Need help with a mini lathe

[strprswpr]

I'm setting up a new garage for my personal use.....I need a small lathe for spacers, bungs...Etc.... Just small stuff. Anybody know anything about these mini lathes. I see they go for around 500. Seems like it would be great for me. Anybody have any suggestions?

[moejoe03]

I was looking a few months ago, and everyone told me to stay away from them. I kept an eye out on Craigslist and found a killer deal on a 1950's era Colchester 13". Awesome late, $700, and came with lots of tooling. For spacers I think a much smaller lathe would be fine as long as you get roundstock that's close to your finished size, but drilling the centers might be a PIA, especially on longer spacers. Also, since getting mine I found myself making all kinds of other cool shit that I never anticipated. Spikes, neck spacers, adapters, bungs, etc. I'd keep an eye out for an older, bigger lathe.

[Hot Bob]

I absolutely agree with moejoe. Get an older, larger, higher quality machine with tooling. If you buy a cheap, chinese lathe you will cuss that decision every time you use it.

Bob

[strprswpr]

One of the problems is i need it to be compact....I'm limited in space

[Hot Bob]

Here you go bro. This will serve you better. There are plenty of others on Craigslist in your area.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/tls/1697068923.html

Bob

[lakeracer69]

+1 all those little ones, and the 3 in ones are junk. I bought a JET lathe that is a little bigger with a stand for around $1300.00. Still made overseas, but much better than the little ones. I still have my little one I bought years ago, it doesn't see any use.

[turbobike1]

I have a smithy 3 in one, it serves its purpose, and if you had no space for seperate machines, its the way to go. But now I only use that as a lathe, I have a small jet mill/drill {only weighs around $500 obs}.
But to answer your question I recomend the Jet Bd-920w after I find a new home for my smithy, thats what Im going to get...

[pop 28]

i agree with the other stay away.. made from cheap steel . i found a 1951 Logan 6 month ago with tools and a basket full of brass for $400 Canadian and it works great. you will kick yourself in the ass if you buy the off shore crap

[strprswpr]

I appreciate all the feedback but I still nee to go with something small. I will only be cutting spacer and bungs. If I need to I have access to a much bigger machine. I just want something for the garage. It's real tight. There has to be one small machine out there that can handle the small work I'm talking about???

[MechWerks]

A small machine adequate for bike parts will be something to the order of a 9x20 machine. Anything smaller will have serious power issues and will require 20x the time of a proper size machine. You might score an old South Bend 9" machine for $500 +/- a couple hundred. A very capable small space bench lathe. But you want one with a quick change gear box and not the type that has a stack of change gears that need to be changed out for different feeds/threads. Metal removal depends on speeds and feeds...get a machine that can be quickly changed with levers instead of wrenches and backlash settings. There are some JET and Enco machines in the area of $1000 for a 9" swing that are worth having for limited space. For just a few parts...have them made somewhere and save a few hundred $$$. But a lathe will pay for itself if enough work is done and has bragging rights. Also keep in mind that machine work has some skill involved (knowledge and experience). It is a relatively complex machine and has potential to do you and itself serious permanent damage. Decide if you want to spend time learning to run a machine or spend the time to build a bike. There are plenty of skills to develop with a bike build.

[MickieN]

strprswpr,

I agree with everyone else regarding the bigger machines. However, I'm also into building scale models (hot rods, railroad stuff) and for that purpose I picked up a Sherline mini lathe. http://www.sherline.com/lathe.htm

I was able to turn the wheel spacers for my bike build w/o a problem on this lathe. I plan on making some other small stuff for the bike (bolt covers, etc.) Drilling on center can easily be done, but of course your limited on the size of the part you can swing.

I will be picking up a larger lathe which no doubt would make it easier to make bike parts. The Sherline is a quality machine made in the USA.

Lou

[maxxdog21]

Everything that everyone said is very true about the mini lathes and the limitations of them. But, I own one and I just love it. You just have to learn what you can and can't do with it and accept that it will take you longer to make things with it. The thing that that is nice about it is that if it gets in my way I can pick it up and move it out of the way. I have made all my wheel spacers on it and a bunch of other parts . I have worked with aluminum, steel and stainless on it. There are a ton of accessories for it as well. Mine is the HArbor Freight model and I got it for like $400 with a 20% off coupon. With proper adjustment it is fairly tight and it's as accurate as I need it to be. When space allows, I will buy a bigger lathe but I will still keep the mini..... while I could make a radio control truck axle on a bigger lathe, it's just easier to use something suited to the size of the project. My advice would be to buy one, use it for your smaller projects and then upgrade. And also you won't have to hear you wife/gf yell at you why you have a big machine to make that one part(believe me it will happen)
BTW...I also have the mini mill that HF sells and like it just as much.
Check out this link as well:
www.littlemachineshop.com

[MechWerks]

I have a 9x24 SB lathe and a 13x40 import in the shop. I use both. I have run a couple dozen different lathes from 3" to 48" swing. I also run larger lathes like Clausing in another shop. The larger Clausing is hands down a better and more productive machine than my shop machines. The small SB is great for small projects but quickly shows it's limits in power. You can do anything with it, but at the expense of time. There is also a point where accuracy starts falling off since small machines lack rigidity. Again slowing things down can help with the accuracy. Drilling will be frustrating with a 1/2" drill needing to use back gears (granny gear) to get through mild steel. But, have forced it to run 3/4" to 1" bits by stepping enough bits to make each bit pulling less metal. The 13" import machine has a 1-1/2 HP motor and stops for nothing (relatively). You can tear out metal past the capacity of lower cost cutting tools. But, the machine had a lot of problems (frustrated a professional mold maker into selling it). I had to fix a dozen things wrong with the machine that would have most people give up on it or destroy the machine before realizing it needed repair.

Guys will say they are happy with hobby lathes and largely because it justifies their purchase decision. It is like the difference in using a tack hammer in place of a framing hammer to build a house. You might be able to drive a nail with the tack hammer but the frustration is huge. A lathe is capable of turning, threading, drilling, milling, broaching, etc.. Size and feature will quickly limit those multitude of function. You can justify these limitations initially but also limit your ability to be creative or learn new skills.

[maxxdog21]

I hear what you are saying loud and clear. And don't get me wrong, I have a great respect for what alot of the members have to say on this board(pointing finger right at mechworks!(I always read EVERYTHING he writes)). He hit the nail right on the head - you could build a house with a drywall hammer but why would you? When I bought my mini, I lived in an apartment and had no choice with my purchase. But it did start me on the track to a great hobby and interest and provoked me into learning more. Tools are a funny thing - there is no substitute for having the right one for the job but not everyone has the money and or the space for all of them, so we must compromise to pursue our happiness.

[MechWerks]

And don't get me wrong. I do understand the limitations of buget and shop space!!

The thing about industrial processes that require industrial machines (machine work and welding, painting, etc.) is that efficient machines are expensive. Cheap tools can not only be frustrating but could steal your interest all together. Nothing is worse than giving up on a dream because difficulty ended in apathy. A decent machine tool might stress the buget, but your learning and productivity will be GREATLY enhanced...and if you loose interest, you generally don't loose much since there is always someone else looking for used machines.

If you bother to learn the basics of a machinist and learn the basic feed/speed math it will allow you to understand how much horsepower is required to do certain metal removal projects. It will also explain how a "hobby" size machine is limited to hobby size work. Although building bikes may be a hobby... bikes are not in the model train and plane category.

The main thing I wanted to stress here is that a lathe does much more than square off the end of axle spacers. Most people are amazed when they see all the functions a lathe can perform with a little ingenuity. I still pull off jobs in a lathe faster than the next guy can start up and program a CNC mill to do similar work. And believe it or not, turned work is still rounder than milled work.