xpro
10th March 2016, 05:20 PM
Gents, Ladies,
Has anyone experience with mini lathes ? Need to make small items, some from plastics as well. I see some Chinese made on Ebay, el cheapo products, they look very unmachine like. On the other end, the Proxxon products are way past my budget :(
Any suggestions appreciated,
Gus
Paul39
12th March 2016, 02:34 AM
Xpro,
These are generic Chinese wood lathes sold in the US. I have played with the Harbor Freight one in the store and it works well. HF makes a smaller one that I would not recommend.
Benchtop Wood Lathe - 5 Speed (http://www.harborfreight.com/5-speed-bench-top-wood-lathe-65345.html)
https://www.pennstateind.com/store/TCLC10VS.html
Take a look at the photos and compare to what is being sold in AU.
I would not buy anything that did not have a cast iron bed.
If you have no experience with a lathe, it would be good to use a decent one to get the feel so that when you were looking if it felt funny you would know to look further.
DiRob
12th March 2016, 08:12 AM
my experience with mini lathes left a bitter taste. After being caught with two shonky mini lathes that I decided to donate to local mens shed even though still under warranty. I settled for woodfast in the end local product and has been great compared to imports I purchased from Melbourne supplier. Go for a ac motor from my experience dc motors are not a good option.