Topic: Who knows about lathes?

[aussie]

All off you blokes seem to fairly handy and machine up your own bits and pieces,I am looking at getting a small lathe just to do some basic stuff( and i mean very basic ).I dont have a clue about lathes but im sure i can learn.Would one of these do the basics like alloy washers,and alloy spacers etc.

Seem cheap enough at $600 bucks.

[Grumpol]

G`day mate
Dont know much about lathes but theres an ebay seller thats based in adelaide that sells a lot of machinery including benchtop lathes, no affiliation other than being a happy customer, do a seller search for ozmestore1.

[aussie]

G`day mate
Dont know much about lathes but theres an ebay seller thats based in adelaide that sells a lot of machinery including benchtop lathes, no affiliation other than being a happy customer, do a seller search for ozmestore1.

Yeh thats the bloke that has theses ones, he even has some smaller units for $265 and another one for $159. So you have brought some gear of him and where happy?.

I stumbled across them on Ebay as i am trying to find a mill piece for my drill press.

[Grumpol]

Yeah i bought a bead roller off them, there was one roller missing so i emailed them and one of the blokes called by my place on his way home with replacements the next day.
Dont know about using your drill press as a mill, they arent usually strong enough, needs to be pretty stable and powerful for a mill but a drill dont  need to be as strong. All the same i have seen it done for alloy work.

[rhos1355]

Got a mate that runs an engineering shop. He says that you can get many good quality lathes for pretty bargain prices, but caveat emptor; if you have no idea about lathes bring a mate along to check on wear and tear and tolerance limits etc.
Also, the amount you spend on a lathe will soon be dwarfed by the amount you'll spend on tooling etc.
Furthermore, If you're busy restoring a bike just now I suggest you finish the bike first because you're NEVER gonna go back to it until you had you fill of playing with the lathe.

[many408]

I stumbled across them on Ebay as i am trying to find a mill piece for my drill press.

Don't mill on a drill press.

a) the bearings are not designed for side-loads, nor is the drill column anywhere near as accurate; and

b) normal drill-press chucks are held on a taper.  Tapers WILL loosen under side-loads. You don't want the chuckwith the sharp cutter and possibly the workpiece suddenly going side-ways across the room or through your jaw.

A very few drill-presses will have a chuck that is held by a draw-bar, and some of them may have bearings substantial enough to do very light cuts on non-precision work.  If you have such a drill press you are also likely to

a) have a proper mill as well, or know someone who does; and

b) know all of the above anyway.

[Soos]

All off you blokes seem to fairly handy and machine up your own bits and pieces,I am looking at getting a small lathe just to do some basic stuff( and i mean very basic ).I dont have a clue about lathes but im sure i can learn.Would one of these do the basics like alloy washers,and alloy spacers etc.

Seem cheap enough at $600 bucks.

is it new, and can you "test" it out before buying it?
At least to see if it powers up and rotates the chuck, and can engage(and more importantly dis-engage) the feeds, of geared headstock, try out all speeds.
One or more gears may have a "thunk" to them when running showing damage from sudden stopping of the chuck under power("crashing" of the machine)

Read safety use of things around lathes...!!!!!!!!!
ANYTHING that can, will eventually wrap around something in the lathe and pull you/it in.
No rings, necklaces, tie back long hair, short sleeves, NO GLOVES while part is spinning!!


Have fun! It can be very addictive being able to make your own parts.
I think I almost make new projects just to be able to make a custom widget or two at times.




l8r

[Soos]

I stumbled across them on Ebay as i am trying to find a mill piece for my drill press.

Don't mill on a drill press.

a) the bearings are not designed for side-loads, nor is the drill column anywhere near as accurate; and

b) normal drill-press chucks are held on a taper.  Tapers WILL loosen under side-loads. You don't want the chuckwith the sharp cutter and possibly the workpiece suddenly going side-ways across the room or through your jaw.

A very few drill-presses will have a chuck that is held by a draw-bar, and some of them may have bearings substantial enough to do very light cuts on non-precision work.  If you have such a drill press you are also likely to

a) have a proper mill as well, or know someone who does; and

b) know all of the above anyway.

+1

l8r

[latheboy]

I stumbled across them on Ebay as i am trying to find a mill piece for my drill press.

Don't mill on a drill press.

a) the bearings are not designed for side-loads, nor is the drill column anywhere near as accurate; and

b) normal drill-press chucks are held on a taper.  Tapers WILL loosen under side-loads. You don't want the chuckwith the sharp cutter and possibly the workpiece suddenly going side-ways across the room or through your jaw.

A very few drill-presses will have a chuck that is held by a draw-bar, and some of them may have bearings substantial enough to do very light cuts on non-precision work.  If you have such a drill press you are also likely to

a) have a proper mill as well, or know someone who does; and

b) know all of the above anyway.

+1

l8r

X 2

The little lathe seems ok for the type of thing you want to do....
I have seen a drill press used as a mill and it got very messy very quickly... Very uncool