I Finally Bought A New Lathe - Hafco Al 250G
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Published 2023-06-17
I finally bought a new lathe to replace the old 7x14 mini lathe (Sieg C3). I wasn't planning on replacing the old lathe for another 1 or 2 years, especially after adding the big 3HP motor to it. But it still struggled to machine large diameter bar stock, which is something that I needed to do for an upcoming project. With that in mind, I decided to replace the lathe.
I've bought a Hafco Al250 G. The total cost was just under $2700 Aud. It was on sale due to end of financial year sales, but it normally retails close to $3000.
It is marginally bigger than the old Sieg, its a 250 x 500 lathe, but it is much heavier and solid. About 4 times an heavy. It is comparable to a Sieg SC6 or a Precision Matthews PM1022v. However this has the advantage of having a geared headstock spindle and a proper gearbox for the headstock and leadscrew. Which means no gear changes. This also gives the added benefit of giving the spindle a mechanical advantage when running speeds lower than 1400 rpm.
The lathe also has hardened ways, which is an improvement over the old lathe. It has a much larger chuck and carriage, which should help increase rigidity when doing large work. I also think that at this size its no longer a mini lathe, rather it is a bench lathe.
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:04 - Unboxing and getting the lathe up onto the workbench
5:04 - General Overview & Power feed
10:08 - Power feed and Spindle Gearbox
13:18 - Chuck, Electronics and Backsplash
17:09 - First Test Cuts
19:59 - Run Out and Chuck Cleaning
22:11 - Test Cuts in 42mm Steel
#machining #lathe #newmachineday
New Lathe Day
Hafco Al 250g
All Comments (21)
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A tip for anyone who needs to move pallets over grass: if you lay a ladder on the ground and grease up the stiles, you can easily slide a several hundred kilo pallet across it by hand. With two ladders, you can build a kind of crude railway, sliding the pallet from one to the other in a leapfrog fashion.
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It’s so awesome getting to watch you grow in your machining capabilities! I remember starting out I had a little grizzly lathe and an angle grinder in my parents garage, and now I’ve got 4 full size manual lathes, 2 CNC lathes, 3 manual mills, 4 CNC mills (one of which is horizontal), several surface grinders, heat treat equipment, and much more. It’s just so cool watching others get to expand their machines and abilities as well.
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Turning between centers can be a very useful method. You don't need to switch the chuck out for the faceplate and M4 center. Just put a piece of round stock in the chuck and turn a 60° point, and drive the dog with a chuck jaw. I keep such a shop made center and give it a skim cut to true it up every time I use it, so it's always perfect. I made a parallel clamp style dog that fits anything from tiny to about 70mm so I don't need a whole set of dogs.
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that intro had such This Old Tony energy, I love it
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Consider some neodymium magnets in the gear sump to catch chips. It doesn't take much to take out the spindle bearings. If you have a oil drip channel going to the bearings put a few very small magnets in it.
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So glad you bought this, I've been mulling over this purchase for weeks and you've really helped. Thanks!
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The paint on the gear was probably used to check gear mesh. I used paint to check the mesh on the ring and pinion on my truck when I rebuilt it. I want this lathe and will be getting one once I get my shop set up. Looks to be easier to set up and get going then the mini lathe which works for me. Looking forward to seeing you useing this to make some cool stuff.
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Wow, congratulations on your new lathe! What a step up in capabilities vs. the mini-lathe. You have to still have respect for the little lathe too. It really treated you well even with it's limitations. I'm looking forward to what you make on this new lathe in your upcoming videos!
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Nice purchase and hardened ways this time. There was a multi part article by a guy that had bought a Chinese gear head lathe much like this new one in Model Engineer or similar and he detailed the stripping fettling and re-assembly. He was impressed by the quality and accuracy of the machining but not the assembly, likening the assemblers to monkeys IIRC. One main thing he brought up and I've seen it elsewhere as well, there was still casting sand in the headstock which he thoroughly removed and repainted with oil resistant paint inside. No magnets are going to do anything about loose sand in the headstock if any were to break free.
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I love the way this channel is moving forward, have been watching (on and off to be honest) since you bought that little bugger lathe, then came the mill, and soo on. Over those years I have bought different equipment for my shop, I am in Europe soo most off it was big used old stuff, but I still found these videos helpful. Keep up the good work!
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I cannot think of anyone that is more deserving, well done Sir and I look forwards to the upgrades and the new parts/tools you will be fabricating.
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Congratulations on your purchase! Looks like a solid little lathe!
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I didn't expect it so soon either :o . Or the last video. Kudos and cheers on the future projects you'll be able to do !
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Great video, I cried when you cut those wires to the safety switch. I would have loosened both terminals and moved the one wire to the other and tightened the screws again and put it back in. BASICALLY BOTH WIRES ON 1 TERMINAL.This way if you needed to return it back it would only take a few seconds and nothing gets cut. I’m sorry, it’s my OCD KICKING IN. GREAT VIDEO.ENJOY THE NEW TOY.
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Congrats on the new machine!
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Great addition to the shop enjoy.
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Nice upgrade. Looking forward to seeing what improvements you make for it.
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Congratulations!! On the new lathe
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Very, very nice. Congratulations. I can't wait to see what you can do with it, you have a lot of talent that can be unleashed now.
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i can’t wait to see the upgrades. love the channel. great info and awesome explanations. can’t wait till you get a four jaw independent chuck. your run out will be nil. awesome new lathe.
