Buying a lathe

stormtrooperguy

stormtrooperguy

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
As I've gotten more into scratch building, I've been finding myself REALLY wanting to have a lathe.

I'm not necessarily thinking mass produced precision machined metal bits, more carving a prototype piece out of plastic / wood / etc... to mold later.

I know NOTHING about them.

If you were planning to buy a lathe for that sort of project, what would you look for? Sizes, brands, cost, etc?

I'm thinking in the several hundred dollar range, not several thousand. Hopefully.
 
In that price range, new, it would be something from China. I actually have this exact one and it's not bad...

http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/product_id/14795/nm/11_x_26_Lathe_With_Stand_WT_Import_

...one of the reasons I like it is that is has a large bore through spindle, at least for a cheap lathe. It just means I can put rods 1" or smaller in diameter through the spindle.

I got mine a bit cheaper than this. Get on the mailing list. Mine was a X-mas special 2 years ago, $1200 I think. Also, I bought a $20 thing from them, and they sent me a coupon for 5% off my next order, and *thats* when I bought the lathe.

The other option is to get an old used lathe like a South Bend. These have many many advantages to a cheap Chinese lathe. However you need to consider space and installing 3 phase power in your workshop (or a converter). I turned down a free professional lathe and Bridgeport milling machine because I simply didn't have the space.

This is also a good forum to search for this kind of info...

www.practicalmachinist.com

Hope this helps!
 
Since you are in the US got o Harbor Freight and get the cheap 7"x10" or 7"x12" Chinese made ones... $ for $ they are a great deal and a good start for the hobbiest... But they do have some issues, but these issues are shared across most lathes in that price range...

Also since these cheap Chinese machines are all mostly made in the same factory and re-branded under a ton of different names parts are plentiful and repairs are cheap...

You can get just about any part you need from http://littlemachineshop.com/

Also because they are so popular there is a ton of information about them, lots of sites to read up on and gain knowledge...

READ THIS SITE FIRST http://www.mini-lathe.com/

Lots of people go for the Grizzy re-branded ones, again same factory and essentially the same machine, just minor differences but I hear they have great customer support...

http://grizzly.com/
 
check craigslist.

there are a good number of small scale ones on there.

there are also some large machine shop size ones from shops that have gone out of business.
 
exoray said:
Lots of people go for the Grizzy re-branded ones, again same factory and essentially the same machine, just minor differences but I hear they have great customer support...

http://grizzly.com/
Click to expand...

i've got a bunch of other grizzly stuff at home, so that's a good contender. 7x12, $600.

i thought about the craigslist idea, but the big problem right now is that i'd have no idea if what i was buying was complete / in working order.

my shop has some tools that are 20 - 30 years old that still work fine, but i had a terrifying death bandsaw that nearly took out the eye of someone across the room from it. so i have a little fear of used industrial grade stuff!

keep it coming, this is great stuff! :)
 
tk7602 said:
i thought about the craigslist idea, but the big problem right now is that i'd have no idea if what i was buying was complete / in working order.
Click to expand...

I have been watching my local Craigslist for quite some time now and to be honest there isn't many deals to be had on the lower end small hobby grade machines... I see people all the time on there selling used Harbor Freight machines for $50 less then you can buy it brand new with a warranty... Sometimes you luck out and get some tooling and this is a big plus because spending 2 or 3 times the lathe cost on tooling isn't uncommon, but finding these deals it's not the norm...

I did luck out and after months of watching got a Cummins 7"x14" on Craigslist for $250 last year, but the deals were few and far between on the entry level stuff... Lots of great deals on the bigger machines if you are looking for that though...

Another site to check out, they give a quick break down of the specs of each re-brand of the lathe...

http://www.7xlathes.com/

FYI the biggest issue you will experience with these small machines is that if you get too aggressive with your cuts the whole machine will flex and cause all sorts of wrong, you need to baby the bite on these machines and work slow... It's inherent in the fact that there simply isn't enough metal on these small machines to prevent the flex... Also once you get the machine you will probably want to disassemble most of it and reassemble it while making adjustments to eliminate all the 'factory' play in all the moving parts, the cross slide being one area you need to really focus on...
 
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Don't forget about shipping costs. I can't speak for the other companies, but Wholesale Tool has free shipping to any local store if it's not at the location, even if you just want to look at the machine. There is a Wholesale Tool not far from you in Stoughton, Mass. My own experience with their customer service has been very good.

I don't mind mini-lathes, I know a lot of people with them. Just keep in mind, you can make small parts on a big lathe, but not the other way round.
 
If you live near a Harbor Freight store, I would highly recommend considering either the 7x12 or 8x12(actually 8x14) lathes. The 7x12 can be bought in store and the 8x12 can be ordered and shipped to the store for free, on top of that Harbor Freight always has tons of sales and there is almost always a 20% off coupon floating around the internet.

I spent months watching Craigslist, but like Exoray said the deals are few and far between on smaller metal lathes. So against most people's recommendations about Chinese import lathes, I went for HF's 8x12 and I dont regret it one bit, the 8x12 is much heavier duty than the 7x12 and for only $100.00 more. The construction of the 8x12 is very robust, weighing in at 254lbs (the 7x10 at 89lbs).

All this being said, you have to go into the purchase understanding the these small import lathes are not something your gonna unpack, plug in, and be turning out parts with super tight tolerances, BUT you can get a good price on them and with some tweaking and adjustments can most defiantly produce "Big Lathe" quality parts.

One other thing I learned along the way is that you will end up spending almost the same amount, if not more money on the tooling to make your machine fully capable and precise, and for this I cannot say enough good things about littlemachineshop.com and Discount Machine Shop on Ebay.

Well I hope this helps, and good luck!
 
I recommend getting one with a solid cast iron bed and speed that you can adjust without changing a frickin' belt. Trust me!
 
Resurrection! This thread shall live again!

I just got a Cummins 7x12 from a friend of mine in trade for some clone armor. I haven't a clue how to use it yet, but that will come.

I know it came with a few tools, and has been cleaned up and treated really well.
 
If you can find someone local that is experienced to come by and give you some basics in a one on one atmosphere for an hour or two you will have a good grasp at most of the basics... Simple things like shimming and positioning the tooling and what tooling is used for what what will come a lot quicker if someone walks you through it... One hour of one on one will allow you to get your hands in the game even if it's just basic stuff...
 
My father in law is a 2nd generation machinist. He hasn't worked in the shop for 20+ years but I'm sure he still knows his stuff. He's offered to come play teacher for me.

I'm pretty excited! With the vac table and lathe, the only "dream machine" left for me is a rotational caster.
 
exoray said:
If you can find someone local that is experienced to come by and give you some basics in a one on one atmosphere for an hour or two you will have a good grasp at most of the basics... Simple things like shimming and positioning the tooling and what tooling is used for what what will come a lot quicker if someone walks you through it... One hour of one on one will allow you to get your hands in the game even if it's just basic stuff...
Click to expand...

And that's AFTER you spend three hours talking about safety. I hate to sound cliche, but it is absolutely safety first with these things. It would take a bit of work and a bunch of dumb luck to kill yourself with one, but you can easily REALLY screw yourself up.

Please be careful!
 
Yeah, anything that involves spinning and blades makes me healthily afraid!

I'm not even plugging the thing in until I've had my first lesson!
 
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