Harbor Freight Mill/Lathe/Drill-mabobber

[Liger Zero]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=5980

Need more information before I decide. I have a line on one of these but the person who is selling knows nothing. The website knows nothing.

What is the taper of the mill/drill head spindle, the lathe spindle and the tailstock?

I had to sell my little yellow CLARK to cover an emergency (ARRGH) so I'm stuck with my Sherline for a bit. If this is compatible with what I kept (extra chuck, collet chuck, the "good" QCTP) I'll snag it.

[Paul in OKC]

The general rule of thumb has been to stay away from these, but.....I think they have #2 morse taper in both the tail stock and the spindle. No threading capabilities, if you are looking for any.

[KiddZimaHater]

I would avoid that thing like the plague.
Be patient...
A nice mill and/or lathe will turn up sooner or later.
Check your local Craigslist, newspaper, and Ebay.
It took me nearly 4 years to get my lathe and mill, but the wait was worth it.
JET 12X36 lathe for $500, and a MILLRITE for $900.
I've heard bad things about those mill/lathe combos.

[Liger Zero]

Threading is not a major concern, I do most threading by hand anyway.

Problem is I make a product and not having two lathes is a handicap.

Figured since there was one "in unopened crate" not to far from here for roughly half price I'd inquire.

Aside from the lack of threading what other "major fault" or shortcomings would there be?

[rotate]

I would stay away. Those 3 in 1 machines are a waste of money. How do I know? I owned one.

[MickeyD]

Make sure that you get some stainless steel cable to go with it so when you finally decide that all it is good for is being a boat anchor you will be prepared. I looked at one of those the last time that I was at HF getting some LPS2 and it really is a joke.

[jimmstruk]

Liger, in my opinion the lowest speed of 430rpm is way too fast, and the no threading means no power feed or power cross feed. Just my thoughts. JIM

[Liger Zero]

Ok cased closed as far as I'm concerned. No power-feed = waste of money.

[gmatov]

Yeah, they all say that, most of them have never had one, BUT, they are all experts.

I have one. Bought some 4 years ago. Very rarely used it. I prefer the little bastards that I can get down into the basement where I can sit on my ass and work with it.

This thing is near 3 foot tall and near 400 pounds. #2 MT spindle overhead, #3 MT in the headstock.

True, no auto feeds. There are others that people here tell that they should ALWAYS hand feed, the feed screw is STRICTLY for threading. Well, this thing has no feeds built in. What's the difference whether you have to crank the thing with one of these or the model you like.

Actually, I THINK the weight of this thing would make you happier than the 50 pound toys you prefer.

Cheers,

George

Anybody near enough to want to buy it, make an offer. I am too f'n old to stand before that thing. Better that I sit in the basement.

[airsmith282]

i might my self just invest in a 3 in 1 machine but ill be getting me mine form Busy bee, i hear to many horror stories about the habour freight ones as well as all Harbout freight equipment so il be staying clear of that junk for sure..

i have a B2227L 10x18 busy bee lathe right now and love it , my mill is a busy bee ct129 they now only do the ct129N that has the Mt3 but thats ok they gota uipgrade kit for mine if i ever need it..

a tool is only as good as the operator thats using it in my opnion,, yes there are bad points to the 3in1 machines but there are also many good ones as well..

but to have a seperate mill and seperate lathe is the best over all, and a bit less hassel for some things..

i like the 3 in 1 machine cause lets say you turn something down then you need to mill a slot dead on center well the 3in1 will do just that , same as drilling some holes down a pipe or bar its already dead on centre , so a 3in1 will win less hassel less time wasted as well for set ups..

seperate machines will be the oppisite bit more hassel and more set up for perfect set up..

so some advantages and dis advantages , on both sides of the fence..

[ahidley]

I have one but its the bigger model. It works fine.. But as for your question why dont you download the manual and it'll answer your questions?

[oldtiffie]

A model lathe

There are 3-in-1's and there are 3-in-1's.

Many with 3-in-1's like Sherline and Smithy and other similar machines as advertised in Village Press magazines can't all be idiots. I'd guess that given the class of work that they do and the experience that many of them have plus the continuing sales of those machines rather says that they suit some very skilled machinists pretty well.

I have a 3-in-1 that has the same lathe as Airsmith and a few others here. They, like me, get on pretty well with that machine with no power feeds. Its a very good machine.

Now, having said all that, my 3-in-1 is a bit different to most:








This is my Sieg X1(??) micro-lathe with attachments that also turn it into a virtual micro-mill and 3-in-1. Very accurate as well.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/oldtiffie/Micro-lathe/MIcro-lathe2.jpg

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/oldtiffie/Micro-lathe/Micro-lathe1.jpg

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/oldtiffie/Micro-lathe/MIcro-lathe3.jpg

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/oldtiffie/Micro-lathe/Micro-lathe4.jpg

I am the first to say that I don't use the mills on the lathes much at all now, but its very handy to have the capacity.

To say that all are useless would be pretty hard to support. Some may be. Some are not adequate for some shops or tasks. But in the right hands for the right job, they can be and are very good indeed.

Since buying my 3-in-1, I use the lathe extensively - so I need that. I have since bought a HF-45 and a Sieg X3 square column mills which do all my milling work now. But having the mill on the lathe has saved the day on a few occasions.

So let's not get too carried away with condemning 3-in-1's out of hand. You could get quite an argument from the model-makers!!! - and few could say that they are incompetent machinists or know little of machines and machinery if you use the model-makers having 3-in-1's as justification for your assertions and arguments.

[dockterj]

Oldtiffie, how does the mill head attach to the lathe on your 3 in 1? If I could figure out how to do that on my Smithy it would help with the limited X and Y travel when milling. Probably more trouble than it is worth but that 3 in 1 looks like it is a lot more usable than the typical layout.

[oldtiffie]

Pics tomorrow

Thanks dockterj.

Short answer is that it is bolted to the back of the lathe and the bench.

I will post pics tomorrow (its almost mid-night here in OZ) and it should be pretty well self-explanatory as it will do a better job than me trying to explain what is a pretty simple arrangement.

[gnm109]

Regardless of the comparative quality or stated precision levels of the various builders of the 3 in 1 combination machines, I don't care for anything that uses an MT taper for its tools. While I understand that some people don't have space for anything larger than a 3 in 1, the inconvenience of the MT's alone would make me stay away. Also, tooling in MT is generally harder to find than R8.

That doesn't mean that good work can't be done on one and many people do use them to great advantage. This is only my lowly, amateur opinion.
.