lathe
 

what do you guys use for lathes. i haven't seen any metal ones but then again i haven't been to a large tool store lately. the only one i've seen lately was a 32" wood lathe for $120CDN. i doubt it would work but i wanted to see what you guys use?

Re: lathe
 

I have a Sherline 4000. Great little set-up for the small stuff we build.

Here's a shot of it set up as a milling machine...

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/Boards/DSC05959.JPG

more info

http://www.sherline.com/specs.htm

Re: lathe
 

I have a little 9 x 20 Jet lathe. Small metal lathe that works nicely for the bit of hack machining I'm capable of.
Jay

Re: lathe
 

http://www.hisgirl.net/shop/lathe.jpg

I picked up this little guy off Ace :D

Its a circa 1950's ish Craftsman Lathe (Actually made by Atlas)

6x15 or so I think.

Re: lathe
 

I've got a sherline lathe, sherline mill and a South Bend 9" lathe.

Bigger lathes are great, but my 9" weighs about 700lbs. They get REAL heavy bigger than a South Bend.

The sherline is a great machine. Better than a Unimat in my opinion. But a Unimat is pretty good too.

Dave's Atlas makes a pretty good lathe too. Probably the cheapest option for a full threading lathe with compound (to cut angles) See em on Ebay for around 300+ depending on accessories

A sherline with compound and thread ability is about $800... Add 3 jaw and 4 jaw and it's even more.

Great hobby though. I enjoy machining more than all my other hobbies!

Re: lathe
 

would the lathe that i mentioned before work for doing lite maching?

Re: lathe
 

No, a wood lathe will not work for metal they work a bit different.wood lathes dont have a chuck like a metal one and no saddle (think thats what its called) you want something with adjustments, a chuck and something to hold a tool bit.

Re: lathe
 

Woodlathes spin WAY to fast for metal working.
Holding work would be hard, usually no chuck.
They also have a rest and you just free hand the cutting tool. Metal lathes support the cutting tool on linear ways so you can cut a straight diameter.

Here's two popular cheaper lathes:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=33684

http://www.taigtools.com/mlathe.html

Re: lathe
 

Is it easily set up for milling or do you need to buy alot of accessories?? I'm not very familliar with the way these tools work but I've had enough of hacksaws and jigsaws lol.

Do you think it would be a good tool for a first timer with this sort of machine. ( I do have plenty of other power tool experience)

The price is really decent on it...I don't think I could go wrong.

*edit* I actually found some cheaper ones. I don't want to turn this into the newbs thread on how he's clueless about milling tools but could anyone recomend a good milling machine for a first timer? I'd only be using it for fairly small parts like chassis and accessories for my self and friends. All most likely cut from aluminum.

Re: lathe
 

I've got the one from Harbor Freight that Ace mentioned. It doesnt come with any tools so I got a set of them and a drill chuck right away. Its a pretty nice little lathe. A milling machine is next on the list.

Eric

Re: lathe
 

It's very easy to convert from lathe to mill.

All it takes is loosening one set screw, installing the vertical mill head, then installing the motor assembly to the mill head.

Two set screws total.

You'll need some endmills as well.

I'm a first-timer with the mill, I'm teaching myself as I go. :wink:

Re: lathe
 

The sherline stuff is very good quality.

No bargain on price, but then again you get what you pay for...

Excellent first time mill or lathe, no doubt about it.

Any lathe or mill you might as well figure you'll spend at least what you paid for the basic machine additional for accessories. For me it's about 5 times :roll:

Re: lathe
 

nyarlathotep, this might be a decent "do it all" set-up for $995. I have a catalog here where you can get that exact machine for that price with tooling from Smithy. Might be of interest to you.

http://smithy.com/midas1220.htm

Maybe Ace has more info on the Smithy stuff.

I am looking at Taig.

They have a Micro Lathe and a Micro Mill. as well as "starter sets" that include a lot of the tools.

Package #3 (1017-3) can be found at http://www.taigtools.com/starter.html

I am looking at that, as well as

http://www.taigtools.com/mmill.html

But I am not sure which version to get. Can someone tell me about the differences, and which one would suit this hobby best? It looks like the most expensive one is about $1000, which is no problem. I just want to be sure I am getting a high quality long lasting and accurate mill.

I do want to convert to CNC at a later date, though.

If I got the big starter set with the lathe and the 2019CRHC mill, what else would I need?

I should add....

In my search for info and forums on machining, I ran into a site that had a Taig and Sherline forum (one for each). The Sherline one was full of complaining about having to modify thier machines to get them to work right, etc. The Taig one was full of "look what I did" type posts. From that, I got the impression that I would be happier with a Taig.

I have a Taig mill. I've seen Taig lathes. It's hard to believe they come from the same company. The Taig mill is pretty nice for what it is.

The Taig lathe isn't near as nice as a Sherline lathe. But it's also 1/2 the price.

Personally I'd buy the cheap 7" Harbor Freight lathe before buying a Taig lathe.

Taig motors are weak, the taig has no threading (no leadscrew) and the tailstock works like a drill press (no fine feed) It's also smaller than the HF lathe.

Having said that, there are 1000's of examples of awsome work turned on a Taig lathe, they are really cheap and have lots of accesories.

I'm using the harbor frieght 3 in one machine. It mills, drills, and turns.



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