Mini Lathes

On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:06:35 -0400, "Kyle Boatright"
wrote:

In the spirit of the Harbor Freight thread, I was at the local Tractor
Supply Co today and came across their version of the 7 x 12" mini-lathe.
Apparently, they are discontinuing the item as it was on sale for $388.
Plenty of places carry similiar lathes, the backstory being that all of them
are supposedly made at the same factory in China. The best deal I've found
other than the one at TSC is at toolsnow.com and is $399 plus about $60 in
shipping... Harbor Freight lists theirs at $499.

Thoughts? What creative uses can a homebuilder and handyman find for a
little lathe like this?


I'm highly amused by that last question. there is a hundred years of
really talented model engineering and model engineering magazines out
there. havent you heard of any of that? :-) :-)

guys have built on lathes around that size entire miniature aircraft
engines like the Rolls Royce Merlin, Gypsy Minor, Bentley Rotary.
all fully functional and running.

have a look at www.modelenginebuilder.com

guys have also done proper aircraft conversions of veedub engines on
lathes around that size.

My own lathe is a 4 1/2" x 36" Hercus which is a dead copy of the
Southbend.
on it I have machined up a bunch of fittings for a KR2.
made replacement parts for a cherokee's controls.
made replacement bushes for a cherokee.
made the tailwheel swivel and tailspring for my tailwind.
skimmed aircraft brake rotors.
made replacement nylon bushes.
made replacement bead blasting nozzles.
made a fitted presser washer that sealed up my gascolator bowl
properly.
made the machined parts of my carby heat box.
made bushes to locate my wheel bearings without slop.
made a replacement frangible drive for my dry vacuum pump.
made a replacement control arm for my carby heat.
....and lots of other things.

when my mates plastic cessna knobs all shattered he was stuffed
because they couldnt be sourced anywhere. his cessna now sports a set
of matching aluminium knobs that will never deteriorate in the sun.

on our club tractors no one could get gear changes right. I turned up
some very comfortable gear knobs that have the gear pattern engraved
on the top. they are in aluminium and have seen about 7 years
continuous use without problem.

....your question was funny :-)
how have you ever lived without one?
Stealth Pilot

Stealth Pilot wrote:
On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:06:35 -0400, "Kyle Boatright"
wrote:

In the spirit of the Harbor Freight thread, I was at the local Tractor
Supply Co today and came across their version of the 7 x 12" mini-lathe.
Apparently, they are discontinuing the item as it was on sale for $388.
Plenty of places carry similiar lathes, the backstory being that all of them
are supposedly made at the same factory in China. The best deal I've found
other than the one at TSC is at toolsnow.com and is $399 plus about $60 in
shipping... Harbor Freight lists theirs at $499.

Thoughts? What creative uses can a homebuilder and handyman find for a
little lathe like this?


I'm highly amused by that last question. there is a hundred years of
really talented model engineering and model engineering magazines out
there. havent you heard of any of that? :-) :-)

guys have built on lathes around that size entire miniature aircraft
engines like the Rolls Royce Merlin, Gypsy Minor, Bentley Rotary.
all fully functional and running.

have a look at www.modelenginebuilder.com

guys have also done proper aircraft conversions of veedub engines on
lathes around that size.

My own lathe is a 4 1/2" x 36" Hercus which is a dead copy of the
Southbend.
on it I have machined up a bunch of fittings for a KR2.
made replacement parts for a cherokee's controls.
made replacement bushes for a cherokee.
made the tailwheel swivel and tailspring for my tailwind.
skimmed aircraft brake rotors.
made replacement nylon bushes.
made replacement bead blasting nozzles.
made a fitted presser washer that sealed up my gascolator bowl
properly.
made the machined parts of my carby heat box.
made bushes to locate my wheel bearings without slop.
made a replacement frangible drive for my dry vacuum pump.
made a replacement control arm for my carby heat.
...and lots of other things.

when my mates plastic cessna knobs all shattered he was stuffed
because they couldnt be sourced anywhere. his cessna now sports a set
of matching aluminium knobs that will never deteriorate in the sun.

on our club tractors no one could get gear changes right. I turned up
some very comfortable gear knobs that have the gear pattern engraved
on the top. they are in aluminium and have seen about 7 years
continuous use without problem.

...your question was funny :-)
how have you ever lived without one?
Stealth Pilot



I have a Central Machinery 7" x 10" I bought from Harbour Freight.
HF's support is beyond hopeless, but www.littlemachineshop.com provides
excellent support for it and my MicroMark mill.

I make steam engines as a hobby, OK, so I run them on compressed air,
but what the heck. I'm currently making my first live steam locomotive.

As others have said there are limitations. 98% of the work I do can
be accomplished on the lathe. The major limitation is I need a longer
bed at times. Little Machine Shop sells a kit to replace it with a 14"
bed and I'm going to get one next month.

Also, as others have said, you will be hooked big time. There are
slightly bigger mini lathes you can buy that will operate on house
current. Much bigger and you go to 230 vac/ 1 or 3 phase.

You'd be surprised how many widgets like bushings you have been
buying you can now make for a fraction of the price.

By the time you decide you NEED to go bigger you will have a few
hundred accessories and tools for your lathe. You will also have a few
hundred pounds of raw stock and a list of companies like Speedy Metals
who sell small lots at reasonable prices.

As an aside I recommend you don't get one of those combination
mill/lathes.

How to frustrate yourself: learn to use a 4 jaw independent chuck,
spend hours setting the old way, up then invest $90 in a laser
center/edge finder and beat yourself up for not buying one earlier.

I have my mill and lathes on rolling cabinets to save space.

Good luck and welcome to the world of metalworking addiction.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired