Mini lathe

[MeanGene1]

My first one was a 12x36 Craftsman (Atlas) that was pretty tight, was light enough to move around on its stand and got me started. Then I found a Monkey Wards 9x24, which I figured was an Atlas or similar, but it turned out that the MW lathes were relabled Logans, and pretty good machines. A friend offered me a cherry Harley Baja 100 plus $1500 for the Atlas, boy howdy! There was a discounter that bought up shops ans sold them off that had 3 16x60 South Bends that came out of the shop at Berkeley Pump when the outsourced everything, two were well used, but one was nice, threw in 3 and 4 jaw chucks and a face plate with holders, collet holder, steadyrest, two drill chucks with a handful of MT adapters etc., so now I have a good solid machine. Just a note, search on ebay for "How To Run A Lathe" and you will find DVDs of the original 40's factory training films from South Bend that are very good, and some have WWII Victory promotional films inserted

 

[farmersamm]

Lot of great comments here.

One note..................bmaverick is slightly wrong. Grizzly machine tools are entirely made in China. There are no, IIRC, USA made manual lathes available today..with the exception of used ones.

None of the Chinese lathes are ready to run out of the box. I've read a ton of stories about work that needed to be done on them. Foremost is cleaning the sump in the headstock.

Mine was no different than a host of others. On top of which........the spindle bearings had been installed/adjusted improperly..........and had to be replaced. The vendor covered the cost of the parts. P5 bearings aren't cheap. After the work I put in, it's been a very good lathe. I'd expect no different from any of the different brands........they're all basically the same machine with different nameplates. Always keep this in mind. "Brand names" mean nothing.

The one thing that bothers me, is the cost of entry. When I bought mine, it was around $3500..................the same thing is $7000 these days. The quality has NOT improved. I honestly don't know how younger guys get into the metalworking thing.......It's Un Godly expensive nowdays.

My little 13x40 has paid for itself many of times over. It would take a lot more work to justify the same lathe at today's prices.....but it is what it is I guess.

I've worked on other lathes that will get you within about 2-3thou over a foot........which ain't so hot. It's doable, but a PITA. This is what you can face when buying used, plus a host of other issues. Grinding, and scraping ways can be miserable, and costly. Same with restoring the ways on a carriage. You can exceed the cost of a new lathe.

I just dunno...........I got into it when prices were affordable. Including tooling. Tooling is going through the roof. Then you have to buy your steel.....guaranteed sticker shock. Some of the stock I buy is sold by the INCH.

I think you're embarking on a very satisfying journey, but it's gonna be expensive. At least at my income level, it's expensive.

 

[wp6529]

My Sharp 1340 is made in Taiwan and quite good. If you hunt around you can find good newer used Taiwan machines that are far better than the current China made stuff and also much less likely to be worn out than the old American machines. Those old American machines are often worth extensive restoration since they were really well built, but that isn't a beginners project.

 

[Butch(OH)]

My Sharp 1340 is made in Taiwan and quite good. If you hunt around you can find good newer used Taiwan machines that are far better than the current China made stuff and also much less likely to be worn out than the old American machines. Those old American machines are often worth extensive restoration since they were really well built, but that isn't a beginners project.

Agreed and if threading is in the plan the imports will do both metric and inch pattern, very few old machines in this country will thread metric.

 

[Butch(OH)]

Lot of great comments here.

One note..................bmaverick is slightly wrong. Grizzly machine tools are entirely made in China. There are no, IIRC, USA made manual lathes available today..with the exception of used ones.

None of the Chinese lathes are ready to run out of the box. I've read a ton of stories about work that needed to be done on them. Foremost is cleaning the sump in the headstock.

View attachment 100374
View attachment 100375
View attachment 100376
Mine was no different than a host of others. On top of which........the spindle bearings had been installed/adjusted improperly..........and had to be replaced. The vendor covered the cost of the parts. P5 bearings aren't cheap. After the work I put in, it's been a very good lathe. I'd expect no different from any of the different brands........they're all basically the same machine with different nameplates. Always keep this in mind. "Brand names" mean nothing.

The one thing that bothers me, is the cost of entry. When I bought mine, it was around $3500..................the same thing is $7000 these days. The quality has NOT improved. I honestly don't know how younger guys get into the metalworking thing.......It's Un Godly expensive nowdays.

My little 13x40 has paid for itself many of times over. It would take a lot more work to justify the same lathe at today's prices.....but it is what it is I guess.

I've worked on other lathes that will get you within about 2-3thou over a foot........which ain't so hot. It's doable, but a PITA. This is what you can face when buying used, plus a host of other issues. Grinding, and scraping ways can be miserable, and costly. Same with restoring the ways on a carriage. You can exceed the cost of a new lathe.

I just dunno...........I got into it when prices were affordable. Including tooling. Tooling is going through the roof. Then you have to buy your steel.....guaranteed sticker shock. Some of the stock I buy is sold by the INCH.

I think you're embarking on a very satisfying journey, but it's gonna be expensive. At least at my income level, it's expensive.

13x40 is an excellent sized lathe for the home workshop. Most home shop guys won't have any specs or tolorances to worry over. It's mostly a will it fit without too much slop world, LOL

 

[Dusty MI]

Several years ago I bought an old 14-40 lathe that had been run by an over head line shaft, then someone added a car three speed transmission and added an electric motor.
Have not used it for sometime, but it has been a nice machine.

 

[MeanGene1]

Several years ago I bought an old 14-40 lathe that had been run by an over head line shaft, then someone added a car three speed transmission and added an electric motor.
Have not used it for sometime, but it has been a nice machine.

A local guy who was Mare Island trained found a huge LeBlonde lathe that had a burned up 3ph motor- but he had a VW engine and a small 3spd trans. Worked out pretty well

 

[Ultradog MN]

I've been messing with tractors less and gotten into machining more over the last 3 years.
I like forums so have been hanging out on a couple of machine shop forums.
There, you will see hundreds of posts just like yours where a guy wants to learn to do a bit of machining and doesn't want to break the bank doing it. He also wants to machine and Not fix a machine.
So my first suggestion is to join the forum below and start reading and asking questions.

Forum list

"The Friendly Machinist Forum!"

www.hobby-machinist.com

You will get lots of info there from folks like you and guys who have BTDT.
My own preference is to stick with older iron.
You will spend more up front for a decent machine but you'll also likely get some tooling with it. And a good old lathe will generally fetch more of your money back if or when you decide to upgrade.
As to having to fix a machine, don't expect a new mini lathe to be mint right out of the box. I have seen So many posts about those China lathes having fatal problems that I don't even bother reading them any more. So suffice it to say I would NEVER buy one myself.
But to be fair, some folks do some clever machining on them.
Personally I would look for an older Craftsman Atlas, or South Bend.
New and used parts are available for them - as is finding optional equipment for them. And you don't need to dedicate a tractor sized space in your shop for one.
And don't short yourself when it comes to size. Of course you will never find a lathe that will do everything you might want it to do but a larger lathe will make small parts better than a mini lathe will make big parts.

Big tool, small part

Kenny stopped by yesterday needing a bit of help with his tractor. He lost the clamp for the engine kill cable on the injector pump. I have one just like it on my own tractor that I could copy. So I suggested he run out and get us some coffee and doughnuts and I would get started on it. It...

forums.yesterdaystractors.com

For a guy just starting out I would suggest one about 9"x 30"
Mostly though, start reading at the machine shop link above. You'll be much better informed as you pursue this idea.

 

[Larry986]

One thing I wish with posts like this is that people would give their general location so that people with surplus equipment and/or time,and the knowledge and experience could offer them some help. If they were reasonably close.

 

[Mark-Ia]

There are 9 metal lathes on a Aumann Auction in Iowa Falls Iowa ending this afternoon.

 

[Ultradog MN]

One thing I wish with posts like this is that people would give their general location

Says the guy that doesn’t have his location in his account details.

 

[Dusty MI]

One thing I wish with posts like this is that people would give their general location so that people with surplus equipment and/or time,and the knowledge and experience could offer them some help. If they were reasonably close.

I agree with you, it would be nice to know the general area a guy is in.

 

[zuhnc]

Location of members has been an ongoing issue on this forum. I guess most of the participants want to be anonymous as to where they live! I, and others, put in a location in so other members can get a general idea of where I live, and can visit if they want to.

On another forum, I frequently look to see where a poster lives, in case they are near enough I can visit to help with a problem they might be having with their equipment. Everyone on that forum has location information (or close enough).

Members post images of their farms and landscape. Most are quite impressive, but without location information, they could be in the Yukon or Tennessee; one has no way of knowing.

Nothing more than "Central Tennessee" or "Middle of Arizona" would be close enough.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I agree with you, it would be nice to know the general area a guy is in.

Dusty,
I tried to drop a hint in my post above.
Click on my screen name and you will see I'm from the Twin Cities.
I don't remember just where I put that info when we went to the new forum but you can add it somewhere.
I agree it is nice to have a general idea of where folks are.

 

[Jim.ME]

Dusty,
I tried to drop a hint in my post above.
Click on my screen name and you will see I'm from the Twin Cities.
I don't remember just where I put that info when we went to the new forum but you can add it somewhere.
I agree it is nice to have a general idea of where folks are.

To add a location to the avatar seen beside your posts:

Click on your avatar/ username at the top of the page and your account should open.

Find Account Details and click on it.

When that dropdown opens look down the list. about the 8th item down is Location. Fill the box in with your general location (If someone needs your actual address it is likely best to give it to them via the Conversation feature).

Click Save.

 

[Farmall m farmer]

there you go I put my location in but I’m not interested in buying a lathe right now I’m still saving up I’ve just been doing research to know what would be a good one to buy

 

[Larry986]

Says the guy that doesn’t have his location in his account details.

But I'm not asking for help, although I was offering help. Actually, I had thought I put my location in my profile so thanks for the notice.