Hobby Lathe / Milling Machine

[mylo]

"Buy cheap, buy twice." ....I've

"Buy cheap, buy twice." ....I've gotta say, I've never heard that old saying, but it sure is true. I try and avoid that situation as often as I can. It should be "Buy cheap, buy twice.....BY GOD that pisses me off." Mind you, what's worse is, "Buy expensive, get something that is no better than something much cheaper"...follow that up with the pissed off comment.

I've read similar reviews about Chinese made. It's ok.....if you don't mind tweaking it some. I'm looking for something accurate right out of the box, my patience for fixing/tweaking a new lathe would be really limited.

Tom, Thanks for the info on the book. That was going to be my next question, "What's some good reference materials to learn how to use these tools ?" ....just some basics, for the REAL newbie, like myself. I can advance slightly beyond, "Plug in machine."

Mylo

[JWLaRue]

Mylo,

I have had excellent out-of-the-box

Mylo,

I have had excellent out-of-the-box results with my MicroMark lathe. I have only made one adjustment to the cross-slide gib to get a smoothly running and accurate lathe. Even though these are based on the Seig lathe it looks like MicroMark has a tighter, better set of specifications.

...more fuel for the decision!

-Jeff

[Guest]

I really recommend books by

I really recommend books by Stan Bray. He's an excellent model engineer, and he knows how to put things down on paper with a common sense, no nonsense approach.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Milling-Stan-Bray/dp/1861266804

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Compact-Lathe-S ... 44-2878359

If you have a model engineers club local to you, then it's worth checking it out. Members tend to have machinery come up for sale from time to time, and you'll usually get it for below market rates. I find folk like their machines to go to someone who'll use them constructively, as opposed to giving them a lick of paint and then bunging it on ebay for a quick profit.

A 60 year old English, U.S or German built lathe that's been well cared for will serve you better than any of the imported stuff.

Small mills are a bit more difficult to find. Many model engineers use their lathe to mill out small parts, and as a consequence there just wasn't very many hobby sized machines on the market years ago. Choosing a mill with a decent sized bed is a good idea. A small light machine will result in chatter on your work, although it does depend on what you are planning to make.

Something else worth mentioning. Budget for cutters a decent mill vice, a good milling chuck (essential), clamps etc. This can easily double the purchase price, and is another incentive to seek out a good secondhand machine- these often come thrown in.

Andy

[bos10]

For milling I bought a

For milling I bought a mini mill from MicroMark. You can get the same thing from several other places. You can do much better, but for the price I'm happy. I'm using it to mill slots in the deck of my VII/C (I do a rough mill and then use a diamond file the rest of the way) so my needs are fairly basic. If you purchase a mini mill, I highly suggest that you buy the aftermarket belt upgrade. It massively reduces the noise, replaces the cheap plastic gears in the head which I understand can break and increases RPM which is good for fiberglass and resin. I also purchased a air spring which increased the Z-axis travel so that I could fit my hull under the spindle.

If you looing into the mini mill and mini lathe stuff, I highly recommend that you check out http://www.littlemachineshop.com. I bought both of the above there and they are very helpful. They also have a basic manual on how to use the mini mill that you can download for free. It's vastly superior that what comes with the unit.

I have been thinking about a lathe and if I get one I will get the same one that Jeff did. My understading it's a good bit better than the one it replaced for about the same price. I found the following site useful. It contains some useful overviews of the various mini mills and mini lathes http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_lathe...Micro-Mark.htm. There's a pretty big online community using the mini mill/lathe, lots of parts and lots of upgrades, which is reassuring.

As someone mentioned, you might get a real steal on a used commercial piece. One of the big issues is size/weight and it's condition. I'm not sure if you have Craig's list up there, but that would be a great way to get around shipping costs... there are always several decent ones for sale in my area every month. that said, they were all too big and I never found a mini for sale.

[anonymous]

Shame on you Americans http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_smile.gif

Shame on you Americans
You should be buying US made lathes like Taig's and Sherline's not Chinese made imports!!

(Actually I have a Taig but then I'm British so anything goes)

Davy

[mylo]

......find me ANYTHING that isn't

......find me ANYTHING that isn't made in China, or at least, the parts for it.

We'd all be smart to brush up on our Mandarin......

Many thanks for the comments/opinions.

Mylo

[clive]

Shame on you Americans http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_smile.gif

Shame on you Americans
You should be buying US made lathes like Taig's and Sherline's not Chinese made imports!!

(Actually I have a Taig but then I'm British so anything goes)

Davy

I have just bought a lathe from Machine Mart it was only when it was delivered that I discovered it was made in China

Clive

[mylo]

Clive.......I'm SO disappointed in you.

Clive.......I'm SO disappointed in you.

How could you !! ....in the name of all that is English...all that is proper !

First the Monarchy, ....now THIS !!

[aeroengineer1]

Taig is US made. I

Taig is US made. I pick my stuff up from their production shop just south of my house. The guy has the shop out in back of his house. His house is on a few acres of land south of Chandler Municipal Airport (Phoenix Metro area) on the west side. It is a quaint little setup with his wife answering the phones and doing the shipping.

Adam

[mylo]

Adam,

Many times, it companies

Adam,

Many times, it companies just like that which provide the best product / customer service.

Thanks for that.

Mylo

[bos10]

Mylo, I had the same

Mylo, I had the same concern over parts. MicroMark doesn't stock them, but Little Machine shop does. The point is that there are multiple companies in the US distributing the same base product, so even if one distributer drops it there shouldn't be an issue. LMS doesn't sell the complete machines, but they appear to have 100% of the parts and excellent support. You only need speak English

[mylo]

Another question I have is:



Another question I have is:

Which piece of equipment does a guy need to cut his own gears ? I thought I read once it was on a lathe, but I just can't see how that's possible.

Mylo

[boss subfixer]

Mylo you would need a

Mylo you would need a milling machine with a rotary cutter and a rotary table. Just do a search at some of the links you've been provided. Gears are pretty cheap to buy and not all that easy to make. They are one of the toughest things for a machinist to learn to make. Here is one place to look. You can also look up boston gear and see what they have.

http://www.sdp-si.com/index.asp

[Guest]

You need a dividing head

You need a dividing head as opposed to a rotary table.

Andy

[raalst]

for gear cutting maybe this

for gear cutting maybe this forum has some information on the details

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mwmills2/