What shall I do with my Harrison M300 lathe?? 

The quote attributed to Ruskin says, “It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.”

Hi Samuel, we bought a worn '97 VS330TR which is basically same machine as your M300 but with variable speed and top rpm of 3000. As for our bed it was well worn thanks to the knuckle heads at Air Canada maintenance in Montreal ( we bought second hand ) Once cleaned up and prior to putting the machine into production in our small tool and die business it became apparent to me that the lathe would need a bed regrind. We had exact same symptoms that you encountered with then carriage rattling across the lead screw and a 0.015" carriage dipping motion near head stock. 5500 can dollars later it was reworked by a very competent local to us machine tool re-builder. I can email you pictures if you like, it turned out amazing and they Turcite lined the carriage to regain what was worn and ground off. As for sticking with the Harrison it was that at 10K plus my labor or a new machine at over 30K can. The 13 x 24" working field is populated by cheap imports that run 2000rpm and have small 2hp at most motors. A quality 2500 rpm 3 phase 3 hp industrial quality lathe is no commonplace unless you look at the likes of Weiler, Schaublin or other high end Euro machines. I feel the Harrison Colchester Group 600 have best bang for the buck.

Samuel, the way I see it you are the type of man that likes things to work the way they should and compromise just keeps you up at night. I am of the same mold. I looked and used stuff and decided to go with a new lathe. The reason was that I wanted to get started on machining projects rather then making the lathe the first project. However, that being said, if I had it to do over again I would probably still buy the new lathe but I would not have underestimated the value of bringing an older lathe back to serviceability because that experience is valuable also. I spent my youth taking things apart and rebuilding them. I rebuild a 1968 Mustang, many engines, and all kinds of building from the ground up. So I have plenty of experience with fixing broken stuff. So the decision for you would be fairly simple in my mind. Do you want to spend a significant amount of time and money learning everything it takes and purchasing all the expertise it would take to bring an old lathe back to life or would you rather spend your time dialing in a new lathe and getting on with your projects? A new lathe will have it's learning curve so what it boils down to is time. How do you personally value your time given where you are in your life. If it were me, I wouldn't take any more chances on buying someone else's problems and get on with your own projects with a new lathe that you can depend on. At your age you have earned the right to get right down to what you want to do and not waste a lot of time and money solving problems. My 2 cents. Good luck.

Hi Samuel, personally i would stick with the Harrison, get it reground and sort the tailstock either yourself or commercially. It will always be a far better lathe for the money spent on it.

1. Ignore the fool who said 'buy a Chinese lathe"! 2. Regrind those ways. 3 Have someone bore out and fit a bronze bush or two (one each end) in the tailstock. Ok, this might cost you a cuppla £k but let's face it, you've skilfully disassembled and rebuilt the machine, so you know it inside out and not many folk get to know their kit so intimately. I can speak for the beauty of the M300 .. I have one which had spent most of its 50 years in a school, so no industrial-level wear anywhere. I wouldn't swap it for anything .. it is a superb example of precision-built British engineering and I know in my soul that you would overcome the despair of breaking yours down and rebuilding it again. Take heart, Samuel!! Do it!!

Hi Samuel Thank you for you videos. Please post more. I enjoyed your videos when you refurbished the lathe. I bought. Warco 1236 with 3 axis DROs etc. I’m not a machinist and learned everything from RU-vid. I used to teach science. Now the lathe and my Mill both have DROs. They are great but I’ve come full circle. As a society we need to value things more. Treasure things and repair them - it’s very satisfying in itself. I planning to build a new workshop and when I do I’m going for an old Colchester Student that I can refurbish and paint green! I just bought a pedestal 3 phase grinder, it huge, exceptionally heavy - a Silsden - I paid £47 off eBay - bloke put it on trailer using a forklift. Honestly - don’t spend a fortune on a new lathe, get the beds reground and the other jobs sorted. You can’t just abandon her now you have come so far. Keep up the great work and keep sharing your mistakes as well as successes- I thought it was just me that made errors - really encouraging to see your journey. Have a great Christmas- p.s. when we bought this house the garage already had 3 phase !! Paul

Hi Samual, I have watched your videos on the refurbishment of your Harrison M 300 Lathe. I think you have already done the bulk of the work and as you have to get it reground , you would end up with a really accurate lathe, and know that all the work you’ve done is right. Buying another lathe without knowing the providence is risky unless you can check out the lathe before buying. I trained as a fitter and turner. I have used various makes of lathes and , Harrison and Colchester are among the best quality machines in the world. Some machines are advertised as the same quality or spec as Harrison/ Colchester, but are not the same quality. You should check out if the tailstock can be professionally be refurbished, or a good second hand tailstock be acquired. Best of luck Samual, really enjoy your videos. Paul Keegan

Good afternoon Samuel, I have watched all of the videos concerning the Harrison M300 and have been impressed by your perseverance and attention to detail. I think I would be inclined to accept the situation as it is for the present and start on a simple project such as a small stationary engine. Chasing industrial levels of precision in a home workshop is a recipe for frustration. Having completed the project then reevaluate your expectations. One advantage of this course of action is that it need not cost much at all. I offer these thoughts with great respect for your abilities and wish you a very Happy Christmas. Best regards, Stephen.

Five interesting options. Ummm I wonder which you would ultimately be happiest with. I suspect option 4. The most expensive but no doubt it would derive you the best satisfaction. Good luck with your final decision. It has to be yours. Merry Christmas and thank you for all your interesting and entertaining videos. 👏👏👍😀Andrew

Hi, very interesting series of videos about your lathe, now we would all love to have machinery with virtually unmeasurable errors however most of us don’t have those sort of spare funds. In my youth, some 65 years ago, I was very impressed how, what to me were old timers, who were able to produce exceptionally accurate items from very old, rudimentary and probably worn machines. It was not the machines that impressed me but the skill of the operators. Although I spent my working life as an electrical design engineer and sometimes consultant, I decided to do model engineering once I retired. I am forever reminded of these old timers when I come across work for which I think my small low cost machines appear not to be able to do as it might, and often is, me. Could you not just use the machine for what you intended to use it for and after that assess your needs. Please keep us posted as it’s all very interesting. Best of luck.

Hello Samuel. While being very sympathetic to your differences between practical realty and theoretic performance, I would enjoy the process to putting the Harrison right. I very much doubt that you will ever need a machine capable of industrial precision but if you did you can still achieve relative precision on this lathe. I must be blunt here, you have little practical experience of overcoming the deficiencies in a particular machine. That is because you have a greater experience in the "how it should run" compared to the "how do I make it run reasonably well". If you re -read these posts you will find lots of very helpful suggestions. Start at the beginning and level it. I myself have a Myford , a Hercus and a Colchester Triumph . each with inaccuracies in beds, ways, gib alignments, acme nut wear,etc etc. Working on them is my great distraction. I get lost in the work I do on them. It is a joy. Perhaps if you did not see your purpose of making the lathe produce reasonable results as such a burden, you might get more satisfaction from the process. Always remember, there's always a fix. Please let us know your progress. Cheers and regards Allan

I’ve learned much from your videos and have bought a similar clapped out M300. I replaced the saddle seals, not too difficult. The answer is to regrind, reseal, and replace the bearing with new. Possibly buy a new tailstock. If you do that work you’ll effectively have a new lathe. You can do the bearing/seals while it’s all apart being reground. The question is how much you value not having a lathe while it’s being restored. It’ll be much easier to disassemble the second time because your not discovering how to do it

Hi Samuel, I have the very same lathe and have encountered most the same issues. Worst been the bed wear and inaccuracy of it all, and the frustration of it not been good enough. The cross slide on my lathe I improved by turning a new lead screw and making the two new brass nuts. It was wear in this lead screw and nuts that made it tighten at the extremes of its travel. Just a thought for you. Also after many frustrating weeks of setting the lathe up, I deliberately have a small twist in the bed to help with the wear near the headstock. I'm happy (ish) now I can make parts with relatively good results. I had to stop myself from driving myself mad with this project because I am sure I would drive myself mad with a new lathe also, constantly aiming for perfection when it's not really necessary for what I use it for. But if I had the money to spare I would have the best of both. Buy a nice new lathe, keep your M300 for the nasty jobs like turning a brake disc or roughing out holes then swap them to your new lathe and finish off. Why not. You've worked hard, payed your tax, TREAT YOURSELF. I'd Like to see what inventions you come up with and make!😀

Hi Samuel, thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with your M300. My thoughts….. it all depends as to what you are planning to use the machine for. I believe that there will always be something that you are not happy with this M300. If it was my lathe I would get, if possible an expert to evaluate the issues that you have with the lathe. Then give you a plan as to what may be achievable buy reworking it. Then if this proves to be untenable, cut your losses and get the machine that will do what you need it do. Many thanks again and Merry Christmas

Just stumbled upon this video whilst researching the M300's. Sorry to hear of the troubles and thank you for highlighting them for us all. The sensible comments on here of a re-grind are probably the way forward. If it was to be scrapped for parts then I'd be tempted to attack the ways manually and see if you could make improvements. Anyhow, going to subscribe now and watch your other vids.

I think you should sell the lathe and be very truthful to the buyer, because some people out there don't mind tinkering at smaller projects and repairs that do not need to be so precise. And then go on a hunt for another lathe now you are so clued up and know what you are looking for. In fact, I would even go as far to say that it would be an enjoyable process, something to do, and I think you could document the whole search and find of the lathe showing your viewers exactly what you are looking for before you make the purchase also. It would be a great help for potential buyers like myself thats for sure. And more subscribers I bet. 'The Hunt For A Perfect Lathe'

Hi Samuel, the real question here is how accurate do your jobs have to be? if your lathe gets you in tolerance on your work I would do nothing. If it does not and you can't work around it, then you perhaps you could call in a technician to try and move forward that way. In any case I would want to get some experienced eyes on the machine in question before making any decision. Remember that any kind of drilling/boring with the tailstock should be considered 'roughing' Boring to final size will always be more accurate and it's usually possible to work round machine wear and tear. I have an M300 myself and I'm a retired turner of some 50 years experience. Hope you get a resolution that isn't punitive. Regards David

Final thought for today. The 5C collet closer is a great addition to the M300 if you need to do small very precise parts. In general you are working within 3" of the collet, which may have uniform wear within (or may not). The one on my machine is a Royal, manual closer. I don't know if they are available on the new market or not. Machinable 5C collets can also be very handy for machining custom parts, eccentrics, thin flat discs, etc.

I work as a machine tool mechanic although I am semi-retired. My advice if you wish to take it is to figure what you wish to use the lathe to make. If you need precision to half a thou you need a better lathe, if not you can learn to live with what you have got. I have 3 lathes of my own of which 2 were new Chinese and 1 which is 80 year old German type. All my lathes have their foibles even from new! Being a physicist as you say does not make you a tradesman. Unless you have worked machine-tools for years you will not know how to get the best out them. Getting hung up on measuring everything is a waste of time if the device is only going to be used to make bushes and do the occasional thread. Any old warn contrivance with a threading box shall do that. If you want better the best lathes out of Taiwan are the Jessey products in my opinion. New does not always mean flawless alas, I know as I work on plenty of it! I have a rule about buying lathes, if the bed is warn or the spindle is not concentric let someone else own it. From an economic point of view it depends on the cost of regrinding the bed in your situation. My advise is not to attempt to do that yourself. All other things on the list are things you can do with ease. Harrison M300 are a good lathe... Hope this helps...

FWIW I agree with Nicco Deamus snd others: finish the job and you will have a first rate reliable and accurate lathe that you know inside out. Given your experience with discovering the design and manufacturing inadequacies of apparently top quality items, I very much doubt you would find a purchase that will satisfy you straight out of the box. Stick with the known failings and address them rather than taking on a whole new set. Merry Christmas.

Further to say that I'm currently using an old TOS lathe and I live with the wear - since most machining is carried out over a small part of the bed, accuracy is not so bad. I mentioned earlier using drills, sanding discs and lapping/scraping - do not do this unless you have several hundred hours to spend and some very good comparator measuring tools.

Hi Samuel, I am way behind in viewing your M300 videos but greatly enjoyed the earlier ones when you were disassembling sections, etc. I tend to phase switch between hobbies and just started doing a bit of machining again. I found this video to be GREATLY entertaining, having gone through many of the same trials, tribulations and pain. I obtained my M300 in 2004 from a small, cryogenic prototype lab. It had some wear but not much. It's the older green model which I forget the dating of. It's a fine machine and I've especially loved it for the metric and inch thread capabilities. Retired now for over a year but designed and machined many high precision adapters for fiber optic connectors and adapters. I don't know how to share my thoughts and advice other than the bullet list which follows. This would be better over tea (for you) and coffee (for me) or cold beers in summer. * Physicists and engineers should never buy used machinery (ask me how I know). Why not? Because they are used. We look at the precision of a new machine and lament over every wear point that we find. You may smile when you realize that the specification sheet is the ultimate medication for our quest. It ain't gonna get any better than the spec sheet 🙂 Physicists and engineers should never go looking at new precision machinery while trying to restore what they have. * Now for a quick reality check. What are you going to make with it? A small, working model of a linear accelerator or a special bolt to fix your car which the dealer has a month away? You need precision? Ok, over what length? If your precision is over 1 or 2 inches (sorry but I'm going to stay in inch, which you are anyway, correct>), then 1 or 2 inches is the length over which you should judge the machines accuracy. Not to boast but my slightly worn M300 will hold under 0.001" over a 6", 2" diameter aluminum rod, for a fine final pass. * As I listened to your plight, my mind kept saying ... he needs/wants a NEW M300 which meets its spec sheet. * Mostly practical advice from here on ... * Be sure that the bed is absolutely level, measured with precision machinist's level and two point with ZERO wear. I think your machine is a gap bed without leaving my typing for a moment. This introduces other distortion effects. So do your leveling. Be sure that the machine sits absolutely flat before it is bolted down or the bolting down may introduce another distortion components starting at the two ends, going inward on the length. * The bed will also have differential wear, which is a different amount of wear on the front way vs the rear way which the carriage rides on. This can hurt or help you, in your case probably help your DTI measurements. So your DTI swings off, who cares until you repeat this test on the rear way. The rear way generally has a bit less wear and may help balance the pain. * I know you wanted three phase real bad but keep in mind that single to three phase motor drives not only give great accel and decel features, along with braking control, but the three phase is precisely generated. It's far better than a 3 phase line and for only a few hundred dollars. * I should slow down for now in case RU-vid had a limit. * I'd be glad to swap other thoughts if I can somehow get a real email. I don't think YT has private messages though so don;t know how. * In my quest for the perfect lathe (M300 is about it) I actually carried an Emco Maximat 11 home and back the next day when I discovered that the headstock bearings were totally shot. This was in a small SUV at the time and not fun. * Headstock bearings - don't worry too much about visual imperfections. They may be in the Angstroms (had to throw in some physics units for you). Change your oil, adjust the bearing properly and at operating temperature. Then test the runout at your spindle nose. You may find its almost immeasurable (sorry if you've commented on the actual runout as I only skimmed the video but will watch again. * Buy your self a Rohm or other Set-tru three or six jaw chuck. You can zero out any repetitive runout. * VERY IMPORTANT - always keep in mind that for very precise work, especially concentricity, you can machine a part without removing to achieve zero TIR. Can't really do this on length BUT you could fake a compensation for the bed wear by running a live center on your part. If the length over which you need precision falls within the length of uniform bed wear, you can null it out by introducing an intentional , very slight taper using the tailstock adjustment. More later !

I've followed your progress and I use m300 lathes. I'd keep the one you have and buy a lathe bed and saddle and get that re-ground and transfer your stuff onto it. We may have one spare if you go down that route

Hello ! I was on similar patch on resurecting Harrison VS330 Lathe - someday it was called a tool-room lathe, but it was closely based on M300, except different headstock. What i did - regrind of the bed, regrind of cross slide, tighten of the main bearings, bore tail-stock to 45mm and inserting sleeve made from cast iron bored to size of tail stock barrel. Which was lapped before of course. Sleeve was just glued on some loctite 638, while tail stock barrel was in 4 jaws chuck. Dialed to a perfect fit. Biggest head-ache was refitting of headstock on new beds - you need to grind contact areas top get all geometry property. Also - have same pitch selector problem - numbered selector was in wrong place. That is still left - adjust leadscrew play, make a new cross slide screw, fit a new, used saddle with new cross slide (i did fitted my old one, but its have too much geometric defects after it. )

Break it down as spares and purchase a new WARCO lathe. Will cost anywhere between £4000 - £5000 for decent GH model and it’ll be brand new. Had my WARCO now for a couple of years, more precise than I will ever need it to be. Very happy with it with no problems.

Hi I have looked at your videos as you suggested. I did not see a video of you checking the head stock alignment. I would certainly check before I went any further. There is a good video explaining this head stock alignment colchester student . Hope this helps

I am no expert, but here's some info you might want to feed in: I watch Matty's Workshop. Perhaps you do too - he is based in New South Wales and makes some really good stuff and though I think he was not originally a trained machinist (not sure about this) he's very capable and practical. A couple of years ago he upgraded from his Chinese 9" lathe, and selected a Taiwanese lathe from the large Australian machine tool importer/distributor Hare and Forbes, the AL960B. He seems to get absolutely top class results from it, so window shopping I started googling around. 1. It generally has a good reputation on forums, though it is not common. 2. Precision Matthews do what I believe is the exact same lathe, the PM1236T, one down in size and $500 cheaper than the one you have looked at. 3. This is the relevant bit, I do believe that Gates do that same lathe - it's hard to prove it's exactly the same one, but Gates did come up as a reference customer on a site I found that seemed to be for the original Taiwanese manufacturer. Perhaps you also saw this lathe when you visited. My main point is that my conclusion was that whilst Gates did seem to offer good quality Taiwanese lathes, they were ridiculously over-priced - I mean that 14" one that you are looking at is £6300 in the US. I don't think I would buy from Gates, because although the kit is quite possibly high quality, they seem to be taking the mickey on their prices. This opinion is not based on an attitude of 'any 40 year old thing made in Britain is bound to be much better than anything made last year in Taiwan'. In fact, I was involved in steel supply to the engineering industry in Britain 40 years ago, and we turned out some right rubbish sometimes. And I was very glad to switch from British cars to Japanese at the time (when you heard the same patriotic guff about their products - though that's been rather forgotten in the last 40 years). The problem with a 'good' used M300 for double/triple the money is that you don't really know if it's actually any good until you start cutting on it. Any on-site inspection is likely to be rushed and partial, though you could probably make a much better inspection now than first time around. Still, realistically you are not going to find the perished oil seals before you buy it, are you? Seems to me a higher price will guarantee only better cosmetic condition, not actual better underlying condition, given how Ebay and machine tool dealers work. If it's disheartening to dismantle and re-grind the one you have, think how disheartening it would be to find the new one you paid £5000 for was still not good enough. If you can solve the tailstock problem (find one on ebay or from a dealer one that is tight enough, and pay for a regrind for any height differences, or do some scraping?) then I suspect a bed re-grind will make you happiest, but it's another year to sort out - quicker than last time as you know so much now, but still a lot of work. Good luck, well done with how far you have got already, and thanks for all the very interesting videos in that whole series.

Hi Samuel, I have watched your videos from the beginning as I purchased a M300 at the same time via Ramco auction who sell off ex MOD equipment. I had several parts missing which I got second hand or made myself. When I cleaned my machine it was full of brass so I imagine it was only ever used in an armoury. I was always concerned when you got deeper into your strip down. You need to remember these are well made old British machine tools and it's a black art to re-assemble them. With the time you have spent on this machine I would suggest you speak to the re-grind company and see if they can recommend a company they work with who could do a full rebuild for you. I now make a living out of my M300 due to the pandemic. Keep the good work up and videos coming. Merry Christmas to you

Hi Samuel. I've been watching the channel for a while now. I appreciate your perspective about accuracy and what it means to you. On one hand I could see rebuilding the lathe. That being said, there are quite a few videos on that subject. I would watch your videos and see how you approach the rebuild. Another possible approach is to leverage your scientific background after buying a new lathe that already has been tuned to a known level of precision and work on new projects from there. One of the skill sets that you bring to the table here is your analytical approach. Rather than start from the dirt floor again and build a foundation, I wonder what interesting projects you might start if you had a solid foundation under your feet and applied your interest in precision. I’m curious if you have thought about your starting point after acquiring a brand new lathe. It’s just a guess on my part but I think those projects might be of interest to other people as well. Any chance you have considered what projects you are interested in pursuing if you already had a quality machine and the documented performance characteristics that come with it?

My advice would be to regrind the bedways or search machinery auctions - a good M300 will be far cheaper than eBay - quite often by a factor of >5. If you want accuracy go for a good used Dean Smith & Grace

Please read ‘dwarf’ as ‘swarf ’. There were no little people in my gearbox 😂. Damned predictive text!!

I'm sorry to hear that it is so bad! I'm guessing that it is Slideway Services in Coventry that have quoted for the regrind. If so, there is a company called Spindle Services also in Coventry but not as far as I know related. They quoted for work on a Hardinge HLVH tailstock but I can't remember the price for this. I seem to remember that they could get them back to spec, even when badly worn. They supplied two new headstock bearings for £600.00 (this was around 2 or 3 years ago). It would be worth asking them for a price for the bearings. It may be possible to get the regrind place to talk to Spindle Services, so that you get a bed, saddle and tailstock back that have all been reconditioned and are all in alignment. Good luck with whatever option you go with!

Sorry, me again. Just for your info. There is currently for sale, on ebay since 4/10/22, a dealer's (with good refs) fairly modern M300 for £8700 or best offer. This seems about the price for a decent one but obviously there is not much demand for this one. Looks ok in pics. Might help you decide. Deryk

Happy Christmas. Looked at dispassionately, you might want to consider exactly what it is you are likely to make with this lathe. Are you expecting to turn high-precision parts, or are you just irked by the thought that you couldn't easily make them if the whim struck you to do so? Is your sense of perfectionism getting in the way of an otherwise perfectly satisfactory tool? I know the feeling. I have a 1980 M300, which I have owned since the mid 1990s. It's got lots of wear but in reality nothing I make needs a whole lot of accuracy. I believe the old boys made pretty accurate parts with slack old lathes and knew the workarounds, which you could research. These will cost you nothing. For instance, if most of your work is around the headstock, then why does it matter that the further reaches are less worn? Adjust for the area round the headstock. If you want to work down the other end, slacken off the clamps. Using a 2 micron DTI only depresses one!

Hi Samuel. I haven't watched all the videos, but do feel for you, as you must be thoroughly browned off after so much work. I don't think you should look for either new machine or another secondhand one. This is because they will have faults too (others have commented about the Far Eastern ones needing 'commissioning'), and you will have to sort them out. Can you face starting all over again? And for the expense, think of all the materials you can turn with the money saved!! You know where you are with this M300, so I'd go with the re gound bed. Yes dismantling it again, is a complete pain, but you will be able to change all the seals (hindsight is wonderful isn't, just chalk that up to experience). The headstock bearing marks are smooth, and I think it runs true, so it's cosmetic isn't? Sort out the cross slide wear, and that leaves the tailstock, for which you have 'fix' until you can source another one that is better. Then you have a machine that you know has a good bed, etc. At that point it will be as good as it can be made to be, and possibly better than a new one!! Finally I doubt there is any machine that is perfect in the physics sense, so we all work within tolerances', and the question only you can answer is, 'how much inaccuracy can I tolerate?' To quote Voltaire 'Perfect is the enemy of good...' Wish you well for Christmas and your decision. RB

Hi Samuel. Tailstock quill can be hardchromed to add material and make it oversized. Then re-engraved or laser etched. You can then have the tailstock barrel bored on a horizontal borer. Unfortunately this is the world of machine tools in the UK, there are a lot of dogs (bad machines) out there and plenty of shady dealers looking to move bad machines on. I don't know how much you paid for the lathe but you'd be looking at £3k+ to grind the lathe. Personally i think it's probably uneconomical. Gamet bearings in your headstock are a special size and not available from timken. Colchester who owned Gamet did it on purpose. If you're looking for a trusted supplier give me an email and i'll pass some contacts on in the industry who only deal in quality used tools, not worn out tools.

Hi, probably sorted by now but if still 'up in the air' there are videos of folks who have rebuilt lathe ways usingJB weld or Moglice. I've no idea how viable that approach is mind you. Depends a bit on planned usage I would guess. The real solution is a regrind or possible a better bed from a donor lathe - probably rarer than hens teeth!

The last M300 I physically saw a few years back sold for $250 at a high school shop closing. Ideal source for a lathe would be a small, precision prototype shop, a school that's eliminating shop classes or similar where low wear is found. School lathes can either be in great shape or beat to heck ... a function of the teacher's skill and control over the class. The $250 school lathe was the ugliest thing you'll see, heavily covered in spray can graffiti, most likely from some open storage area. It was not well kept but I'm guessing that with good cleaning, it probably didn't really have a lot of wear from its school life. My M300 cost $2500 from a small prototype lab back in 2004. Probably would not be much more that than today but you need to avoid ebay and dealers. Work of mouth may help your search. Unfortunately, the M300 makes a great gun lathe and this can hurt the prices.

Enjoying your retirement get your new metal lathe remember we only live once God bless

I think you will find that Warco do a lathe very similar to the Gate. I have an old Warco 13/27 that was made in Tiawan. It has had a lot of use, but can still produce very good and accurate results, because it has been looked after. I notice you have a small Warco mill, so assume you have no objection to buying from them. My only stipulation if buying from them would be to strip and thouroughly clean everthing before use, as the machines they sell are not properly cleaned of machining debris at manufacture. ie cast iron dust.

Food for thought. RDGtools MyFord Super 7 lathe £3895 +vat Brand new, plus parts are available to customise, upgrade and repair.

Hi Samuel, my Harrison 140 has bed wear on the front v-way of about 2 thou near the headstock and often I'm thinking "how can I fix this?". So I can fully understand your feelings given your wear is more. But honestly I ask myself how often does it matter? You could possibly get most for your lathe breaking for spares (because I've seen silly prices for parts) but then what? I could buy expensive items because I can but the good feeling does not last long - sounds impulsive and reckless to me. If you could get a really good deal on another M300 you could make the best of both perhaps but a ' very good deal' would have to be £1k no more. Maybe one with a blown gearbox but good bed. Or get your bed reground. All these old machines are a risk but you can get lucky like I did my Harrison mill top spec with everything there and very little wear. Adding together what I paid for the H140 and the H mill was only what you paid for the M300. But obviously that comment does not help 😬 Cheers.

Hi again. The head stock does not sit on the ways. The shaping is done to level the head stock to the base on centre. The four hold down bolts are clearance fit so you can tram the head stock. I suggest you use some known ground stock approximately 8 inches from the four jaw. Clock up on top at the end away from the chuck. Once done move your clock to the horizontal on centre to the stock. Run down the stock to the chuck and record the reading. Now loosen the four bolts on the head stock and tram as you would a vice in a mill.

I think, personally, that you have enough time, effort and cash invested in this lathe that it must be worth having the ways reground? Unless the cost of that is significant and replacing the lathe with a new one/replacement is a less resource consuming event. Also it depends on how much meat is on the ways and if it would be successful having them reground. The danger is you risk spending a significantly larger sum of cash and it does not fix the issue. The bonus to fixing the lathe/replacing worn bearings etc is that once its done, its done.

Hello Samuel and Happy Christmas to you. What an interesting video. If I may offer my two pennies worth: 1. You could sell your lathe on eBay giving full disclosure of its faults and benefits (of which it has many). 2. I think I see Warco green in the background. You could buy a half decent lathe for not much more money than your M300 would make, I would suggest. However, and I speak from experience here, you would need to do a lot of commissioning work as the Chinese don’t seem to grasp the concepts of deburring or cleaning casting sand and dwarf out of gearboxes before assembly. By the way, mine is also sold badged as a Precision Matthews in the USA. 3. You could consider keeping the M300 and complementing it with a smaller, lower cost lathe for the precision stuff. 4. I appreciate you are probably suffering from M300 fatigue however, you clearly know the lathe inside out and have a logical approach to even complex tasks. As long as you are fit enough perhaps you could consider doing the outstanding jobs on this lathe. And saying that, could you not scrape the ways in situ? I hope that has given you some food for thought but if you would like to discuss any of these things further, you can call me on 07831 837581. All the best. Mike

I se two realistic optons, Regrind and then fix the tailstock yourself or Trade it for a used better one with a dealer who probably have ways to refurbish the old one and you dont have to feel bad for trading it in.

Hi Samuel, remember the lathe is only as good as the skill of the operator! For what I do as a hobby, & occasional orders, I can generally get to 10 microns accuracy when required, making things like petrol engines etc that are very nice. I do have a top DRO on it but my lathe is a Warco 250V bought a few years ago brand new with extras for less money than your M300. I'm a guitarist so my guitars are a lot more expensive. You will always want better, but be serious about what it's going to do for you. Maybe learn on a Warco then go for the better lathe later if you still feel it's right to do so.

I believe you can get part exchange from Colchester Machine Tools and they would remove your old machine and install your new one.

Hello, I have conversed with you in the past, you sent me copies of the invoice for your gearbox bushing & carriage drive rod. I am fixing up a TRVS-330 version of your lathe. I made my own bushing & modified the driver, I won't be robbed, Clousing charges double to triple for the same parts that you paid for them. If you would like, email me and I will send you pics, your videos saved me a lot of time. Back to your machine dilemma, my machine cost me $1800 delivered no tax, mine looked like hell, but under the grime was not to bad. my gearbox was jammed by water based cutting oil congealing in the gearbox no rust. The cross feed gib screw was broken off, the tailstock cam lock was worn, made a new one, luckily the housing is tight. I knew all along I was going to grind the ways and have the carriage fitted with turcite it will cost me $2500 to do this. maybe I will have the bottom of the tailstock ground. But in the end I will wave a mint machine that will hold a tolerance. I could easily spend $5-7 thousand for a machine that still has wear & problems. Finding a machine with very little wear will be ridiculously expensive, plus tax and shipping. keep what you have, you are the master of tinkering, Roll with it!!! Cheers, chas. giles@ verizon.net

Have you considered buying a new bed for this lathe? Or even a less worn secondhand one? I’ve seen a few pop up on eBay before when people are breaking down a machine and selling off the parts. It would be a shame to throw the towel in now after all the hard work you’ve done on this lathe. All the best Jack

I can't see you being happy with the inaccuracies in the ways, if it bugs you now, it will always bug you, I'm thinking, if you did have the ways reground, plus the saddle (a good price if that's included in the machining + Turcite) then you have the start of a very good lathe. The tailstock, although difficult can be sorted, your crosslide can be renovated on your mill, with finish scraping (might have to make a new gib) the seals are relatively easy to do, you can surely live with the staining on the front bearing, so If you get all this done (maybe £2000/£2500 total?), then you wouldn't be moaning (as much) I think! anyway, Happy Christmas to you, and I hope you sort it, cheers Dave

Hello Samuel I haven't watched all your videos but stumbled on this one today, so I may be "up a gum tree" with what I'm going to ask. Have you leveled the machine accurately using a precision engineers spirit level.. If this hasn't been done you'll be chasing your tail forever. Once the lathe is level , true up a test bar in the 4 jaw independent chuck or collets if you have them and take some linear measurements along the full length of the test bar with your DGI mounted on the tool post. Next minimise any errors by jacking up the either left or right levelling screws at the tail stock end which will in effect put a slight twist in the bed and improve accuracy caused by bed wear or manufacturing variations. I'm a retired toolmaker and have seen this done on many occasions ,also to brand new machines. No, not only Chinese machines but quality British machines as well. About your headstock bearings.. If you can.t feel any wear (roughness) and they are not noisy it's probably only oil staining, particularly if the lathe had been standing idle for an extended time before you bought it . If this is the case, close it up and use it . They'll let you know they're not happy when the time comes.. Hope this helps

Hi Samuel my thoughts for what they're worth bite the bullet . Purchase a new lathe one that will do what you require a lathe that will not turn true is of no use . Maybe a cheaper lathe but a new one from warco so long as you are happy with the mill you own .move on put it down to experience scrap the old one as hard to do as that is you will never be happy with the one you have as my wife tells me shroud don't have pockets kind regards Shaun 🤔🤔

Life's too short to fiddle with half broken stuff unless you really love & enjoy the process of rebuilding and restoring old machines. I'd think about what I'd want to spend time on, if it's machining and making stuff then I'd probably cut my losses, sell the machine and get a half decent import lathe from Arceurotrade or someone over there that does basic quality checks and support.

Have you solved this problem now? I was thinking of a homemade grinding machine that didn't ride on the bedways but ground them as it travelled along? It would need a very flat table or some guide rods temporarily attached to the lathe. You would still need to raise the carriage.

I have a student 2500. Esentially the same lathe. It has wear in various parts including the bed. I was wonderong where the regrind quote was from as I would like to get mine done.

Please could you share the details of the company whom quoted for the Re grind of the bed as I will be going this way next year. Many thanks Karl

Hi Samuel, you went through the hype cycle, nothing special with restauration projects. Check out Wikipedia for more infos 🤓 The tailstock shaft could be fixed with a plasma coating. Its an inexpensive procedure and hopefully available in you area. Problem: you have to bore your tailstock to a bigger diameter. But it is no rocket science and also inexpensive. Example: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bYj60ctAmAY.html The sealings must be exchanged. Advantage: now you know how to disassemble the machine. Also inexpensive The cross slide does not have to be coated! You can machine the connecting surface of the apron. I did it myself on my Weiler LZ 280. Yes, the bed ways should be ground. But you need to disassemble the machine anyways. I don’t know if your calculation includes transportation costs, but grinding in Germany is much cheaper if you know where. But, if you grind the bed ways, you also have to scrape the cross slide and the equipment you need is very expensive. Ask the community for borrowing it. The spindle bearing can be exchanged with one from Thailand. I don’t have a link, but I bought bearings for my mill spindle for 70% less the money than SKF wanted. A new machine? I was wondering about the options you have shown in the video? What are the main dimensions you want to machine on the lathe? You easily can get a quite good one starting at 3000€ from China Kind Regards, Adam

Samuel you are a gent I have enjoyed your uploads immensely,you’ve made me laugh,smile & cringe at times especially when wearing Jesus boots in the workshop a big NO. You settled with the headstock bearings after cleaning & adjusting so run them monitor & adjust if necessary,put this to one side. The other seals bushes & bearings you can do so get on with it. Your tailstock I’m not even sure it M300 get rid of as there are a few M300 being broken on flea bay. Ask all the right questions when happy get it at the right price. If you grind the bed by the bare minimum from headstock to tailstock,the head,tail & carriage will all drop by the same amount everything that lies below has some of adjustment hopefully general fitting skills use your analytical brain to overcome this. You will never get the money spent back but you will get the satisfaction of doing the best you could. A second hand piece of machinery is something you have to live with & get to know,to do that you have to use it. For me life is a work around & never perfect,perfect would be boring,hope this makes sense or helps in some way. All the best mate JM

It's sad that the birthplace of the industrial revolution has seemingly such a paucity of machine shops willing or capable of a relatively straightforward operation of regrinding a lathe bed - there must have been hundreds at one time - but having put all that work into it, I'd be tempted to go the regrind route if you have confidence in the shop doing the work Having said that, I defer to others here who've got a lot more experience than me!

I would sell it and buy better machine. Then you can enjoy machining the parts instead of spending tons of hours for repair this one. BTW I am surprise how weak these machines are. I have Leinen LZ43 from 1943 and looks like it is in much better state than your much newer M300. Actually I want to replace that old lathe by newer and bigger one. Was thinking about M300 But after seeing your video I think I will go for other brand. Maybe Colchester or Weiler. Anyway good luck with your project. Stay safe.

Merry Christmas to you too! Can it be refurbished by Harrison?

It’s always a gamble buying any used machinery l prefer to buy new even if it’s a Chinese machine they are good enough for hobby use.

If you're not happy, you're not happy, that's it!!! The only thing I would say regarding your choices, don't be so eager to throw 15 to 20 thousand at a new lathe, even if you can afford it. The Gates lathe is 200kg lighter than the Colchester M300 that you showed with similar specs. The Gates is made in Taiwan but where is the Colchester Harrison made & do either go through any form of testing in the UK? I'd have loved to buy an old, branded lathe but most are collection only & I don't drive. I ended up buying a Damatomacchine from Italy that ended up cheaper than similar spec machines in the UK. I'm pretty sure they receive their larger machinery in pieces & are assembled & tested in Italy as there is a wait for some that cannot possibly be for shipping from China. All I'm saying is that cheap Oriental, is cheap Oriental no matter what brand name is slapped on it. Especially if it isn't even touched when it gets here & is just, in one door & out the other. I watched someone have to regrind his saddle while singing praise to precision Matthews for his new lathe!!!! Yes, that actually happened!!!!

If you want to spend the rest of your life fixing a lathe, then do so. If you want to build something using a lathe already accurate enough to meet your requirements, buy one..

What lubrication do you use on the rack and pinion and lead screws and to prevent rust in general?

For what it is worth I would like to share my opinion with you! I am, it seems a lot like you, in that I want my machinery to work right and be accurate and find it annoying when they are not. Keep messing with yours when you are never going to be satisfied with it is expensive folly. You will never get it as good as you want it. If you have the money treat yourself and buy a new, or nearly new quality machine. NOT far eastern as even if initially accurate they are not a pleasure to own or use in the long term. My lathe, a long bed M250 with milling attachment was bought from a dealer about 10 years ago, had never been used, was 30 years old, had been badly stored and badly re-assembled. It has a few faults but I love it. I have pleasure in just having it in the workshop, and as a bonus it is accurate and will be for at least my lifetime. Cut your losses and buy something you can be proud of. Regards. Deryk Gillman

It's a bit like owning a motorcycle that has thrown you off. You can fix it to a better condition that it was in, but will you ever trust it? Buy a new lathe and make sure it's the best quality you can afford. Sit back and enjoy it.

2 years to refurbish a lathe not meaning to? Hmm. Sounds like my life.

Ok what i am going to say is because of my ues of very old lathes . what you are seeking to do it work you will not desire. so i look as lathe as horse's for courses So it is time if you when perfection in a lathe You need to by new as for Bering agen you pay for what you get begging's in your lave have very good hi quality bearings you get what you pay for Buy a bran new lath that as the quality you require . Les England the question you need to ask is it cheaper to regrind . or buy new . !

No, buy a very good m300, one perhaps not used commercially. Keep the old one for spares, scrap any useless parts...

What a complete waste of time ,effort and money you should have bought a decent British supplied Chinese lathe in the first place or checked out this one thoroughly before you bought it .

FIND HER A NEW HOME AND GIVE IT AWAY YOU WILL BE SPARED SOME EXPENSES INCLUDING ELECTRICITY BILLS TO RUN IT.

I had to replace the oil seals. It's not hard. If you have questions. Feel free to to chat.

Just get the ways regrouped. Then it will come together. You have done good refurbishing it. Just bite the bullet get it machine and reassemble it. You will basically have a somewhat new machine.

Never, ever buy a Harrison or Colchester lathe that hasn't got hardened bedways! some don't and some do, I guess this was a typical British product where the hardened bedways were an optional extra!

End plug 302.024 how to remove ? Slide hammer, puller , sledge hammer? ( 49 ) DO31031H3005 IN Harrison parts catalog

THIS IS A NUT AND BOLT. GET RID OF IT. BUY WHAT ORIGININALLY NEEDED. TIME AT YOUR AGE IS NOT FRIEND OVER COST. YOU WILL SPEND FIXING RUBBISH FOR NEW @2-5 YEARS WASTED. IM SORRY FOR YOU. ITS ESAY TO LET CARS, HOMES, RUN OFF AS TIME THEIFS.