Thinking about a metal working lathe

[Randy Redding]

I often wish I had a metal lathe for small wood working jig making purposes. I've seen posts here about creeker's experiences with Harbor Freight tools. Anyone have recent good/bad experience with their little lathes / milling machines?

Also, how does a person chuck thread rod in a lathe without messing up the threads? I have some precision threaded rod that I want to make use of but I need to turn cylinders at the ends to fit into bearings.

I could hire a machinist but I think I want the fun and learning experience.

[Matt Meiser]

Randy, do a google search on the small harbor freight lathes. There is a big following for them out there.

[Bruce Page]

Randy, you would be better off with an older Atlas or Craftsman lathe. They come up in the paper every now & then ranging from a few hundred to 1K depending on condition and tooling. They are always on eBay also.
For machining threads, I usually use a collet or just chuck the rod very lightly. You don’t need to “wench” down on it with the chuck jaws. Another option is to wrap the threads with several layers of plain old paper, but again, don’t over tighten the chuck.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

You'd be way far better off getting a good used lathe.

If you are never going to demand much of the lathe get a clausing colchester. If you have higher expectations look for Monarch, LeBond Harginge, Okuma a South Bend is typically somewhere between a Clausing and a low end Monarch or LeBlond.

My dream lathe is a Monarch toolmakers lathe.

[Mark Hubler]

Also, how does a person chuck thread rod in a lathe without messing up the threads? I have some precision threaded rod that I want to make use of but I need to turn cylinders at the ends to fit into bearings.



Depending on the diameter of the bar and the thread pitch, I have wrapped copper wire in the threads and used a standard 3 jaw chuck.

[Wes Bischel]

Randy,
The Chinese 7x10 and 7x12 lathes have a big following. I have links to a number of forums that cover these - also to Little Machine Shop - they have parts, accessories, and info on these lathes. Send a private message if you are interested in the links. (forum rules don't allow links to other forums:rolleyes: )

Wes

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/

Oh, and this is a great primer for the mini lathes:
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/Info/MiniLatheUsersGuide.pdf

[Noah Katz]

keep an eye out on craigslist too

[David G Baker]

I have a heavy 10 " Southbend metal lathe made in the early 50's.
When I want to cut on a threaded rod I use two nuts threaded on to the rod and tightened against each other then chuck them up in a 5C hex collet that matches the hex nut or chuck them into my 3 or 4 jaw chuck and center them prior to cutting on them. The threads are in great shape when done.
Wrapping the threaded rod in paper works well too.
You are letting your self in for a lot of learning curve and expense unless you are really serious about metal machining and have the time and energy to learn the tricks, hiring the work done for you may be a much less expensive route.
If you are serious, metal machining is a wonderful experience, like wood working, it can be very habit forming and rewarding.

[Randy Redding]

I'm not sure how much machining I will actually do but it has been something that has had my interest for a long time. I did have shop class in high school but our school didn't have a teacher that knew how to use any of the metal working equipment. A prelude to no shop class at all I guess. My uncle was a machinist and he showed me a few things and I got some practice years ago.
Thanks for all of the advice. I'm off to do some more research on lathes.

[Don Bullock]

My dad has a South Bend. In his opinion they were the best for the kind of work he did and he certainly knew how to use it for all kinds of things. I must admit it was all beyond my understanding at the time. Now I wish I'd learned more from him. It's funny --- your post brings back some good memories of him working in his shop.:D

[mike holden]

Randy,
I have a Smithy which is a lathe, drill press, and milling machine combo.
Small capacity, but sufficient for my needs. Used ones run from $400, new is $2500.
To answer your question about chucking threaded rod - chuck up a larger rod, drill and tap for the thread, thread the rod in and use a jam nut on the threaded rod and then machine away.
Remember that the lathe is only part of the requirements, tooling will cost you as much and eventually much more than the lathe (same as wood lathes - grin)
Mike