Yet it is a most beautifully made piece of machinery, hardened and ground parts everywhere, when you take it apart it seems built at cost-no-object. The SAG 14 at work with heavy 300mm/12" 3 jaw has been slowed using its reverse clutch for all its life without replacement, but of late the reverse clutch is a bit tired. Not sure if this was recommended by the makers, but it is what happens when no brake is supplied. SAG 12 owners without a brake simply use reverse to slow the lathe, as you do on the SAG 14 with its mechanical clutch. Some of the SAG 12s' had a brake, I think it simply electically engages the forward and reverse clutches at the same time.
Hmmmm, Graziano's could do with a brake too, but I suspect the SAG 210 has a brake. The SAG 14 has a good sized dial (our one is graduated. However, I think there was a larger dial option with finer graduations (maybe US inch options?). I also find the standard cross slide dial graduations on the SAG 12 a bit coarse - it is a small dial graduated in tenths of mm (about.
Compare this to an old DS&G where the long slender lever engages feeds without the slightest hint of mechanical coarseness. The tiny lever on the apron which engages the feeds is a bit clunky. There is one "uncouth" thing on the SAG 12 and SAG 14. (And the toolmaking trade school I attended had a SAG 12).
For example, my SAG 12 manual says the lathe is aimed particularly at vocational schools. I don't think they were particularly expensive lathes, but I have no figures to back that up. Because of their unique double-height vee-ways, they can swing massive sizes in their natural gap, this doesn't make them a heavy duty lathe however.Īs for cost-no-object - I am not so sure about that. I would not describe Graziano lathes as heavy duty, they are not great lumps of cast iron, sort of medium duty I would guess. The carriage itself is cast iron, maybe steel on cast iron is an acceptable slideway combination, I am a little dubious. I just assumed it was cast iron (despite being rectangular and machined-all-over) because of its wearing properties. Steel would be much stronger than cast iron, and it needs strength because the compound slide assembly is clamped to external vee-ways/dovetails on the edges of the cross slide. I'm curious about that - on a cost-is-no-object lathe like the SAG, why would they not use cast iron for the saddle? Is the machine so massive they didn't think they needed the vibration damping of cast iron?I am not sure what material the cross slide is on a SAG 14, it could be steel, but I would need to check closer. John, I shot you an email earlier today: on Doc's thread on PracticalMachinist, a SAG 210 owner mentioned that the saddle is steel, which is unique, AFAIK.