Machinist opinions
 

Im looking to purchase a small lathe for home use. I'd only be doing small hobby related work and maybe a small project here and there. I do have access to full cnc's and mills lathes presses etc at my dads shop but I dont have experience with working the cncs/programs myself, Ie watched and it info but have not operated them yet.

So I basically want to pick up a mini lathe and eventually build my knowledge up to eventually work a full auto lathe in the future and buy or build a small one for home. I was looking at micro marks mini lathe as a starter and wanted to know your thoughts on it. Or if i should just avoid it and look at a different make/model. Is it decent or has anybody heard bad reviews etc etc?
Thanks for any and all input


http://www.micromark.com/microlux-7x...athe,9615.html

--Dan

Re: Machinist opinions
 

Does your dad have any manual lathes that he doesn't use much ? My personel preference would be to start there unless milage is an issue or space at your place is limited .

Re: Machinist opinions
 

Since you're in Cleveland, Go up to HGR in Euclid on Euclid Ave. you can find a used lathe possibly a small Hardinge or a nice lathe that needs some tlc for about the same money and have a machine you could actually do something with. There another place over by the airport, McKean Machinery.
http://www.mckeanmachinery.com/

http://www.hgrinc.com/

Be patient, a lathe you may find perfect for your needs comes in there from time to time just be fast to call because some deals don't last long at all and if it sits for a month or so, they reduce the price till it sells.
I have seen small tabletop CNC lathes and mills come in and if I knew more about them I would have snatched them up for the $400 or so asking price.
I've spent tens of thousands at both over the years.

Re: Machinist opinions
 

I watch HGR regularly and stop in a few times weekly because I work about 3 minutes away from there. I have not seen any tabletops go through yet but will def. continue to check them, I'll have to look into the other you listed.



We have a total of 6 haas machines, 3 lathes and 3 CNC, 2 Bridgeport manual mills, and 2 lathes, also a few drill presses,band saw,etc etc etc and some,baking ovens. The cncs are run pretty much all day every day, the manuals are only used for a few different products and those are run maybe 4-5 days a month.

My biggest issue is time, I have access anytime to shop but it would be much easier to have one at home to practice and use rather than having to go to shop at night. I do go up on my days off of work and have spent some time with his cnc operator and programmers Watching the big machines work, but they really don't use the manuals often enough for me to pickup any real time with them. I've used them before but don't have a lot of time with tool sets and changing etc etc


--Dan

Re: Machinist opinions
 

Read up at mini-lathe.com

Re: Machinist opinions
 

I saw a couple last summer. The mills used one of those Servo Products sensitive drills for the head with the control like the old Hardinge CNC control. I can't remember what the lathes were. I think it was used to train students in a vo-tech to show the principal operation of CNC.
I almost bought them up but I was slow last summer to be draging in more crap and like I said,I wasn't sure how they operated and was all the electronics in there.

Re: Machinist opinions
 

I agree, I would look around for something just a tad bigger than the mini lathes. My dad got one several years ago and I hate it, to me it is just not what a small lathe should be and doesn't cut very well as there is slop and bending everywhere.

Not saying look for a 6' C-C lathe but something a bit heavier and more robust will be much more enjoyable to work on. On the other hand there are people using the mini lathes to make some really cool stuff, just takes time and maye a little extra care and attention.

Re: Machinist opinions
 

My biggest worry was tolerances and usage wear. I don't want to invest that much into a machine that willed up needing that much more for upkeep and repairs. Especially seeing as I have access to nice high end equipment. I just want to have something at home I can use and learn on and if I break heads or tools I'm SOL not the company.

--Dan

Re: Machinist opinions
 

I love my grizzly 7x14 lathe, once you do a few tweaks it's a well worth the money, I have an adjustable backing plate for my chuck and can get .0005 or less in accuracy,not bad for a $500 lathe!!!!!!!
I also have a LMS mini mill, like it very much
Read up on mini-lathe.com Frank has a world of good info there.

Re: Machinist opinions
 

I will check the site and do some more research before I make a purchase. I do appreciate all the info you guys have given me on this.

On another thought if I went a bit bigger than the tabletop what would you recommend. I have a decent amount of room available in my hobby room, but I also have an old root cellar that I was thinking of converting to my machine shop anyway, if that's the case then I'll have quite a hit more room. In there it's roughly 8x12 or 14 and I can build whatever I need as far as benches shelves framework etc etc etc. so this way may be a better option anyway. Only downside is I would have to do a but of prep work to area, like add some insulation and probably false walls just to keep the temp a bit more stable in there. But again not a huge deal if I have too

--Dan

Re: Machinist opinions
 

If your doing small work the 7x's "as they are commonly referred to" are dependent on what your gonna work on, small parts the 7x's are hard to beat,it's hard to do small work on a large lathe?
I would not give up my grizzly , but will be getting a large lathe for other work

Re: Machinist opinions
 

Is there a particular reason you are thinking of going with a lathe over a mill? I know a lathe can also do milling operations, but I went with a benchtop mill because I really didn't see myself turning a lot of round stock. The idea of a lathe with a vertical x-y table just seemed sort of awkward to me.

Re: Machinist opinions
 

one of the 7x10,12,14 lathes are great for this hobby
and one of there mini mills to go with it
just watch for what tooling it takes if you go with r8, if and when you go bigger you can use most of your old tooling on the lathe and mill
i have a cummings mini-mill that i bought new for $250 off the truck because it was scratched and my lathe is a harbor freight 7x10 that was got on sale for $325 but it is not r8 so i have to have two sets of some tooling
and yes both needed cleaned and adjusted but all new ones and even old ones need that

Re: Machinist opinions
 

@espee. I'll mainly be doing mill work on it and by type and size of material and what I'd be doing i did not think it would put too much stress on the machine, so I figured for the difference in pricing I'd get the lathe so if I need it for other projects I have it available.

@grady. I have looked at the tooling sets and needs and since I have access to full size machines/tooling already I am not too worried about upsizing mine in the future. The only downside as stated above its a lot easier to do smaller work on a smaller machine than the fullsize haas machines I can use.

With all this I'm still in research phase epically after hitting up mini-lathe.com, man there is a lot of good info their that I had not even thought about.

--Dan

Re: Machinist opinions
 

I done some milling on my 7x and it's not even close to my LMS mill.
One you work envelope is very limited not to mention your gibs have to be set super tight otherwise your saddle/carriage rocks.
Get a solid column LMS mill you wont be sorry