Paul Huffman Vise & Classic Nib-Roy Robaldo

[FredSG]

Hello,

My very first post on I.A. P.

After much searching on the Internet for a vise to make jigs for my reloading bench I came to your community of penturners and read the many posts on vises available for purchase from Rockler, WoodCraft, Penn State Industries, and Peachtree Woodworking, to name just a few.

I read the posts on the Paul Huffman Vise and at first was put off by the "long wait" situation, but then came across the "Classic Nib Web Site" and Roy Robaldo, and placed my order for one of the two remaining RH Vises he had in stock.

What a terrific experience. Roy responded right away by Email and my Huffman Vise was on its way to me, and received this afternoon. Roy, thank you for the fast shipping, it is very much appreciated.

I am not a pen maker. I am involved with reloading and gunsmithing and am interested in purchasing a metal lathe in the near future.

Is there anyone in the I.A. P. community who has these same interests, i.e., reloading and gunsmithing, in addition to pen making, who might be willing to share their opinions and suggestions on purchasing a mini-metal lathe?

Thank you,

FredSG

 

[bobjackson]

Welcome Fred from northern Ohio.

 

[Haynie]

Yep. These IAP active vendors do a reall bang up job.

 

[BKelley]

Fred,

I have done some elementary gunsmithing for the most of my adult life. Have made a few stocks, refinished some, replace parts and fabricated a few simple parts.
As for a lathe, I would not suggest a mini lathe, you might make a screw or firing pin and some smaller parts, but no barrel work. If I were to buy a lathe for gunsmithing I would try to find a South Bend 10" tool room lathe, certainly nothing smaller. Just my opinion. Ask a gunsmith in your area what he uses or advises.

Ben

 

[Wingdoctor]

I used to do gunsmithing. Everything from parts replacement to custom stocks. A mini-lathe would work for making small parts like firing pins but the job that most gunsmiths have for a lathe is re-barreling a bolt action rifle. To do this properly you need a lathe with a big enough hole in the headstock to chuck the breech end in the chuck and the barrel sticking out the left side of the headstock. This gives you the most vibration free position for threading and cutting a chamber with a reamer. This means 1 1/4" to 1 3/8" minimum headstock ID. This is a lot bigger lathe than you are asking about, but this size is necessary for barrel work. Buying too small for the first lathe and then out-growing it quickly leads to having to spend too much money. Think about all of your future needs and buy a lathe just a little bit bigger.

 

[FredSG]

Thank you BKelley & Wingdoctor for your suggestions, but my gunsmithing and repairs are pretty much limited to a specific original Civil War Firearm, and black powder Flintlocks.

Barrel work is not a consideration for me, and the lathe would used mostly for brass conversion for use in the Civil War firearms, so its use in loading is why I am considering a metal lathe, and also for repairing small parts for these weapons.

I thank you for your suggestions.

FredSG

 

[Dalecamino]

Fred, like my friend Mike Roux said.....you can turn small parts on a big lathe, but you can't turn big parts on a small lathe. Plan accordingly. BTW, welcome to the IAP!

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Fred, so glad the vise will work out for you, we're always happy when a customer is happy. As to a lathe I'm picking up a 7x14 Micro Mark in the next few weeks hopefully.I'm a complete novice so I can't give advise but from what I've been led to believe the smallest that really will do much is a 7x12 but 7x16 would be so much better.

 

[manatee]

+1 what Chuck said. I bought a Micro Mark mini-lathe and mill only to use them for 1 project. I decided I wanted to build larger projects so I bought a Grizzly 12x36 gunsmith lathe and a Jet 8x36 mill. I am currently building an RG & G gatling gun. I Soldered and threaded the 10 barrels for the gun today. I'm thinking of selling the Micro Mark machines. My next purchase will be a Tormach 1100 PCNC machine as soon as I can make room in my shop!

 

[Mapster]

+1 what Chuck said. I bought a Micro Mark mini-lathe and mill only to use them for 1 project. I decided I wanted to build larger projects so I bought a Grizzly 12x36 gunsmith lathe and a Jet 8x36 mill. I am currently building an RG & G gatling gun. I Soldered and threaded the 10 barrels for the gun today. I'm thinking of selling the Micro Mark machines. My next purchase will be a Tormach 1100 PCNC machine as soon as I can make room in my shop!

Let me know about the lathe, I am interested in purchasing it. Did you get my pm?