I remember seeing awhile back that Taiwan had made a clone of the Hardinge tool room lathe.Anyone have any input and what were they called? TIA
Gunsmithing Taiwan Hardinge clone
- Thread starter dmg308
- Start date
Re: Taiwan Hardinge clone
Feeler did make a copy of the Hardinge toolroom lathe in the late 80's. Many of the parts were soft steel with no heat treating. I would be very leery of one. Sharpe made a copy a few years back that looked pretty good. I bought a new Hardinge HLV tool room lathe back in 89 and it is still super accurate. It is a little small for some gunsmithing tasks but you cannot beat it for small precision work especially small pins and threaded parts. If it had a bigger brother that had a larger spindle bore and a little more bed length it would be better. I guess a 14" x 40" or a 16" x 40" engine lathe would probably be a better all round choice for a gun smith.
Feeler did make a copy of the Hardinge toolroom lathe in the late 80's. Many of the parts were soft steel with no heat treating. I would be very leery of one. Sharpe made a copy a few years back that looked pretty good. I bought a new Hardinge HLV tool room lathe back in 89 and it is still super accurate. It is a little small for some gunsmithing tasks but you cannot beat it for small precision work especially small pins and threaded parts. If it had a bigger brother that had a larger spindle bore and a little more bed length it would be better. I guess a 14" x 40" or a 16" x 40" engine lathe would probably be a better all round choice for a gun smith.
Re: Taiwan Hardinge clone
Here are a few thoughts. The things that make a Hardinge a Hardinge are the reasons I would buy one. They are extreemly well built accurate machines with some unique features,and if taken care of will last for a long time. As mentioned above the HLV has some shortcoming with respect to gun work. I would be willing to work around this for the benifits of the HLV, if I was selecting an import I would pick one that is better suited to the task as it likely will not posess the quality and precision as a HLV. Nice used Hardinge HLVs can be had I would assume for about the price of a new import Just my .02
Here are a few thoughts. The things that make a Hardinge a Hardinge are the reasons I would buy one. They are extreemly well built accurate machines with some unique features,and if taken care of will last for a long time. As mentioned above the HLV has some shortcoming with respect to gun work. I would be willing to work around this for the benifits of the HLV, if I was selecting an import I would pick one that is better suited to the task as it likely will not posess the quality and precision as a HLV. Nice used Hardinge HLVs can be had I would assume for about the price of a new import Just my .02
