Metal lathe recommendation

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MShepard

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I am considering a metal lathe, preferably less than $1000. I have no experience, is this a waste of money? What's the learning curve? Mainly want to cut threads, but the added accuracy would be nice and I am sure that there are other uses I will find. I saw a couple of small ones at the Grizzly store that were less than $500 but I don't want to regret the purchase but I don't want spend more than I need (actually don't need any, but would spend the equilavant of a nice rifle and will use it more).
 
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MShepard said:
I am considering a metal lathe, preferably less than $1000. I have no experience, is this a waste of money? What's the learning curve? Mainly want to cut threads, but the added accuracy would be nice and I am sure that there are other uses I will find. I saw a couple of small ones at the Grizzly store that were less than $500 but I don't want to regret the purchase but I don't want spend more than I need (actually don't need any, but would spend the equilavant of a nice rifle and will use it more).
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There is a forum that deals with metal lathe questions here and i believe you will get more answers there. Good luck.
 
Michael
if you go into the metal lathe forum over on the right at the top in the dark blue line you will see search this forum. Click on it and on advanced search. Type in key words, metal lathe and it will pop up some choices.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f166/lathe-comparison-137942/
There are a few threads that discuss the pros and cons of different lathes. In the end you will have to pick what fits in your budget.
 
Carriage

I've noticed a little play in the carriage on my lathe. Not looking forward to making adjustments. :redface: BUT....it has to be done. I've adjusted the cross slide one time since I got this jewel but, I think it's been 3 years. There is a website that, shows steps in doing this but, it escapes me right now. Mini-lathe forum? Anybody? :biggrin:

I MEANT to post this in a new thread!!!! More coffee please!!!!

OK, fixed it! New thread. SORRY Michael!!!!
 
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There is a learning curve. obviously. I have had the HF style lathes, and they will do what most want done with them. I came across a 6" Atlas lathe a bit ago. Nothing fancy, but a 6" swing, and about 24" between centers. Threading is by changing gears, same as most mini lathes, so nothing lost or gained there. Fun little machine for what I have done on it so far. Blurry pic, but here it is.
 

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MShepard said:
I am considering a metal lathe, preferably less than $1000. I have no experience, is this a waste of money? What's the learning curve? Mainly want to cut threads, but the added accuracy would be nice and I am sure that there are other uses I will find. I saw a couple of small ones at the Grizzly store that were less than $500 but I don't want to regret the purchase but I don't want spend more than I need (actually don't need any, but would spend the equilavant of a nice rifle and will use it more).
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You say you want it mostly to cut threads. I think most of us with small metal lathes still use taps and dies for threads. There are exceptions, but the setup time for doing a pen or two isn't worth it IMHO. And you can still get good results with taps & dies. And if you step up to a small gearbox lathe so you don't have to swap out gears, you'll be well over $1000.

Shawn Newton (aka watch_art on this site) does hundreds of custom pens a year on a large gunsmithing lathe. Even though he has a gear box, he does many of his with taps and dies.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I didn't know it was that much trouble to cut threads. I may re-think buying a lathe for now. What is the most common benefit of using a (low end) metal lathe?
 
MShepard said:
Thanks everyone for your input. I didn't know it was that much trouble to cut threads. I may re-think buying a lathe for now. What is the most common benefit of using a (low end) metal lathe?
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I hope I didn't scare you away from a metal lathe. I like mine, and use it more for pens than my wood lathe.

Things I like:
More accurate
ability for really fine adjustments to diameter
easier to cut metal (kinda obvious I know)
It's just a better tool for custom pens.
Make your own bushings
Lots of new toys to buy

Things I don't like:
Lots of new tooling to buy (actually, it's more a thing my wife doesn't like :rolleyes: ) I say toys, she says tooling.
Harder to clean up especially if cutting metal
Some things are harder to do, like most anything non linear. If you want to give your pen a gentle curve to the body, it's much easier to free hand it on a wood lathe. It can be done, but it's easier on a wood lathe. Some people have a tool rest they use on their metal lathe that allows them to use their wood lathe tools. I don't (yet - see above). Many times I'll just move over to my wood lathe for some finishing touches. Plus I do all my sanding & buffing on my wood lathe.

If I had to do it over again, I'd have bought a larger metal lathe. I'm hoping in a few years to get a Precision Mathews 11-27-VF-LB. I would never have started on that one, but I wish I'd gone a little bigger out the gate.
 
I've had a HF 7 x 10 mini lathe for about 6 months. Paid $405 with a 25% off coupon. I've probably spent close to $400 on tooling and extras. Little Machine Shop has lots of stuff tailored for the mini lathes and good advice also. I've used mine to make taps and cut external threads. I am converting to dies this week. I have been making kitless all metal pens not possible on a wood lathe. With some tweeking it has been suprizingly accurate. I took a machining class in college 25 years ago and remembered most of what I needed. I would recommend a class or finding someone near that will show you the basics.

Stainless Steel Fountain Pen below.
 

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MShepard said:
less than $500 but I don't want to regret the purchase but I don't want spend more than I need (actually don't need any, but would spend the equilavant of a nice rifle and will use it more).
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Purchased a Homier Speedway 7 x 12 at one of their truck sales in 2001. So far it has been 15 years of pure joy! Can not compare it to a nice rifle since I have never owned one.

.
 
Hmmmmm......my last 'nice rifle' cost me about $6,500 with optics. But when you are sending 750gr of Hornady AMAX downrange at 3150fps.....well, you know.


BTW, sold that rifle for a few hundred less then I bought it for....and had fun the entire time pulling the trigger on just over 13,000lbs of muzzle energy.





Scott (I'm gonna have to get Bob's lathe dirty) B
 
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