Metalwork lathe for beginner

[bill.shitner]

I'm thinking about getting a metalwork lathe and while I'm tempted to go for a decent old Boxford or Colchester, part of me wonders whether it might be more sensible to start with one of those Chinesium toy/mini lathes, as a brand new item. The main advantages I see in the latter:

1. I could get started straight away, rather than (perhaps) having to spend an age fettling
2. It would use less space and be generally easier to locate/move about
3. I could get familiar with the practicalities/principles of lathe work at a more convenient scale

Of course, a cheap-ish mini lathe will be fairly crap and it might be a dud straight out of the box, or it might fail after little use and regardless, it will be very limited in what it can do.

Assuming I don't mind burning £300-£500 on a mini lathe in the expectation that I will need to blow a further £1200 or so not too far down the line, is a mini lathe worthwhile prep for big boys toys?

Thanks.

Bill.

[John Rumm]

Something like:

Might be of interest.

In some respects a mini lathe is probably not a bad place to start, since it can be ebayed later.

However it does rather depends on what kind of stuff you want to make, and whether you will outgrow it too fast.

I get the impression that much of the cost is spent not on the main tool, but all the paraphernalia that surrounds it. So as soon as you have the lathe, you realise a good selection of micrometers, DTIs (plus stands), tool holders, chucks, collets, tooling and so on will add up to more than the cost of the tool. Many of those bits you would retain for the next one.

(much as one ends up spending more on router cutters, than on routers etc!)

[Martin Brown]

What level of experience do you have already? It might be worthwhile looking for evening classes in workshop practice including lathes and milling in your area before splashing out on new or second hand kit. They will have bigger more powerful and CNC kit to play with.

What sort of things are you intending to make? How big a job does it need to swing? And do you intend to turn steel or mostly softer lightweight materials like brass, bronze and nylon?

Blue practice wax is quite handy to learn on (and recyclable).

Ancillary tools mount up but are transferable when you upgrade.

[bill.shitner]

What level of experience do you have already? It might be worthwhile looking for evening classes in workshop practice including lathes and milling in your area before splashing out on new or second hand kit. They will have bigger more powerful and CNC kit to play with.

What sort of things are you intending to make? How big a job does it need to swing? And do you intend to turn steel or mostly softer lightweight materials like brass, bronze and nylon?

Blue practice wax is quite handy to learn on (and recyclable).

Ancillary tools mount up but are transferable when you upgrade.

[nothanks]

I had the same thought process some years ago (25?) and bought a Boxford BUD at auction to get started and went to evening classes to learn some basic skills. I didn't do much with it but fancied something with a gearbox so replaced it with a Chipmaster (again, at auction). Then I bought a Holbrook C10 for beans from a workshop that was being closed because it no longer met H&S requirements - this weighs about 1500kgs and is somewhat OTT. I rarely use it but it's a joy to use when I do.

My advice: if possible, get something with a gearbox and that comes with a package of basic tools (JohnR is correct that the machine is only the start), look at the WARCO and PROXXON websites, be very suspicious about combined mill-lathes for anything other than light work.

[Tim Lamb]

Snip

Not really.

There are probably more wood shavings on my lathe bed than steel swarf.

For most d-i-y work with HSS tooling, coolant is unnecessary.

I think the evening class suggestion a good one as a lathe is a dangerous piece of equipment to *learn by experience* on.

You might save a few pennies by not bothering with a gear box and lead screw but I use mine a lot for hands off turning.

[T i m]

<snip>

All seconded.

My first lathe was an Emco Unimat 3 but had previously used lathes (and mills / shapers etc) at school and college.

I bought the Unimat for RC modeling type work but then started doing bigger stuff (full size electric vehicle racing) and so p-exe'd the Unimat for a very clean Myford ML10.

Nowdays though, I find myself 3D printing stuff more often than I am turning, partly because my 3D printer is indoors and the lathe in the (cold) workshop but also in many instances the 3D printed solution is just as good and a darn site faster. It's also generally less wasteful, given that you only waste a bit of material each print (brims, skirts and supports etc).

The last instance was a couple of spacers that go between the roller of a keel roller and its bracket (to keep the roller central) on a dinghy trailer I'm rebuilding. Took about 30 seconds to measure, 'design' and slice, then about 5 mins to print (two at once). ;-)

That said, I wouldn't be without the lathe, nor the 10 tonne hydraulic press, the MIG welder, pillar drill, metal cutting horizontal bandsaw and of course, the angle grinders. ;-)

Oh, and half a dozen digital calipers (because I'm always wandering about with them and putting them down ...).

Cheers, T i m

[John Rumm]

Its possible to get surprisingly high end results from some of the small multi-purpose machines though if sticking to smaller work. Some of the stuff this chap knocks out is incredible: