Metal Lathe In India - Advice Requested

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sks1971

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Jun 13, 2012
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Hi All,

I was fortunate to meet one of the few penmakers who still makes ebonite hand made fountain pens in India. During the last couple of months I visited this master 3-4 times and could learn the the very basics of the pen making, just by watching him doing. Now it is my turn to practice. He suggested me to buy a compact metal lathe like the one he owns.(my master owns a very old metal bench lathe from 1960s), I have searched a lot and could find only full size industrial lathes with a bed width of 4.5 Ft and weighing around 500 Kgs. I guess this would be too heavy for pen making. Also found the this https://www.ravimachines.com/categories/lathe-machines/banka-strom-plus.html mini lathe, but it has a spindle bore of only 12 mm.

If there are any penmakers in this Forum especially from India, could you please advise me buying a metal lathe (which is available in India). Btw, the raw material used would be mainly ebonite rods, upto 3/4 inch diameter and 2 1/2 Ft. long

Thanks & regards,
-saji
 
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frank123

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Check with the manufacturer/seller about that bore size to confirm it, it seems small for an MT3 spindle which I would expect to be about 19mm.

The 500mm between center length may let you work around the small bore if it actually is only 12mm.

The machine itself seems adequate other than that if the quality is good.

Wish I could be more helpful but I don't know anything about suppliers in India.
 

sks1971

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Thank you Frank.
I confirmed with the manufacturer about the spindle bore - yes, it is only 12 mm. Could you please comment on a full size Lathe with a bed size of 4.5 Ft which weighs around 500 KGS. Is it too big for Pen making?
Thanks
Saji
 
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TonyL

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If it fits the bill...not bad for $625 US. Do you know where it is made?

Thank you.
 

Curly

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I've made my kitless pens on a Grizzly 13" x 37" G4003 lathe. The headstock bore is closer to 1 5/8 though (41.3mm). You can look it up for exact specs. I don't see why the one you can get won't work for you. You just won't be able to put a long piece of material though the headstock and work the end sticking out. A little less waste that way. You'll need to use shorter pieces closer to the finished length of the part.
 

sks1971

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Curly

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.......would it be too heavy for the purpose?

-saji

Size wise it is close to mine so not a problem there. What I do see as a red flag is that it can only cut thread to 24 threads per inch (24TPI) and there is no quick change gearbox for the carriage. The threads on a section or cap are going to be in the 50 TPI range / 0.5 MM to 32 TPI / 0.8 MM. This means unless they sell extra gears you can't cut the fine threads you want for pen caps, sections etc., and every thread change will need to be done manually by changing the gear combinations at the end of the headstock. If you are going to cut all your threads by tap and die then the above isn't a consideration.
 

sks1971

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Curly, Norton Gearbox is provided as an optional accessory, that I guess would solve the gear issues.
Thanks
 
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