Choosing between a Bridgeport and a South Bend lathe back in '98

When I opened my shop, I had about $5000 saved and had to pick between a used Bridgeport mill and a South Bend 10K lathe. I went with the Bridgeport, thinking it would handle more general gun work. It was the right call for building actions and fitting parts, but I still had to send out barrel threading for almost two years until I could afford the lathe. Anyone else have to make a tough tool choice like that early on?

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3 Comments

parkerb656mo ago

Man, that's wild. I would've grabbed the lathe first every time, threading barrels is half the job.

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sarah_hart5mo ago

Totally disagree, threading is the easy part.

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wendy2056mo ago

Actually, threading is a pretty small part of the whole barrel job. Most of the time is spent on chambering, contouring, and crowning. You can thread a barrel in like ten minutes once it's prepped. The lathe is key, but for way more than just threading.

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