-SB4b3PYw.

 

[trevj]

I have run a Schaublin 150 at work, and if I won the Lottery, it'd be pretty high up the list of lathes that would get my attention.

Also ran a fair few Colchester Master 2500's, and while definitely not in the same class as the toolroom 'heavy iron', like the Monarch/Rivett/DSG types, they were all capable of working to as good or better than the operators needed. And a working class schmuck can afford to own one!

"Best" is very subjective. To me, the best lathe is the one that is in front of me. Can't get ANY work done on the one pictured in the brochure or catalog, no matter how much better it supposedly may be.

 

[Cole2534]

So far, my favorite is a Monarch series 60/61 in 13x30. Perfect size for the work I do. Controls were smooth and fell to hand. Easy to keep clean.
Just a wonderful machine. It would rough and take almost a half inch off the diameter and not complain then make a finish pass peeling off “steel wool”. I really miss that lathe.

I'd love to have one of these in a 54" C/C.

 

[dutchgray]

Nicer than a Schaublin 150 ? D-S-G pics ? https://www.ebay.com/itm/204545569732?itmmeta=01HSXXR83ARTB7KKMZSZWDVVMY&hash=item2f9fddb3c4:g:uKAAAOSw8oZkdOV3&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAAAwEU7kY+uEVkMJe8IX6wlsoKR3a2fuamN2gtwlaVdkLEWHr68UIyRmzXRsyCQ47buxDWwZsiKXnOh5yiJiQUxggcH5Fl1qOosL8X+FmgtnyAXnLhzfBSMqBGDD2EsWJVjBOJGoV14bKYgHRoN0I+RTNqmyqexGnnJFxjKprvkbvgV8gktAQpgwscYfpRLBsps9ftqY5Ulgiz5P0NA4w3NcPCb2gTtlBs13AKgpqSII4V8eEpWKMa5X/6hs2Ny5NwU7A==|tkp:Bk9SR-SB4b3PYw.

The smallest DSG lathe (of the period after WW2 until their demise) is just a little larger than the Schaulblin 150, it weighs around 1000kg more. The Schaublin would be better in many ways I'm sure, but the DSG is great for heavy work.
The biggest DSG lathes were 36" (900mm) swing machines, up to 240" between centres.

On a personal note they were painted a pleasant battleship grey colour and not that horrific German machine tool green DIN standard colour, which I absolutely cannot stand the sight off and I will not own a machine painted in it, until for some inexplicable reason they started using that horrible green as well.

 

[???]

horrific German machine tool green DIN standard colour

Bugger I'm going to have to repaint my machines.

 

[Stirling]

I was a big fan of the polish FAT TUR lathes. There gone under a few other names too.

Controls where just where I liked them. Fantastic power.
Follow up with 2 light finishes passes and call it a day

20” swing. 40” bed with a 4” bore.
Ya that would be the one for my garage.

Prices a new one recently and found out quick why I did not own one yet, lol.
200k Canadian :/

 

[???]

I was a big fan of the polish FAT TUR lathes

I can just see people walking around with marking pens adding d's to the end of TUR just to be funny. Those former eastern bloc machines are seriously under rated by those who haven't run them.

 

[Bruce A Thom]

This is a personal subject with many great options depending on the work we all do.
In my over 40 years of machining I have run and owned a decent number of lathes - 26 different brands or models if memory serves me. everything from Hardinge HLV -H, monarch EE to old C model24 in swing Monarchs, Grazianos, Hendey, etc.
I have yet to find the “perfect “ lathe. But I do have some definite dislikes and a couple that to me personally are close to ideal.
Current favorite is a Wasino LEO, 19x50 this is a stout machine, has one of the widest beds I have seen on a lathe this size. It’s smooth as silk and the way the levers and gear changes are set up ,makes it very efficient to run. Downside - it has limited threads finest thread is a 28 TPI and 1mm pitch on the metric side.
My second favorite is the Okuma LS, these are a beautifully built stout machine with many details that are not obvious without careful inspection. Smooth running machines, but to me just not quite as efficient to run.

 

[Stirling]

I can just see people walking around with marking pens adding d's to the end of TUR just to be funny. Those former eastern bloc machines are seriously under rated by those who haven't run them.

No one ever did that actually.
Was the fav. Lathe in the shop so I guess it never got tur(d) out of respect