Lathe purchase metal/small wood

[Bodgy]

Gentlemen ( and I mean that in the loosest sense of the word)

I have a big, crappy, cheapo lathe which with my skills is fine for turning the bigger items i chair legs etc,

I am unable to mount a drill in the headstock as it has no taper, the live centre is fixed.

I've been thinking about a new, mini lathe. Problem is I also want a metal lathe.

I am thinking that I should maybe buy a mini (not micro) metal lathe. These will run 500mm pieces and swing about 200mm. This would meet most of my metalwork needs and also allow me to do the fine wood turning stuff, like pens etc.(with a 4 jaw chuck) I'm lucky in that a mate has a 50 yr old Russian lathe that swings about half a kilometre, with a bed around 2 light yers (seriously!)

Seems to me that with only a change to the rest, the metal work lathe will do all that a mini wood lathe will do, plus all the sexy metal work stuff. I think you can also get a milling attachment.

These cost around $700. It seems like a good choice, given I have the smallest shed of all.

Comments please?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Seems to me that with only a change to the rest, the metal work lathe will do all that a mini wood lathe will do, plus all the sexy metal work stuff. I think you can also get a milling attachment.

The major difficulty with this, as I understand it, is that when turning metal a lot of lubricants are used. When turning wood, a lot of dust and shavings are made. The two aren't exactly a good combination.

However, provided you're willing to work around this, I know it's perfectly feasible as I've a mate who does it and is quite content doing so. :)

[soundman]

There are a couple of other diferences that could be a PITA.
metal lathes typical have a much lower top speed.
Wood lathes arent as precise but you can moove their bits arround more freely and quickly, which you realy need to do.

You probaly can get away with using a metal lathe for wood but it wont be as enjoyable for you or the lathe.

I realy would like a little metal lathe and I wanted a wood lathe.
I baught a little wood lathe the matal lathe will have to wait.

A $700 metal lathe is realy the bottom of the barrel Spend $1000 to $1200 and there is a big difference I'll be waiting till I can afford the extra$

On the other hand $400 will get you into a jet mini lathe which is certainly not the lowest of the low and quite a nice piece of kit.

get the drift.

cheers

[hughie]

Hi,
There are several differences. The wood lathe is largely for free hand work, where as the any metal lathe is for precision and there in lies the difficulty if you want to turn wood. The three and four jaw chucks on a metal lathe rely on single point contact and are capable of very high pressures to grip the metal being turned.The wood lathe has a broad area of contact reflecting the softer material being gripped
Also the wood dust and shavings are not good for the guides, cross slides, saddle ways etc. The wood dust is quite abrasive, this depends on the amount of silica in the wood. But couple this with metal shavings and fine metal particles and you have a good recipe for premature wear.
All in all you might be better off owning one of each as neither is designed to do to both.
hughie