Metal Lathe

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aggromere

aggromere

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Joined
Mar 27, 2009
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I've been looking at metal lathes for a while now and think I might purchase one of the Micromark metal lathes. Either the 14 inch or 16 inch. I currently use a jet 1014vs and it is plenty big for everything I make. so i will probably go with the 14 inch one. Even though it is smaller, its' weight is listed as 4 pounds heavier in the specs. Does that mean it would be more stable, or just doesn't matter. Here are the links.

http://www.micromark.com/MICROLUX-7x14-MINI-LATHE,8176.html

http://www.micromark.com/MICROLUX-7x16-MINI-LATHE,9615.html

I think I have a friend lined up that is a machinist and will come over and help me learn my way around the lathe I ultimately purchase. It looks like a steep learning curve, at least for me.

I got a few questions though before I spend all that money. counting tools, etc. I think it will cost me close to $1,000.

Would I be able to do internal threading and external threading with either of these. I assume I would. And would you use a tap and die or is there another way of doing it.

Also, could you machine trim rings and centerbands for pens on this out of aluminum or silver?

also, with a metal lathe can I get exact uniformity of pens that I turn? If I'm still going to primarily turn wood, can I ditch the jet lathe and just use the micromark, or is there some things a wood lathe can do that a metal lathe cant?

Sorry to keep coming back to this subject and asking for help, but I really want to expand my pen making abilities and I think a metal lathe, once I learned how to use it, would do that for me.
 
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I use a smaller micro lathe -- I do not have power threading capability so use taps and dies. Note that you cannot do all threads with these lathes. They do some well, and others not at all. Match these before you purchase. Interchangable gears tend to provide more of the quaint threads, and pens tend to use quaint metric threads.

Those are very decent lathes, there are better, but also many that are really rebuild kits.

Your cost estimate is way low -- you will spend more on tooling than the cost of the lathe so talk to your machinist friend about what you will need.

There are some who do turn wood on a metal lathe and will swear by it. I find that metal swarf and wood/acrylic dust do not mutually agree with each other, especially if one finds the need to add cutting fluids/wax into the swarf/chips mess. I have a moved to a big wood lathe and keep the little metal lathe clean and lubed (and yes, I did try turning pens on the micro lathe to arrive at that opinion).

For a pen maker -- I think the 9 by 20 with gears is the best of all worlds, but would grab an old Atlas/Craftsman in good condition if I could find one locally. There is a lot of used cast iron available, but you need to have a really good machinist help you sort the good stuff from the worn out junk.
 
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Peter , metal lathes are a wonderful tool . You can turn wood pens with them but remember that for the most part you can only make straight lines with them , gentle curves are not something that is easily done unless you have three hands . The Micromark lathes are good lathes and need a minimal amount of cleaning and tuning to get them up and running . $1000 is the bottom line when it comes to getting everything you will want to get started , $1500 is more of a realistic amount , the lathe itself could run you $700+ .
They very easily turn brass and aluminum and all other metals with the proper tooling , your Jet can also turn brass and aluminum very easily as well . Turning silver is a very expensive way to work it as there is allot of waste that is lost as you drill and turn it . Precious metals are better worked by casting .
You will be able to cut inside and outside threads with most metal lathes , I advise against any lathe with fixed gearing , the change gears , while a PITA to keep changing will give you almost unlimited thread pitches including some that can't be made with most fixed gear lathes .
The learning curve is very steep and it will take allot of learnin to use it , but it is worth the time . Just make sure you are aware of the drawbacks of them as well as the advantages . Go to the 7X metal lathe groups over at Yahoo and do allot of reading , they are a great resource .
 
I turn all my pen parts including the blanks on my metal lathe. They make tool rests that will fit in your lathe so you can use your wood turning tools to final shape the blanks. You turn them round using the metal cutters to make them straight and then hand turn them to shape the curves and tapers. Curves in metal can be formed with files. tapers can be cut with the compound slide.
 
Bottom line is , you have to know what you really want a metal lathe for . Cutting threads is something that metal lathes are perfect for but to do it on each pen (both inside and outside) is a royal PITA . Making small parts out of aluminum or brass is doable but I can turn three RB nibs on my Jet1014 for every one you could turn on a metal lathe (including set up time) .
I bought the little HF 7X10 because I really didn't know exactly what I was going to do with it and didn't want to spend a couple of grand for a machine that might not see allot of use . Since I got it on a Managers special and had a discount coupon and a HF gift card I only paid $150 for mine and it has been perfect for what I use it for .
What do I use mine for ? I make one off taps to thread pen bodies for vintage fountain pen sections and that's about it . Is that a waste ? it would have been if I had bought the one that I originally wanted or the ones that people here told me I needed , but since I paid so little for it , it has been a great purchase . The taps I have made for some Parker , Diplomat and Esterbrook sections and my Sharpie tap have already paid for the original lathe purchase (I would have spent twice the price of the lathe if I could have even found those taps) and as I have climbed the learning curve I'm now starting to make my own double and triple start taps and will use them to make dies to make even better kitless pens .
Eventually I will purchase a bigger and better metal lathe , when I have exausted the usefulness of this little guy , but I don't see that happening any time soon .
Before anyone goes out and spends money on a metal lathe , they should make sure they know exactly what they expect to do with it , if they are ready for that level of penmaking and that if it isn't what they were expecting that they can live with the money wasted on it . I know there will be some that won't agree with me but it's food for thought .
 
"Before anyone goes out and spends money on a metal lathe , they should make sure they know exactly what they expect to do with it , if they are ready for that level of penmaking and that if it isn't what they were expecting that they can live with the money wasted on it . "

Wise words Butch --- do not always practice that, and the last part of the last line fits. "Seemed like a good idea at the time" is always there.

You have nailed why I am still using a Taig micro lathe instead of something bigger and with more options.

P.S. When you get to making dies, think about the old fashioned split dies so you can "tweak" the diameter a bit for the same thread spacing.
 
I make all my pens, regardless of material - wood, plastic, metal, hard rubber on my metal lathe. The most useful feature to me of the metal lathe for pens is to make special mandrels which I seem to do a lot of. Another benefit is that blow outs are rare and catches are not existant.

You can work with silver. For CBs its batter to work with tubes to reduce scrap, but if you do ever want to get into silver casting, I have also turned wax models on the metal lathe and had them cast.

Oh - and the justification of want you want to do? Just say you want to have fun and you wont be dissapointed. I don't know of any metal lathe owner on this site regardless of the size or brand they bought that have not improved their penmaking in one way or another or are sorry they went in that direction. Do budget for accessories though. There's always something else to try.
 
Over in Europe , from what I have heard , most penmakers use metal lathes and here there are a number of people who do too and they use them to make fantastic pens like Bruce and several others do but I already had a very capable little Jet lathe so there was no reason to mothball it or turn it into an over priced buffing machine so the metal lathe is a secondary machine for me . As such it is allot of fun but I have a family to feed so to spend a well over a thousand dollars on a metal lathe and assorted tooling was out of the question unless I knew exactly what I needed it for , fun is one thing but food is slightly more important .
I am in no way trying to discourage any one from buying one but just saying that you should have some idea of what you need it for . If you have money to burn then by all means go out and buy the biggest , baddest metal lathe you can , you can have a ball playing with all the levers and dials and while you are trying to learn all that is needed to use it , it will make a great workbench to store your penmaking supplies on .
I'm a cheap person by nature and will usually make the best out of the least for as long as I can , someday if I ever have the money I will get that 12X36 gap bed lathe that I wanted and will know how to use it because I learned on my little cheap 7X10 .
 
yea...tooling. It depends how you go, but it is not at all unreasonable to spend $150 on a specialized cutting tool holder with only 5 inserts. I bet I could grab $2000 worth of metal working cutters and holders out of my toolbox that would fit in the top of a small fishing tackle box. I treat my tools like there is no tomorrow!
 
Interesting discussion. I went through that soul searching some time ago and from initially looking at a 7x14 mini lathe, finished up buying a 9x20 with EVS.

I never envisaged the metal lathe replacing the wood lathe, in fact since buying the 9x20 I have upgraded to an EVS 18x47 wood lathe (the Oz equivalent to the Laguna and Grizzly).

The metal lathe gets a lot of work, not only in my pen making, but also in making tools and jigs to aid in my pen making.

Yes, tooling is a consideration, but then I have spent, and will continue to spend, a fair sum of money on wood chisels, chucks, jaws, collets, mandrels, wet sharpeners, for the wood lathe.

As for "justifying" the purchase of a metal lathe, as is so often mentioned in these discussions, I can't relate to that at all. Pen turning is a hobby, if I have to start doing a cost/benefit analysis before buying a tool for my hobby it would be a sad day.
Rather the question is, can I afford it and do I want it. If the answer to both those questions is yes, the proposal is then taken to the CFO, who invariably says "yeah, whatever":smile:

We belong to the SKI generation (Spend the Kids Inheritance:tongue:)
 
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