Anyone has this lathe?

[Erik831]

Proxxon 37020 DB 250 MICRO Woodturning Lathe

I'm considering buying this lathe for pen turning now that I don't have much space to do any turning. My questions are : can I use this for pen turning? If so , Can I drill the blanks with it? What number is the morse taper? PSI has the PENPAL but is like $50 more, would that be a better option? Thanks in advance.

 

[farmer]

Lathes

Proxxon 37020 DB 250 MICRO Woodturning Lathe

I'm considering buying this lathe for pen turning now that I don't have much space to do any turning. My questions are : can I use this for pen turning? If so , Can I drill the blanks with it? What number is the morse taper? PSI has the PENPAL but is like $50 more, would that be a better option? Thanks in advance.

View attachment 135159

Personally I wouldn't happy with that lathe .

I think this would be way better .
SHOP FOX M1015 6" x 10" Mini Metal Lathe 1/5 HP, 110V single-phase 100-2000 RPM

I have 3 of these
Large bore headstock

I set up live cutters on mine, you can do allot with these lathes .
They come with a built in indexer, very smooth and quiet and light to move around .

 

[TonyL]

Hi Erik:

I do not have that lathe. I do have a Proxxon miter saw that I am very pleased with for cutting blanks, and I like the quality of the saw.

This may be a lathe for you to consider (and Made in USA).

Taig Tools - Desktop Milling Machines and Lathes.


Good luck with your search.

 

[79spitfire]

That lathe looks like it could work for pens, but even doing pens you may run out of capacity quickly. It is designed for making such things as dollhouse furniture. If total portability is a concern it or the Taig may be what you need. If it's a budget concern I would suggest a slightly larger lathe such as the HF 8X12. It has variable speed and is capable of making projects up to small pepper shakers or ring trays, and with some coupons can often be had for less than $100. I've made a couple of hundred pens and other small projects on the HF lathe, and while not perfect, it is capable.

 

[KenV]

Eric -- that lathe is a collet lathe. Work is held in collets and it has no morse taper on either end. It can hold a 7 mm mandrel and not a lot more. Drilling is not an option.

The taig is not a Morse taper lathe either. You can drill with a taig up to about 3/8 shank bits. Taig comes with either a 3/4 by 16 or a ER16 collet head stock. The spring loaded live center works with a mandrel and a mandrel will work in either headstock. Not a good lathe for drilling blanks.

 

[Erik831]

Eric -- that lathe is a collet lathe. Work is held in collets and it has no morse taper on either end. It can hold a 7 mm mandrel and not a lot more. Drilling is not an option. The taig is not a Morse taper lathe either. You can drill with a taig up to about 3/8 shank bits. Taig comes with either a 3/4 by 16 or a ER16 collet head stock. The spring loaded live center works with a mandrel and a mandrel will work in either headstock. Not a good lathe for drilling blanks.

Thanks that answers my questions

 

[Erik831]

That lathe looks like it could work for pens, but even doing pens you may run out of capacity quickly. It is designed for making such things as dollhouse furniture. If total portability is a concern it or the Taig may be what you need. If it's a budget concern I would suggest a slightly larger lathe such as the HF 8X12. It has variable speed and is capable of making projects up to small pepper shakers or ring trays, and with some coupons can often be had for less than $100. I've made a couple of hundred pens and other small projects on the HF lathe, and while not perfect, it is capable.

What are the major cons with the HF lathe?

 

[farmer]

Drilling with a taig

Eric -- that lathe is a collet lathe. Work is held in collets and it has no morse taper on either end. It can hold a 7 mm mandrel and not a lot more. Drilling is not an option.

The taig is not a Morse taper lathe either. You can drill with a taig up to about 3/8 shank bits. Taig comes with either a 3/4 by 16 or a ER16 collet head stock. The spring loaded live center works with a mandrel and a mandrel will work in either headstock. Not a good lathe for drilling blanks.

I have a 3/4 inch gun drill that will mount on my taig lathe .
I can drill faster then I can move the tail stock.
https://www.cuesmith.com/coring-drill-775-x-14.html
I am sure Chris would make a gun drill for pen blanks

All my taig lathes have 1/2 drill chuck on the tail stock.

And regardless of anything else the are tons of mounts you can buy if you want to go Live as in live cutters.
Just a ton of stuff you can do with a taig lathe modified

With live cutters you don't need a pen mandrel.
If you do want to use a mandrel then you can always buy the #2 Morse taper adaptors They are dirt cheap .

 

[chartle]

That lathe looks like it could work for pens, but even doing pens you may run out of capacity quickly. It is designed for making such things as dollhouse furniture. If total portability is a concern it or the Taig may be what you need. If it's a budget concern I would suggest a slightly larger lathe such as the HF 8X12. It has variable speed and is capable of making projects up to small pepper shakers or ring trays, and with some coupons can often be had for less than $100. I've made a couple of hundred pens and other small projects on the HF lathe, and while not perfect, it is capable.

What are the major cons with the HF lathe?

Some say that it only has a mt 1. I have one and have not had any issues turning pens.

 

[Erik831]

Some say that it only has a mt 1. I have one and have not had any issues turning pens.

Can you drill the blanks on the lathe?

 

[Si90]

I have that lathe. I wouldn't use it for pens. It doesn't use morse tapers. There is no way to put a mandrel on it and I haven't found anyone selling dead or live centres allowing you to turn between centres. The tail stock is rubbish, vibrates loose and has it's own unique fitting so getting things to fit is very difficult. The silver fittings (drive and live centre) shown on each end holding the piece are not included or weren't with mine and I haven't found anyone selling them. The ones that came with it were/are less than useless for holding anything. The collets in the chuck are not strong enough and won't grip very well. The motor has hardly any power and stops very easily especially on acrylics unless your tools are super/super sharp and the bigger the piece the easier it stops.The tool rest is too small and wears very quickly.

It would be OK for turning pieces for dolls houses out of soft wood but thats about all. I think if you got it for pen turning you would soon get very frustrated and be replacing it very quickly

 

[oneleggimp]

Some say that it only has a mt 1. I have one and have not had any issues turning pens.

I have a Habor Freight Lathe and do pens, bottle stoppers and I plan to do shaving brushes, game calls, Christmas Ornaments and pepper mills on it as well. Yes it does only have MT1 for both Headstock and tailstock but you can get centers, mandrels, and drill chucks with that taper. I have not found that to be limiting. The headstock thread is 3/4" thread rather than 1". The pen blank drilling chuck takes the 1" thread but you can buy a spindle adapter for ten bucks and thus mount the pen blank drilling chuck on the HF Lathe spindle. Same holds true for the PSI Bottle Stopper chuck and the pSI Screw faceplate which are also designed for the 1" thread. I have had good luck with my HF lathe. Watch for a discount coupon and it's a good buy.

 

[79spitfire]

That lathe looks like it could work for pens, but even doing pens you may run out of capacity quickly. It is designed for making such things as dollhouse furniture. If total portability is a concern it or the Taig may be what you need. If it's a budget concern I would suggest a slightly larger lathe such as the HF 8X12. It has variable speed and is capable of making projects up to small pepper shakers or ring trays, and with some coupons can often be had for less than $100. I've made a couple of hundred pens and other small projects on the HF lathe, and while not perfect, it is capable.

What are the major cons with the HF lathe?

It has MT1 tapers, has to be checked for proper alignment, and the tailstock ram is cheesy, it uses 2 small set screws in the plastic knob to take thrust from the ram. Because of the ram I used to unlock the tailstock to drill on it, resulting, at times, less than perfect drilling. Better than my drill press, but not always perfect. I would unlock it and hand feed the drill into the blank, trying to hold everything centered, not optimal.