Mini-Lathe feedback wanted.

[G.A. Ewen]

I would like to hear from Mini-Lathe owners about the strengths and weaknesses of these machines. I am in the market for a small lathe and have looked at these machines in the show room but of course the sales people don't know didly. One guy, who admitted that he had never made a chip in his life, claimed that "it's the best machine on the market" All input is welcome good or bad. Thanks, George.

[BC21OSH]

George,

Just curious, what brand of mini lathes have you looked at and which was the "best on the market"

Bernard

[G.A. Ewen]

The one that I am looking at is the 7" x10" sold buy Busy Bee. I have misplaced my catalogue and can't remember the model number.

[nitacboss]

G.A.,
I have a Homier 7x12 (Blue colored one) and am, thus far, quite satisfied with it. There are a few glitches and design issues I shall get to in a second.

After reading about these lathes for quite some time at http://www.mini-lathe.com/ I decided on the Homier.

- It was the lowest price, if I didn’t like it I had put minimal investment into it.

- It was available at a sale in Indiana. Since Harbor Freight has no stores in the Metro-Chicago region and Enco, which used to be based here left because of high state business taxes this was basically my one and only chance to get it with a hands on inspection.

All of the sites that cover these mini-lathes consider them an 80% finished kit. I agree with this to some extent. Some of the glitches are:

- Tailstock mounts to the bed with a God-awful nut and bolt design. You almost need to modify it to make it function under actual working conditions.

- The headstock uses plastic gears to drive the lead screw and spindle. If you are thinking of .25” material removal passes with carbide or one-pass knurling forget it.

- There are a LOT of sharp edges on the machine. I actually make a practice of breaking these edges as I find them. So when I see my blood on the unit I know I have more filing to do…

- The cross slide has no capabilities to be driven by the lead screw.

- The 4-position tool post that comes with the unit is crap. I did, and would recommend, an immediate purchase of a QC type tool post from an outfit such as TS Engineering or something similar.

- The chuck the unit came with is rather poorly made, needed to be taken completely apart to remove the chunks of swarf, I assume from when they manufactured the lathe, lubricated with lithium grease, and reassembled. After all that it is still a bit sticky at times.

- The 3-jaw, 3-inch chuck that comes with the lathe is great for making very small pieces but that is about it. A very limited work holding capacity. My first projects I had in mind would not fit and I found myself ordering the 4-inch, 4-jaw and 3-jaw chucks right away.

This all said I would not want you to shy away from one of these lathes. I think it is a very good starter machine, a great second lathe so the set-up one the “big” lathe can “stay”.

There are a great many out use groups out there and some very good (if not great) people to help with your questions, this group being one of them. I would pursue info from these other groups as well:

http://www.mini-lathe.com/
The site for mini-lathes. Everything and more than you wanted to know…

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/7x12minilathe/
Being a yahoo group you’ll need to register, which is free, to participate but you can look at all most all of the contents without registration.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mlathemods/
Another yahoo group. These guys do some incredible modifications to these little lathes.

rec.crafts.metalworking
A general metal working group. Some info good, some kinda screwy, but all very interesting…

[GM69camaro]

I have the Harbor Freight 7x10" and I am happy with it. I think I paid $369 for it.
Like previously mentioned, it is like an 80% completed kit. It will work when you get it but half the bolts are loose and you will quickly find many modifications that need to be done to make it more useful. I lapped all the gibs and ways which made a huge difference in accuracy. I installed some bolts in the saddle to lock it in place for facing. The "L" shaped allen wrench is a pain, so I made a T handle wrench. Mine has a hard to find miniature 3 amp fuse and holder, so I replaced it with an automotive size fuse holder. Not all minilathe brands have that problem.
I guess half the fun is making modifications! At first I thought mine was a piece of crap, but now that I fixed a lot of the problems, It really is a nice little lathe.

Gordon

[This message has been edited by GM69camaro (edited 06-02-2003).]

[davestea]

do a google on "mini lathe" and use the quote marks -

you'll get a ton of links to check out - many are users with lots of changes and photos - some are sellers.

have fun - should take you a while to get through those - when you get done you should know all you need to know to make the decision.

[Thrud]

George
They are handy for small stuff.

I have a maximat 7 and I wish it was a 17"x60" instead of a 7"x18".

If you want a superior machine look for a EMCO maximat 7 or maximat 10, Wabeco, or Prazi. These are Austrian or German made and very high quality serious machines.

[lightswitch]

Small cuts only, I have found myself cutting too deep & stalling the motor. paid $299 for a Homie off ebay. oh also pretty much expect teh chip tray to be damaged when it arrives, seems most people have this problem. Nothing a hamer @ 4 minutes cant solve.

[KenS]

G.A.,
Do yourself a big favor by holding out for the longer bed model and one with continuous speed control such as Grizzly sells. There isn't much room for work - particularly if you stay with the horrendously large toolholder and use a live center.

I had one once but sold it after a couple of months. During the time I had it I made it into quite a nice little machine by completely dissembling it, stoning and lapping ALL surfaces and rounding every square edge that I could without affecting the working tolerances. The halfnut is notchy and difficult as supplied but can be made to work as smoothly as a Clausing usually does, for example. I removed all decals and hokey name stickers.I even painted it machine grey and made or bought polished handles and wheels. I cut down HF wrenches to fit the tailstock and crosslock (added by modification) I buffed every part that I could and made the machine look and work like a jewelled watch. (sorta')

When I couldn't find any more ways to improve the machine I wrote a good description of why mine was better than the supplied ones were, took some pretty impressive photos of it and sold it on ebay for $50. more than I had paid for it. I'll look around both of my discs - I may still have some pictures of it but this has been nearly two years ago and they've probably all been deleted. (my two harddrives total some 60 gigs and there's stuff hidden or lost all over both of them)

All in all, I had fun with it. As supplied they are all made rough but the basic design and the parts are pretty good. Don't worry yourself over which brand is better - they are all identical under the distributor's chosen ugly color and labeling. The only differences are the length of the bed and whether you get rheostat 0-2500 rpm control or not.

The websites listed above are great. There are many more, and they seem to keep popping up uncontrollably. There is a lively subculture of mini-lathe users that are creative and energetic. When you buy one it can be like joining a great big friendly club and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in beginning to machine metal.

Damn! I think I may go get another one! LOL!
I've seen a version in ebay for $299. and the seller seems to have a continuous supply. Don't remember his name but it shouldn't be hard to find.

[nitacboss]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by KenS:
Damn! I think I may go get another one! LOL!I've seen a version in ebay for $299. and the seller seems to have a continuous supply. Don't remember his name but it shouldn't be hard to find.</font>

KenS,
Homier sells one with a variable speed control for $299.00 and mine even came with a ready to use chip pan! No hammering needed!

After starting with off-the-shelf purchased modifications I'm at the point of starting the custom mods. Thus far I have been quite satisfied