Any Ideas on a Tailstock Assembly?

[ghostrider]

Hello all.

Someone gave me one of the Harbor Freight benchtop lathe, but it came without a tailstock assembly.

I could order the parts from HF for around $45, and that would give me a functioning lathe, minus some of the accessory's like the extra face plate, and other centers.

I can buy a new in the box one for around $100.

If I could pick up a tailstock that worked, I'd be happy with that. Are there any options for this?

 

[monophoto]

Hello all.

Someone gave me one of the Harbor Freight benchtop lathe, but it came without a tailstock assembly.

I could order the parts from HF for around $45, and that would give me a functioning lathe, minus some of the accessory's like the extra face plate, and other centers.

I can buy a new in the box one for around $100.

If I could pick up a tailstock that worked, I'd be happy with that. Are there any options for this?

You can buy a spade bit and tap that you can use to make a wooden face plate out of wood for a lot less than a metal faceplate would cost you, and having made that investment, you can use it over and over again to make all kind of useful attachments.

So if it were me, I would spring for the tailstock, and then go to Amazon.com to look for taps of the appropriate specification to match the headstock spindle on the lathe (probably a 3/4" x 16 tpi). You can buy a spade bit at your local hardware or big box store.

 

[ghostrider]

Hello all.

Someone gave me one of the Harbor Freight benchtop lathe, but it came without a tailstock assembly.

I could order the parts from HF for around $45, and that would give me a functioning lathe, minus some of the accessory's like the extra face plate, and other centers.

I can buy a new in the box one for around $100.

If I could pick up a tailstock that worked, I'd be happy with that. Are there any options for this?

You can buy a spade bit and tap that you can use to make a wooden face plate out of wood for a lot less than a metal faceplate would cost you, and having made that investment, you can use it over and over again to make all kind of useful attachments.

So if it were me, I would spring for the tailstock, and then go to Amazon.com to look for taps of the appropriate specification to match the headstock spindle on the lathe (probably a 3/4" x 16 tpi). You can buy a spade bit at your local hardware or big box store.

Thanks for the quick response.

I've already got the small FP that comes with it, just don't have the small one and some of the other extras. That's fine though because I don't think I'll need it to turn pens, so what I have should suffice.

I was just wondering if I have to stick with the OEM tailstock assembly, or if there is a better option.

 

[ghostrider]

After giving it some consideration, I'm thinking that maybe I didn't articulate things very well, so I'll try to do that now.

My thinking is this.

I know that I can order this from HF, and that it will probably take 1-2 months to get here. I also have to order the parts individually, rather than as a whole unit, so that leaves me options like forgoing the live center and instead buying a mandrel saver (I didn't even price out the live center because of this, so that's more to the cost).

I'm just wondering if there are other options for a tailstock for that unit. The OEM one has a plastic knob to advance the spindle. If there is something available that has a better setup, and that will serve me just as well or better.

Just trying to learn my options before deciding.

Thanks in advance.

 

[dogcatcher]

Sometimes it is better to buy a boat and use the gift as an anchor. I think this is one of them.