Mini Lathe

Ok, I searched, but I don't really know enough about types, brands, etc., of mini metal lathes. I have worked with wood lathes, and I want to do some work with nylon, aluminium, Delrin, etc. I need suggestions.
TIA
Bill <><

There was a post about this a while ago.......
Have a look at http//:www.clisby.com.au/LatheMetal.html
I know no more than you see here... but it looks interesting for our purposes........
I had been thinking of buyinging one ....but then our TV died.... closely followed by our micro-wave.... then our best show-dog did a cruciate ligament.......actually the ligament turned out to be OK.... still cost AUS $180..... better than AUS $900 or so.......
OK we have had our 3 bad lucks...
Hope that is all....
Happy New Year to all.....

Hi Bill!,

That was my posting re: the mini lathes a while back.

A really fine site is "www.mini-lathe.com" a HUGE amount of info on the Chinese import jobby sold under different brands. The site also has links to suppliers, modifications, parts materials and other sites.

My Harbor Freight variant is a real nice little tool for the bucks.
within days of it's purchase I have been turning venturis in aluminum and delrin.

Since the soccer complex we fly on has been recently lightly sanded (to level it I guess) I decided to put Norvel venturi screens on my VA and Cyclon 1/2 A combat motors. I was able to turn little delrin adaptors to make them fit quite easily....way cool!

Check out mini-lathe.com and let us know what you think!

Plastic turned thingies and Nitro Fumes!!!...Hib

LAST EDITED ON Jan-13-04 AT 11:33 AM (CDT)
 
>Ok, I searched, but I don't really know enough about types,
>brands, etc., of mini metal lathes. I have worked with wood
>lathes, and I want to do some work with nylon, aluminium,
>Delrin, etc. I need suggestions.
>TIA
>Bill <><
>
>
>Disclaimer: I am neither a NATS Champion, engine reworker,
>engine producer, column writer, Hobby Shop owner, *rockeet*
>scientist, nor otherwise. Just an old Advanced flier.

I picked this one the bed is longer then the Harbor lathe. The bed on the harbor lathe is shorter then they list in their add.

Look under Shop Tools

http://www.homier.com/default.asp?page=categories.asp?dept=1

LAST EDITED ON Jan-13-04 AT 12:00 PM (CDT)
 
I have a 1932 South Bend that was gifted to me by the widow of an elder gent. 5 foot bed and 15" swing makes for a versatile machine.
I also have a 1936 South Bend that is smaller, with a 4-jaw chuck.
Takes a little to set up center runout, but very accurate.
If I didn't have these, I would order that Mini in a New York Minute!
The Homier site provides a Must Read; this was written by a consumer, not a salesperson for Homier. I was especially impressed by the fact that the 5/8" bore of the spindle can be enlarged to 13/16"!

>I picked this one the bed is longer then the Harbor lathe.
>The bed on the harbor lathe is shorter then they list in
>their add.
>
>Look under Shop Tools
>
>http://www.homier.com/default.asp?page=categories.asp?dept=1

This appears to be the same identical unit as I bought from Grizzly for quite a bit more $. In fact, the $299.99 price is less than the normal price for the Harbor Freight unit. It's great for venturis, fine for spinners and stuff like that. I looked under shop tools and found the mini-lathe, went back later, and didn't, but used the search function to find "lathe".

If somebody finds an affordable Jacobs-type 0-3/8" chuck and matching arbor to fit the tailstock, please let me know. I haven't found the right tapers in the smaller chuck. A 1/2" chuck is too big and not needed.

I'm not too keen on the combo mill/lathe things, or the "Mill/Drills" , but I run a CNC mill at work everyday. I guess I could stay late, but mostly I want to flee like the wind. Steve

If you care for where the the product is manufactured: Sherline leathes and mills are made in the US. They are of highest quality.

http://www.sherline.com/

You can request a free catalog on their web site.

Guys,

Along with machine tools, Sherlines owner, Joe Martin, sponsors the Craftmanship Museum and the Craftmansship Annual Awards for, what else, modeling craftmanship...!

Joe Martin used to make the gimbals? and other things for the early Kraft R/C Proportional R/C sets, and probably a LOT of other companies. He talks about it on his site.

At the Craftmanship Museum on his web site they have pictured incredible model steam engines, an entirely metal cut-away P-47, and many other projects...awesome stuff.

He also has links to model plane engine builders auto-biographys, Duke Fox, the K&B folks, McCoy, O.S....it is a terrific website, and I would imagine terrific machine products, all manufactured in Vista, California...the owner supports lots of hobbyist airplane and automotive stuff...check it out.

Bill,

I've got a 7 x 12 mini lathe and a Seig Mill. The mini-lathe noted (www.mini-lathe.com) is quite good.

Take a look at the Micro-Lux sold through Micro-Mark

www.micromark.com

Tom - Duluth, MN

LAST EDITED ON Jan-14-04 AT 07:51 AM (CDT)
 
Thanks to all you fellas! I have bookmarked the sites, and there is a lot to look at, think over, and decide on!
I will get back when a decision has been made and the product acquired!
Bill <><

Bill,

Just remember, buying the lathe (or mill) is the cheap part. It's the tooling that you spend all your money on.

The bits, use of them and sharpening or shaping is a big part of the success you have , or don,t have.
But,everyone should have one , they are fun
I paid about 250. for a hobby lobby (somewhat cheapy and limited).
It has paid for itself many times over and is about the only machine I have that I haven.t hurt myself on:P

LAST EDITED ON Jan-14-04 AT 08:32 PM (CDT)
 
Tooling up is expensive and has to be done a bit at a time unless you've got lots of extra cash. LittleMachineShop.com however does have allot of hobby grade stuff at really good prices. The low priced stuff shouldn't scare you away, for hobby use most of it will outlast you where in a commercial shop it would die a fast painful death.

I can't recopmmend a lathe because I don't know what you're going to do with it, but I will say this. Get at least a lathe that has change gears because first it will give you power longitudinal feed and second it will give you the abilty to cut threads when you get that far. Someone said that the Harboe Freight Lathe is good for making venturis but I can tell you, I'm building entire engines, pistons, cylinders, crankshafts. Along with the help of the companion Mini Lathe. These are the base models. With the lathe I can turn consistantly within .0002 the 2 ten thousandths of and inch. The mill leaves a little to be desired but does all I need it to right now in the way of locating screw holes and milling of surfaces. Its main drawback is that its not as stiff as it could be. The lathe on the other hand I've found to be extrememly solid and capable of some relatively heavy work.

I've included a shot of the Harbor Freight Mini lathe with a fixture I made in the mini mill to machine the crankcase for my lated project. All the boring and threading were done very well with that machine.

Oh yes, Charlie's right, making/grinding lather tools is a hard learned process the demands allot of patience. Form tools and specials take forever when allot of material need to be removed. A good skill for understanding clearance and rake angles, tip radii and stoning edges has to be developed, its not just picked up or done on the first try.

The Shurline, Micromark, etc., and those itty bittys have their place, but unless all you want to make is venturis buy something bigger.

Randy,

>>Its main drawback is that its not as stiff as it could be.<<

The Harbor Freight, Grizzly, Micromark, Homier (all the same mill) have a pretty flexible z-axis. There are a number of methods to stiffen it up. I used steel angle iron and a 1/2 plate steel base. It is quite rigid now, but was a pain to get this done and get the mill squared up and the head trammed. But now, it's pretty easy to use without the chatter I was getting when he head was unbraced.

I learned the hard way not to by cheap tooling. I get the best I can afford and take care of it. And I will second that Chris Wood at littlemachineshop.com is a great guy and very helpful. Stuff there is reasonably priced and he has replacement parts for the mill and several lathes. Yahoo has several groups that revolve around mini-lathe and mini-mill operation. Join one. You'll learn a lot. There are a number of current and retired machinists there that have been more than willing to help me.

Randy,

I would be interested in the details of what you did to your mill. I am going to buy one from Homer as soon as we get paid for the last photo system we put in.

Right now I have two Unimat 3's one set up as a mill and one set up as a lathe. The lathe is fine for all I have needed so far but the mill is just too small.

I have found I use the mill much more than the lathe, sure makes cutouts like access hatches and slots for removable tail wheels really pretty.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-16-04 AT 11:01 AM (CDT)
 
Bob,

Here's a pic. this is from the GrizMill group on Yahoo. It's very similar to what I did. It does take away the ability to tilt the Z-Axis, but with tooling for a tilting table, no big deal. Made a tremendous difference.

Something else to consider after you get going is a set of DRO. Makes things a lot more accurate.