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Originally Posted by daren007
What kind of lathe would you need to “Turn” crankshaft journals. How accurate finish can be obtained. Does anyone have more info and pictures?
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This is kind of a loaded question IMO. A crankshaft could be "roughed-in" using a lathe however the only advantage is how quickly it can be done. The advantage to using a crankshaft grinder is, I can hold a tolerance to less than a couple of tenths however this comes at a price of much slower removal of journal material.
I have a Storm Vulcan 15 crankshaft grinder, -and my biggest lathe is a Howa 16" x 59". Both machines weigh around 4,500 pounds, yet the crank grinder is a much more rigid machine comparing the two. When trying to achieve a quality finish, rigidity is a must. So my point is you would need a very robust lathe to achieve a finish you could be happy with. Using a tool-post grinder on that lathe would be a plus.