It is in very nice condition and is ready to use. This is a late model lathe that has many desirable features such as a Newall DP900 DRO, hardened and ground cross slide way inserts, teflon carriage coating, 7″ wide flame hardened & ground lathe bed, Hardinge 4 degree taper lock spindle and much more. Make: Sharp Model : 1118H Condition: NEW The Sharp 1118H Toolroom Lathe is built with alloy steel bed ways for achieving high precision machining. If you buy one used, make sure all the tooling you require, like taper attachments, collet closers, chucks, and faceplates comes with it because purchasing it separately will be extremely painful.This machine was purchased from a medical manufacturer’s tool room. I've made a couple myself, but the taper is critical so it wasn't an easy task. The spindle nose on the HLV-H is a special Hardinge design and has a 4º taper with a locking pin. While the 5C collets are nice, especially Hardinge 5C collets, they are only good for small parts.
You will definitely need a three or six jaw scroll chuck and a four jaw independent chuck. I had to replace one of those relays that George referred to and it was very painful, but in 25 years of regular use, that's the only service it has required outside of normal maintenance. Parts are still available, as well as the lathe, but the prices are in the stratosphere. The HLV-H has a one horsepower motor and belt drive so it's fairly easy to stall when trying to remove a lot of stock, but if you are looking for absolute precision, it is the best out there by far. If you are looking for a lathe with more "oomph" though, it may not be your best choice. I bought my HLV-H new in the mid 80's and it is capable of incredible precision and a joy to use. However, if I get lucky I'll be able to find a good used lathe that won't need so much rehab'ing but how long do I wait to find that machine? That's the $1M question. I think about my father and uncles who worked on machinery "back in the day" and wonder what they'd say about using an Asian machine that looks like a box with levers and switches.no life to them. Sure, the Internet's a great suppository of information but that only gets you so far.
With old, used machinery the beginner or someone unfamiliar with it may not be able to catch all the subtle things that may be wrong with the machine, let alone knowing how to fix them. Buying one of the "better" Asian lathes (Grizzly, Jet, etc) there's a better chance of getting something that will work as it should and negate a lot of the worrying a beginner might feel about his machine leading him down a wrong learning path. For a beginner or someone unfamiliar with the old American machines my smarter side tells me to buy new Asian. I'm going through the new-Asian vs old-American debate myself. I don't know about Hardinge but they have a good rep, IIRC. Lastly, what would you pay for a machine like this (I believe the ones I have seen are HLV lates, with collet closers, and threading gearbox).īesides here I would see if there's a Hardinge group on Yahoo Groups. I haven't seen new chucks available to fit, would I have to machine my own adapter plate? If I go out to look at one of these machines, is there anything I should keep an eye on (known problems on these lathes). I am also wondering about chucks, as most of these lathes seem to have 5c collets installed. That being said, it they seem like a great lathe, and I wanted to get the opinion of others, especially owners/users. I am a little concerned about getting parts if the thing breaks down. I know Hardinge has a great reputation for accuracy. Price (where listed) is comparable to a new import of a slightly larger size (13x40). Recently I have seen a couple used Hardinge lathes for sale on Craigslist in my area. There is a constant battle between "used American" and "new import", and I have toggled back and forth. It has served me well, but I find myself working on larger projects, and this little guy just doesn't have enough "oomph" sometimes.
I have been contemplating an upgrade to my existing lathe (a 7x14 import) for some time.