What is too big?

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SDB777

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I've been thinking trying about the metal side of things.....


What I keep reading in just about every topic that has been written, is I should have bought a bigger lathe. I was wondering.....how big is a BIGGER lathe? Guess that leaves the subject far too open....how about this, how big of a pen part are you making that you can not fit the 'item'(be it acrylic, wood, metal) in the jaws of the chuck and do what you need to do?

For instance, most people love those skinny, sexy little thin fountain pens. Say the outside diameter of the body is .475" and the body length is 4.25"(including the threading for the cap)......please tell me how this piece of materal will not fit on a 7x10 metal lathe.

Also, why would it be absolutely necessary to purchase a floor mounted, bolted to the Earth will two inch bolts JET 26x80 to turn the same piece.....by the way, the Jet is on sale at Amazon for $3,000 off the $27,999(with free shipping) price tag if anyone is looking.



Scott (I know y'all be making bigger pens with 7x10) B
 
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tomtedesco

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The turner that helped me get started had a saying. "You can turn small things on a big lathe, but you can't turn big things on a small lathe". I guess you just have to determine what you plan on turning and purchase accordingly. Same thinking goes into a car with 200 HP or 700 HP.
 

MattTheHat

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The problem with a smaller lathe is that it doesn't leave you much room to move around as you work on stuff. I use an 11"x27" lathe and don't feel cramped at all. I had a 10"x22" lathe before and only felt just a smidge cramped when drilling, but it still worked fine. Anything shorter than 22" and I think I would have almost certain constant frustrations.

If you aren't planing on drilling on the lathe, you can probably get away with most any mini lathe (7" x 12" or larger). If you don't plan on polishing the pens on the lathe, you certainly don't need a 10" swing. If you do want to polish on the lathe, one with more swing helps you have enough room for your hands to move around.


-Matt
 

Cmiles1985

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I think bigger in the sense of a metal lathe aims more at distance between centers. As long as you have enough swing over the carriage o turn your pen, what else is really needed? As for length, think about 10" between centers when you want to drill. Say your chuck is and inch and a half, blank sticks out 3.5" from the chuck. At the other end you've got your drill bit and Chuck. I could see how 10-12" gets eaten up pretty quickly.
 

SDB777

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I have made 750 pens on a 7"x12" metal-working mini-lathe. . I do all my drilling and polishing on it, in addition to the turning.


Which model did you get.....please?
I've seen the level of quality, and I'm guessing you don't have too much in the way of tolerance issues.



Scott (normal is better) B
 

Ed McDonnell

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I have a Micromark 7 x 16. Nothing pen related I couldn't do with it. I either start with round stock (metal) or round the stock between centers (resins) before drilling. I use a collet chuck for 99% of my work and when drilling I have less than 1/2" of material sticking out of the chuck. 16" bed length gives me plenty of room. I've never come close to needing it all.

Working with the small chinese lathes is more of an art than a science. A good artist can get pretty good results. It won't just happen on its own though. A chinese mini-lathe will require a lot more fussing to get close to the same precision / accuracy as a much more expensive / capable larger lathe. But we are talking about making pens, not rocket parts. The mini-lathes are perfectly capable pen making machines.

There is a not insignificant learning curve if you do not have metal working experience. It's cheaper (and probably a bit less dangerous) to make mistakes on a small chinese lathe. Getting all the tooling and such will cost a lot less with a mini-lathe.

I guess it all comes down to whether you want to impress people with your pen pictures or your workshop pictures. A $30,000 lathe won't necessarily give you better pen pictures to brag about because you can get the same results with a sub $1,000 lathe. It will give you bragging rights with workshop pictures though :biggrin: .... Depends what's really important.

Ed
 

D.Oliver

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If you'll look in the above post, you'll see we have a confirmed Ed McDonnell sighting. I knew he was real!
 

BRobbins629

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I've always said I haven't seen too many pens on this site that couldn't be made on a 7 x 12 lathe. I've had one for about 8 years and never regretted it. Yes bigger ones will turn bigger things but they can also hurt you more. For learning the 7 x 12s do great. I would stay away from 10" and shorter as you can run out of room when drilling. Also if you do decide to scale up at some point the smaller ones rarely lose value. You just don't see too many used for sale.
 

More4dan

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I'm turning on a 7x10 which is really only 8" between centers. Which I had the 7x12 when drilling. There are some limitations like only 2" travel in the tail stock requires you move the tail stock to drill the body and moving again to clear chips and again and again. Limited range in the compound makes it difficult to use it to cut long my tapers.

However I really enjoy the lathe and find it very adequate for pen turning. I wouldn't want to use it for a full time job but for nights and weekends it great. When turning wood I remove the carriage and use a tool rest I made and use it like a wood lathe and have plenty of room to work.
 

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Carl Fisher

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I started off with a 7x10 and although I COULD make pens on there, it was very cramped and I did in fact run into issues where I couldn't use some of my larger bits due to the bed length unless I bought a short bit which can be hard to find in weird sizes (13.2mm). And it was was too small to work with larger 9-10" blanks turning center to center for initial sizing without having to part pieces first.

I rebuilt it as a 7x16 which gives me tons more room to work center to center, but my issue now is one of accuracy due to the lighter weight of the machine and overall wiggles that develop in these China based 7x machines. Backlash in the lead screw, torque on the cross slide, etc... So at this point it's not a matter of the size but that the machines in this size category can be questionable.

My next machine and I think the sweet spot for what I want out of a metal lathe is the PM1022. I can't see needing larger than that for working room and the added weight will be a nice to have for working with harder metals.
 

frank123

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The current incarnation of my mini lathe is now 7x16. (started out as a 7x10 years ago when that was all that was available).

The 7x 10 worked OK for me to learn how to use a metal lathe (self taught by trial and error and before internet stuff was still in the dial up phase) but quickly turned out to be too short for much of what I wanted to do. Upgraded to a longer 12 inch bed and that made it much more useful and allowed me to to things I wanted to do but couldn't without the longer bed (especially drilling stuff and single pointing internal threads on anything but very short pieces.).

Unless you're planning on turning your own brake drums and such, swing is probably less important than bed length.


The point here being that a 7 x 12 is probably the smallest you will be happy with for very long, a 7 x 14 or 16, if you can afford it and have space for it, is probably a better choice for the 7 x machines. If you can find a used 7x10 cheap enough, you can always put a longer bed on it if it comes out cheaper that way than buying a long one to start with and you're on a tight budget.
 
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BradG

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My biggest annoyance I had with the little lathe I once owned is that it vibrated itself to bits. It forever felt like I was tightening grub screws to keep everything running smooth.... trying to find the right angle to get the calipers in... not to mention the gutless motor on it which was forever stalling. Of course you can buy small lathes which are better made with stronger motors, just I'm recalling the headaches I had with mine.

I now have a 12x36. Very powerful, very rigid.. very low maintenance.

Motor power and build quality is more important than size for pen turning in my opinion
 

farmer

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Jun 16, 2012
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NV
Lathes

I have a couple 3 of theses

Large bore headstock

1.5 inch spindle bore
4 jaw chuck
48 in bed about 44 or 40 inches between centers .
Its portable ( pick it up with one hand )
You can mount live cutters on the tool post.
Parts are every where
Todd the person who sales them is very supportive ,
It runs off of 110. but has a DC motor on it.
The motor is quiet and can be controlled with a foot pedal like a sewing machine .
The motor doesn't heat up even after 16 hrs of running as slow as it will go.
Variable speed reversing
Has a built in 24 shot indexer .
Comes with tons of option like turning it in to a CNC .






Pocket chalkers are what is in the lathe

indexer
 
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BradG

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With the exception to the speed controls Lin that looks near identical to mine I'm sure you'll love it :)

Scott another thing to consider is will you want to make cases and stands too.. the biggest I've been was the base of the mag lev stand with a diameter of 100mm.

Scaffold bar is 50mm.

Throat size through the chuck is an important factor too. It can be a blessing being able to slide larger diameter materials all the way through
 
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