OT: Metal Lathes?

[Jason Beam]

I have come into a fair bit of Amazon gift money that is kinda burning a hole in my pocket. The best part is that the wife is pretty much okay with me spending the majority of it. Pinch me, eh?! :D

So I've been surfing away today trying to decide what to splurge on ...
I'm having a tough time coming up with woodworking desires. I already have most of the big tools that interest me. I've even already got a vacuum press coming - that's how obscure the wish list has gotten. So ... i start leaning a little toward the metalworking side of things ...


I've kinda been kickin around this metal lathe idea for about a year now. And there's enough in the fund to cover one of the many 7x lathes available on amazon. So far, I think I've gotten it narrowed between two models:


Grizzly:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DCZ7D/


Cummins/ToolsNow:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FJEW5K/ - which i'm pretty sure is all this: http://www.toolsnow.com/browse.cfm/4,876.html


There's a little difference in price, but I'm also a proven satisfied Grizzly customer already. The ToolsNow lathe has a couple other accessories like the follower rest and some cutters and is a little cheaper, though. I'm sure i'd be happy with either, and I wonder if I could convince toolsnow to put the amazon one on sale like they have on their site. That'd probably clinch it for me. I'll send 'em an email...

So ... now I just have to make up my mind. Heck, I could chicken out completely and just buy a bunch of little things, too. But it feels like it might be the right time ... then again, i'm still getting the woodworking shop set up (lots of organizing takes lots of time). I don't really need another obsession right now ... oy!


it's a good problem to have ...


What do you guys think of those two lathe choices? Maybe you can suggest alternatives? I've got little need for anything bigger and the budget is near the top-end anyway. Eventually, I plan to get a CNC router someday, which I'll use for the few milling tasks i'd have (aluminum, plastics, soft stuff, etc) but that's a long long way off. Any other mini lathes on amazon ya'll like?



... OR ... a welder?
I've been considering a MIG welder, also - but i'm less interested in welding, still. So it's probably lower on the list but it's also something I've been kicking around for about a year, too. I'm more interested in the lathe, though.

[Joe Chritz]

You can usually find used lathes all over now that a lot of shops are going CNC. Tooling for a metal lathe gets expensive in very short order but when you need one there really isn't anything to replace it.

Save the $ and put it toward the CNC router. They are wiked cool and the stuff you can do with them is nearly endless, especially if you get a 4th axis.

Joe

[Jason Beam]

Thanks, Joe. I've been watching craigslist for about the last year and agree that some deals can be had.

The biggest thing is that most of the funds are in Amazon gift certificates. I haven't seen all that many CNC items on Amazon, though. Just a couple and they're WAY more $$ than i'm after at the moment.

[Steve Southwood]

Jason, I have that very lathe. It is in the Enco brand. All the small 7x lathes are made by the same company, from what I found out when buying. Mine finally went belly up about 6 months ago. Should be simple to fix, just haven't had the time. If it is not repairable, I would get another. Very handy to have.

If you look around the web, there are many groups dedicated to the use of the "mini lathe".

[David G Baker]

I don't know what your future plans are as far as metal working. The small lathes you posted will do lite work. If you are serious about doing some serious cutting, as has been written there are some super deals in used metal working equipment. Grizzly sells new heavy duty lathes but for the bucks you will get a much better deal used. You must shop and get educated to make sure that the money that is burning that big hole in your pocket doesn't go into the wood chip bin. There is also a serious learning curve in doing accurate metal work and the cutting tools can be expensive. If you do buy a used lathe try to get one that is well tooled.
I have a 10 inch heavy duty South Bend and wish I had a 17 inch because I need to do large parts once in a while.

[Jason Beam]

Thanks for the insights, guys. :)

I should have spelled out my current desires as far as metal working. I'm interested in wood far more than I am in metal, but I'm fascinated by metalworking. When I see the jigs and hardware that some of the members here post, I'm all eyes. I'd love to be able to put together small hardware - threaded items, maybe a few bushings, etc. I'd also like to play a bit with knurling and stuff, too. So mostly small things in brass, bronze, aluminum and maybe some steel.

I have little interest in anything bigger than maybe 2" in diameter. It's more of a tinkerer's delight than embarking on a whole new hobby. One day I'd like to be able to make the hardware for some jigs and maybe a few tools for around the shop. Mostly in support of my woodworking, really.

I've been reading about mini lathes and turning metal for about a year now. I've read all of mini-lathe.com's free content and I've spent a little time on the message boards learning what I can.

This whole question came about because I have Amazon money to spend and ran out of woodworking tools I need (don't tell that to my wife, i'm sure i'll come up with something one day). Being able to turn some brass hardware once in awhile would be really neat to me. Plus, i like to tinker with this kind of stuff, too. It's fascinating to me and something I'd love to learn how to do. Years from now, I may want to make a steam engine just for the fun of it, but for the time being a few knurled knobs and some bushings would be neat to me. That's where I'm coming from :)

I can't say for sure that one day i won't want something bigger, but I can say that is beyond my current horizon. I'm just looking to tinker with it for now :)

[David G Baker]

Gift cards are great but they force you to shop in areas where you may not be ready to. I received a $100 Menard's gift card for Christmas. I spent over an hour in Menard's the other day and couldn't find any thing I wanted to use the gift card on. I think I may need a 12 step program or go into deep therapy. :D

[Thomas Bank]

A bit more expensive, but for one of that size I'd look at the Sherline: http://www.amazon.com/3-5-lathe-chuck-package-inch/dp/B0002BK38Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1230149984&sr=1-1

My father is into the small metalworking stuff and loves his Sherline. My metal lathe is an old benchtop Atlas.

[Paul Atkins]

I had wanted a metal lathe since my college shop class and got into woodturning as a profession, so I turned a bit of brass and aluminum on the wood lathe. A friend gave me an Emco mini lathe that worked , but I wanted something bigger. About 10 years ago I found a Logan 10" lathe that had been used to turn wood rosettes in it's last life. After cleaning etc. the first parts turned were parts for itself. Wished I had it 20 years previous. I turn lots of stuff for my woodturning lathes and parts for other woodworkers. Get the new one and play with it and learn what you need to know to look for a bigger one if you feel the need to 'get bigger'.

[Greg Cole]

Hey Jason,
I have a mill, lathe and a bunch of metal fabrication stuff at the day job. Its an awful lot like woodworking to me, not the craft but the enjoyment found in making something from raw material, tools and time.
I've been doing more and more work with our shop at work as our machinist and fabricator passed away a year ago now.
Once you get an idea of speeds, feeds etc for different materials and get used to being very accurate... you'll like it. The DRO's on the machinery are nice too, I like the accuracy of .0005 mm.;)
The little ones are ok for a starter as advertised, but you'll either use it up or out grow it sooner than later. I'd look for a used one too, a little larger swing doesn't hurt to have (beats the opposite).
Or save your pennies and look at the little combo machines. Being good with a milling machine and a rotary table you can about build anything or make the parts anyway.
And yeah, tooling gets pricey. I buy all our stuff from Travers Tool, they have EVERYTHING you could ever dream of and then some & it's in stock.
Alot of blab for $0.02.:rolleyes:

[Wes Bischel]

Jason,
I have a similar lathe and have been satisfied at the performance so far. It's not the most rigid piece of equipment, but adequate for small parts. If you don't mind doing a bit of reading, this pdf should give you a lot of the answers you might be looking for:
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/Info/MiniLatheUsersGuide.pdf

I have purchased products from these guys and have been very pleased with their quality and service.
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/

Oh, and remember, just like a wood lathe - the cost of the lathe is only half of your cost - the tooling will end up being just as much as the lathe.

Hope this helps,
Wes

[Bruce Page]

A bit more expensive, but for one of that size I'd look at the Sherline: http://www.amazon.com/3-5-lathe-chuck-package-inch/dp/B0002BK38Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1230149984&sr=1-1

My father is into the small metalworking stuff and loves his Sherline. My metal lathe is an old benchtop Atlas.

Thomas, can you cut threads on it?

[Bruce Page]

I had wanted a metal lathe since my college shop class and got into woodturning as a profession, so I turned a bit of brass and aluminum on the wood lathe. A friend gave me an Emco mini lathe that worked , but I wanted something bigger. About 10 years ago I found a Logan 10" lathe that had been used to turn wood rosettes in it's last life. After cleaning etc. the first parts turned were parts for itself. Wished I had it 20 years previous. I turn lots of stuff for my woodturning lathes and parts for other woodworkers. Get the new one and play with it and learn what you need to know to look for a bigger one if you feel the need to 'get bigger'.

Paul, I have a 14X40 Logan, I wouldn't want to be without it.
Jason, as far as the midi lathes, they're a good starter to see if you are really interested but thay are limited in size & hp. Of the two, I'd go with the Grizzly because of the known product support.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Anything less than a Monarch is - - -well - - is just not cricket.

The Griz seems from the picture not to have a robust thread chasing capacity. The other is, well, it's little. And sooner or later you are going to want to spin something larger than your thumb.

So head off to the Flea Bay or some other place where you can peruse machined with names you can trust Logan, Monarch Leblond and yes even South Bend.

When it comes to cuttin Iron, go industrial.

[David G Baker]

I agree with Cliff. You can cut metal or you can scratch it. If you go lite, it takes a long time to scratch the metal off. If you go heavy, you can do some serious metal removal is a short time. This is my opinion from the type of things I want to work on.

[Jason Beam]

I can appreciate the sentiment, fellas. I really can. I have serious woodworking tools because ... well ... i'm serious about woodworking :D

Metal ... i may one day get serious about it, but at this point I'm having trouble even swallowing the $500-700 price tag as it is. From everything I've read, the little guy should be fair enough to at least get a taste for it. Even if it turns out it's not my bag, I'd still have a relatively handy thing for making small stuff when I feel like it.

I really can't imagine wanting to turn anything bigger than maybe 2" in diameter - and it'd likely be aluminum or brass. It'd also be pretty rare, I think. At least that's what I think today and I'm perfectly aware of the risk buying something too small carries with that. I'm friends with a few other guys who have both a small one like these and big ones because they got more serious about it.

The only way I can see wanting something bigger is if it turned into something more important to me than woodworking. I'm not sure that's gonna happen, honestly. I'm thinking more casually about metal working - to support my woodworking and maybe make a few jigs or knurled knobs and that kinda thing. If it really takes hold, buying a mini lathe now is gonna be the least of my worries. I've seen what big lathes and knee mills and surface grinders and such cost. It almost seems like $500-1000 now to see if I like it is a better way to dip your toe in the water.

Plus ... I ain't got room for anything bigger. If it becomes more important to me, i'll MAKE room, but for now woodworking comes first! :D

Thanks again for all the insights, though. I really do appreciate it. :)

[Thomas Bank]

Thomas, can you cut threads on it?

Yes. Although not with just that setup.

http://www.sherline.com/3100pg.htm

[Bruce Page]

Yes. Although not with just that setup.

http://www.sherline.com/3100pg.htm

Thanks, it's a cute little guy. It probably does very well on small parts.

[Brad Bartley]

If you pick up the mini-lathe, here's a great bookmark to have. It has just about anything you ever wanted to know about that model:
http://www.mini-lathe.com/

Also, you'll be amazed as to what that little thing can turn out. I thought it would be neat to be able to make custom hardware to accent your woodworking projects. Things like brass pull knobs, hinges, inlay accent pieces....things like that.

It seems all of the mini-lathes are just about identical. With Grizzly, at least you know who your buying from.

I say go for it!!! Good luck...

[Alan DuBoff]

Do yourself a favor and do not get a mini-lathe. I have a mini-mill, and the quality of them is quite poor in many regards.

I know that TonyZ owns a Grizzly 4000, and he's pretty happy with it for what it is. He said it has a metal gear in it, a big plus up from the mini-lathe, IMO. For toolmaking, any of them will do, even the mini-lathe, but be careful about those...you will get sucked in worse than a slightly more expensive machine if you want to do any amount of work on it...accessories and upgrades just never end on those machines...

That said, I have a couple friends that can do pretty good work on the mini-lathe, and mini-mill as well. If you only need to make small pieces, consider the Sherline or Taig. I like the Taig, as I am more familiar with it, a friend of mine has a CNC Taig mill/lathe setup. They are aluminum, but good stuff.

I struggled with this problem, for quite a while, and started to use a friend's lathe, who was helpful is getting me to learn some about cutting metal.

I ended up with an old South Bend 9A, these are pretty good little lathes, kinda what a lot of machinists feel is an entry level machine. I paid $650 for mine, but it didn't come with any tooling...:( I have a few things I've assembled and can do some basic work.

For the holiday season I treated myself to an Aloris toolpost for it, found one used, so snatched it up...

Bruce, nice looking lathe. Would be nice to have a 14" lathe when needed. I have had a couple things I've wanted to turn that my chuck is not large enough to hold, I have a 5" chuck on my 9" lathe. Of course a slightly bigger chuck and/or reversible jaws would be nice in the interim...