"You GOTTA Be Kidding ME!?" (Metal lathe help.. LONG)

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RAdams

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Was the reply my wife had when i told her that i was thinking about saving my pennies for a metal lathe.

I know I am in too deep to turn back now, and i have come to grips with my addiction. Now i just have to find a way to add tools to an already red shop.


And i gotta figure out what machine to start with. I know it is much like the wood lathe in that you need to spend as much as you can afford and get the best machine you can get. I also know that no matter how big your machine is, you will almost immediately have a need for a bigger machine.

I have two conflicting problems with these two rules. First, I am already drowning in my shop, so money is a definate issue. and B, I have VERY limited shop space and refuse to give up any of my current tools.

I am a long ways from being ready to buy a machine but i figured i could start doing my homework now.

I have been eyeballing the little Central Machinery lathe at HF

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93212

I have read alot of reviews of this machine and have found wildly different opinions. I trust this site, and the machinists here, so your opinions will guide my hopefull purchase!

Some people say this machine is no good because it needs alot of tuning due to the non hardened steel parts. While others say it is an excellent machine to start on, and with some minor mods can be a pretty good little machine.

I just want to make pen parts, and maybe some model stuff after i learn how to use the machine. And like i mentioned, money and space are both big issues. I don't plan to do any crazy stainless work or anything, just alot of aluminum and copper and brass and what have you.

As always, Thanks in advance for the insight! I look forward to reading the replies!!
 
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That is the metal lathe I have . It is a nice little lathe for the money . It will require allot of tweaking and some money to make it do everything you might want it to . You can figure spending almost as much for all the tooling as for the lathe itself but this is money you will most likely have to spend even on a bigger and better lathe . A quick change tool post and a collet chuck is advisable but not totally needed .
The biggest limitation with it is the length . A 14" bed is actually 6" longer and will give you more room for things like drilling on the lathe .
All that said I got mine on a Managers special and had a 20% off coupon and a gift certificate and walked out with it for $150 so it was perfect for me .
I don't use it for much though , mostly making taps for FP sections and other already threaded parts . One of the reasons I don't use it for making pen parts is that it is almost imposable for me to make smooth curved parts . There are two only axises and it is very hard to move both at the same time (think etch-a-sketch) . I like smooth curved nibs/nosecones and beaded bands and such .
My other complaint is it takes time to set it up . In the time it takes to do the change gearing I can make two parts on my Jet , I have gotten quite adept at turning Brass and Aluminum parts on my Jet and can knock out a nib/nosecone in just a few minutes including threading , drilling and finishing them .
 
Well that defnately limits the possibilities. Let me ask you this. Can the x-y thing be turned? So you could make 60 deg. centers and bushings and stuff?

I would definately love to have the bigger machine but the small machine is still just a dream so...

My main concern is the quality of the machine. I dont want to spend that kind of money and get frustrated. It would be perfect for alot of stuff that i would like to get into as long as i could make it run. I would settle for straight body pen parts for now, but the turning sideways thing might be a pain.
 
Yes you can make angles by changing the angle of the top slide and using it to make your cuts . It really is a nice little lathe and can do all sorts of machining . It will turn anything you want even Stainless and tool steel .
 
I bring up the website, and sit and stare at the picture. I have read alot of info from all over the net about that machine. I drool all over the keyboard. Like when i was waiting for my first wood lathe, only worse because i know alot of the possibilities already!
 
Hehe I got that t shirt . I really wanted the MicroMark 7X14 but at $600 it just wasn't doable .
You will like it when you get it . It can cut threads well in most TPI's and I finally learned how to cut multi start threads , I've cut a couple of practice double and triple start taps in brass with it and I just got some tool steel to make smaller and larger triple start taps (I will make dies from them in brass) to compliment the set I already have .
 
I havent actually been to it yet, but i did read about it somewhere else on the net. Littlemachineshop, or mini-lathe... one of those sites.


That sounds so cool... Making taps and dies, and pen parts, and model car wheels, and and and and!! I am just afraid that if i get one then my wood lathe will start to collect dust.
 
If you go one step further and get the 7 x 12 you will be much better off. The extra few inches really makes a big difference when you start adding accessories like drill chucks with long drill bits. I have the Cummins equivalent of the 7 x 12 and have used it for the past several years to make all my pens. A great machine to learn on and perfect for pens. Haven't seen any pens on this site that couldn't be made with this lathe. Yes, bigger can be better, but with limited space and money, its the right choice. You will love it.
 
I'll second the opinion to try to get the 7 x 12. I looked at the one you are considering at HF--- in fact went back three times looking at it. I had a 20% coupon and it was real tempting!! I ended up with a 7 x 12. Now that I have used it, it is amazing how much area of the bed is taken up when you start to drill or tap anything using the tailstock. Good luck, I only know too well what you are going through.

Larry
 
Just had another thought--while having my morning coffee. If you score that little lathe from Harbor Freight and it's all you need then great and you got a terrific deal. If later you decide that you need a slightly larger one, you can get replacement lathe beds and lead screws from Littlemachineshop. You can use all your lathe parts on them and go all the way to 14" I think. Not the cheapest way, but something to consider.....

Larry
 
thanks for the heads up!! I guess i will shoot for the bigger lathe. I just hope i can be patient when i get to that point where i can afford the little lathe, but not the big one and just keep saving.
 
Ron, I have that lathe and I'm happy with it. It is small so if you anticpate doing any large work, think about a bigger one. One of the best upgrades fot it is a quick change tool post (got mine from Littlemachineshop.com). Here is another link with a lot of great info http://www.mini-lathe.com/
 
I have that same lathe - I also bought all the upgrade tooling from Little Machine Shop. I bought it as a kit so it was little cheaper. I only use mine to make bushings and sleeves so the size hasn't bothered me much. Sometime in the future I will be getting a full size metal lathe for doing gunsmithing on so this one works for me now.
 
Ron, anything worth buying is worth getting 20% off! Go to retailmenot.com and search on Harbor Freight. I've done the same with Woodcraft, Rockler and PSI using codes from this site.
 
Although I got a metal lathe for other reasons also, if I were just doing pens, I would still get the same lathe. Mine is an old Craftsman 6" bench lathe and it came with several accessories, including the milling attachement, no tweaking and ready to use at $400.00. There are many old Craftsman/Atlas 6"-9" lathes out there for sale, Just takes a little looking around.
 
I have had two of these. The first was bought for me from my other half. I started turning wood with it and it worked about two weeks .I packed it up and carried it back. They replaced it. The second one worked less than the first. This was about three years ago. Make sure you buy all the replacment warranty they will sell you, if you buy this lathe. I liked it ,but would have liked it more if it would have worked. After having switch problems in the present, I think that might have been my problem with it, although it looks like a new design now. The only way I would buy another is to dust proof all electrical parts. Just thought you should know.
My current lathe went a almost a year before I had dust problem with the switch .So in hindsight why did these two lathes go out in or around two weeks, something to think about...
 
It has been quite a while since I did any searching for metal lathes. so my opinion may be outdated. just F.Y.I.
I hae the 7X12 verson of the lathe you are looking at. For me I hae been perfectly happy with it. But it did take a lot fo home work inorder to get it and know what i was getting. Yahoo groups has a group that is all about these little lathes. i no longer have the links to them. On is for the 7X12 and the other is for the 10X 14 or something like that. When I was there one was a really good helpful group while the other one not so much. but they do have all the info you need to tweak and modify these lathes. they also have information that give you a very clear knowledge of what to expect to have to do to get them up to snuff. In a nut shell you are buying the raw parts for a very good lathe. you then need to do some fine tuning and machining to specs that they did not do. you do this by making adjustments, and some lapping of metal parts, cleaning out the grease theya re packed in and replacing it with good grease, that sort of thing. there is even one part you want to replace soon btu it is not an expensive part and has to do with the electronics. but that yahoo site tells you what to go get at Radios shack and it is a very good higher quality part than the lathe comes with. Also in the small lathes expect to spend as much or more on accessories than you do on the lathe.
Because of that I encourage you to look at the next size up in lathes. they cost nearly twice as much but often include a lot of these accessories. in effect you can get more lathe for the same or even less money.
It is always nearly impossibel to know jsut what eccessories you will want but I can tell you some of the ones I have.
Quick change tool post. center support, collect chuck, Jacobs chuck. scroll chuck 4 jaw. center bits and other misc tools. index able carbide tools. and the turning materials themselves can be pricey. I am pretty sure I ahe a lot more accessories than that I jsut can't think of them right now. but I do know that at one point I realized I had spent more on accessories than I had to buy the lathe.

I also have a comment on the money issue. I don't know if any of this will be helpful to you or not but it really works like a dream for me.

I have many ways that I make money. even if it is just a few dollars here and a few dollars there. i do extra jobs fixing houses. I have even helped people move or whatever so it does nto really require a skilled trade to find ways to make a few dollars on a random saturday if that is what you are looking to do. at one time I was even able to keep any overtime I earned at my full time job. I also have my pens and other things I make and sell from time to time. how much I make is a lot more to do with how hard I want to work at it than opportunity to find some work to do. At any rate all of this extra money is just that. extra. I went above and beyond my responsibility to earn it and it is mine. it is kept in a seperate account and I have it for doing my hobbies. at times we even take money from our regular money and add it but that is not that often anymore. It make it so that my wife no longer feels like I am taking away form getting bills payed or family goals when i spend money on my hobbies. in fact at times my fun money has bailed us out on bad times. so it has turned a negative into a positive. i still tell my wife what I am buying but she never has a moment that is like. gee can we afford that. it is simply. do you have the money? It also has the built in factor that I cannot over spend and not be able to cover bills. it in effect separates my play from family and home issues so there is never an conflict. It really does work very well. and it is amazing just how much money you can slip away and it is never even missed. it also tends to help you recognize an opportunity to add a little to your stash when you see them.
 
Truer words could not be spoken Daniel. I only pay cash, I only use cash I earn outside of my day job to buy tools and toys. If I want more, I work harder and save more money. I will sell pens, blanks, plow the neighbors driveway, rake leaves, whatever you need that pays me cash I get on it if I need something. Everyone says the lathe is good enough..so I guess it is. I guess it's just not much good if you need to drill with it. I know my lathe bed is 30" long. The 5c collet chuck I have takes up 6" of that space and the drill chuck takes 5" and that's without a bit chucked in it..you figure a bit in the chuck is another 3-4", which means I have a collet chuck and a drill in the tailstock that requires 14 or more inches and you are talking about a lathe with a 10" bed length. that's where my thoughts lie.
 
RAdams said:
I havent actually been to it yet, but i did read about it somewhere else on the net. Littlemachineshop, or mini-lathe... one of those sites.


That sounds so cool... Making taps and dies, and pen parts, and model car wheels, and and and and!! I am just afraid that if i get one then my wood lathe will start to collect dust.
Click to expand...

Sell it to help fund the metal lathe purchase! Didn't I see in your pics that you had 2 wood lathes in your shop? If you really want the metal lathe and don't have the money (or space), you should look into selling one of your other lathes... just a thought.
 
Actually, there was two lathes in my shop, but my son in law just moved back to Kentucky and took his HF 1236 with him. I do have a JET EVS mini tho, and of course all the tooling. I could probably just about cover the metal lathe if i sold my wood lathe and tooling!

Something to consider for sure!!
 
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