smallest practical lathe for chambering and threading

[jrock]

The machine, itself, is the 'low cost' part of this equation. I easily have 3-4 times as many $$$$$ into tooling, tool holders, measuring tools and all the other stuff needed to do the work. So, this is not exactly a 'low cost' thing to get into.

No doubt for a real shop. I do not find this to be the case by any means for personal use. Or at least it doesn't have to be.

Having a bore of 1.5" is the ticket to shorten the bed length. However, I wouldn't recommend anything less than a 12x36. I've seen old lathes on CL and ebay but they don't have the bore size and really do they then have the length for steady rest chambering. +1 on the gear head for changing feeds and threads

 

[screech]

I learned on a south bend heavy 10 and have cut probably a 100barrels on mine and it really does work well for the amount of barrels I do. I bought it used back in 2010ish. While it works fine and does everything I "need" it to do. I will probably upgrade to another lathe in a 14x40 or 16x40 size range. In my opinion you want to have at least a 1.3 inch bore spindle and a short headstock

 

[TwoMore]

one thing I struggled with on one of my lathes was the width of the headstock. it will dictate the length of barrel you can put through the spindle. so it is hard to thread or work on finishing back sides of brakes on a barrel shorter than 24 inches, keep the distance between your spider and chuck in mind when you are looking. bigger lathes can hinder you