Workshop equipment

[Coodude26]

I don't know how much they cost, or if they're even still made, but my dad has a ShopSmith that is a wood lathe and a drill press, all in one...

[Gippeto]

I almost bought one of those at a garage sale, the owner had nothing but good things to say about it.

Not a metal working tool though. But it'd probably work okay for plastics.

http://www.shopsmith.com/

[Coodude26]

Yup. I don't even know the names for all the things it can do, but for the most part, I think it's table saw (ours came with a sanding wheel), a drill press, wood lathe, and maybe a belt sander. All in one, and it takes up maybe half the space of a workbench, and the table we made for it is like 2ft high. Great piece of equipment, especially for beginner inventors.

[john bunsenburner]

the thign with switzerlan is the prices, let me give you a picture:

The lathe i linked to before, the originl rotwerk costs, converted into CHF 825CHF(my currency) the one and only swiss dealer for the same company located in switzerland wants 1600CHF for the exact same object.

Thats just an outrage, and so i refuse to waste my money in this country on somethign that is identical and cheeper by magnitues. The same problem is with asking as a swiss will NEVER recomend any not swiss company, and findign a german metalworking magazine will be close to impossible.

To shorten things down I HAVE ARRIVED AT A DEAD END AND AM SCREWED...

I made a post on a few other forums and am hoping for a reply or another, my problem is i just don't now whom to ask...

No posts on my other threads, i am afraid i am all on my own here... I might have an idea:

the only reason the german lathe is not all that great is the length, now maybe i could use this lathe to build a REALLY simple other lathe just for woad according to the plans found on backyardmetalcasting.com. All my other needs are fulfilled by that rotwerk lathe, is that a good compromise?

[POLAND_SPUD]

@john

I have exactly the same problem... prices are several times higher... and I don't know why ?!?

I do have a nice and powerful drill (1500 W) that I used to cut o-ring grooves in the eariler version of a bolt (brass one) for my semi auto

the first thing I am going to buy (and most likely the only one I can afford in the near future) is a drill press

[Gippeto]

the only reason the german lathe is not all that great is the length, now maybe i could use this lathe to build a REALLY simple other lathe just for woad according to the plans found on backyardmetalcasting.com. All my other needs are fulfilled by that rotwerk lathe, is that a good compromise?

If you must have it "right now" then go for it. Wood lathes are among the simplest machines, many are home built.

Although, if you have some time to spare;

I would try placing an advertisement in a "nationally distributed" paper, (with a finders fee) first. Don't underestimate the motivation provided by a few extra dollars.

"Someone" WILL read your ad, and know where a lathe "just happens to be sitting since the widows husband passed". I found that $100 worked well, but make sure to word the ad in such a way that you only pay the reward if you buy the lathe.

I would try it for 2 weeks, you never know what kind of deal will pop up.

[jrrdw]

Well your getting a lot of opinions and I understand how you can be confused by that. What one person says is good another shoots it down in some way or another. I didn't say the one you picked is bad, just small for the money.

I didn't look at the tooling that comes with it, post a list of it if you don't mind. With my dial up connection it takes a really long time to get the page.