Thread: Hobby Metal lathe

Originally Posted by bosco555

Hi Guys,

I'm thinking that 30mm would be a bit too large for what I intend to do...mostly dealing with stuff in 1/48th 1/35th 1/32nd scales. If I think about it, 30mm is the size of a sideshaft on my jeep just about...
Was thinking something like this:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12-x7-300...-/390791372090

What do you guys think?
thanks again

Hi bosco, I've got one of these, and wished I'd never seen it, it came from here also, service and back up are virtually non existent. Ring up and are told we'll get back to you, waiting waiting, getting more peeved off because you are in the middle of a job and wanting to finish the project. It was given to me by my brother as he had no further use for it ( that's what he told me) I think he LIED. So far I've replaced the drive belts X3, drive sprocket X6, several gears, the motor X2 ( I got an updated motor and it sheared the shaft between the bearing and the fan)after only 3-4 hours, and the circuit board. All of the parts except for the motor and circuit board had to come from the US, (a 2 week wait each time) so far in replacement costs and postage I'm over the $500 mark. The maximum depth of cut(DOC) that I've done is .25mm, I'm not saying that they are all like this BUT beware. I'm tempted to give it away, but I wouldn't want some other poor soul to have to go through this either.
Kryn

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Hi bosco, I've got one of these, and wished I'd never seen it, it came from here also, service and back up are virtually non existent. Ring up and are told we'll get back to you, waiting waiting, getting more peeved off because you are in the middle of a job and wanting to finish the project. It was given to me by my brother as he had no further use for it ( that's what he told me) I think he LIED. So far I've replaced the drive belts X3, drive sprocket X6, several gears, the motor X2 ( I got an updated motor and it sheared the shaft between the bearing and the fan)after only 3-4 hours, and the circuit board. All of the parts except for the motor and circuit board had to come from the US, (a 2 week wait each time) so far in replacement costs and postage I'm over the $500 mark. The maximum depth of cut(DOC) that I've done is .25mm, I'm not saying that they are all like this BUT beware. I'm tempted to give it away, but I wouldn't want some other poor soul to have to go through this either.
Kryn

Wowsers..yeah..don't want to fall into the same trap..Found this also, thanks to rodm..:
http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/L194#
Sieg C2...
who knows??

There is nothing wrong with a Chinese mini lathe, but if I was buying one I would look for a 7x14 (C3) as it has more distance between centres (but that may not be important to you) than the 7x12 (C2).

Have a read of the information about these machines on this website

http://www.mini-lathe.com/

there is also a Yahoo user group for the Mini Lathe with lots of support and information about how to use and modify these machines. There are many thousands of users of the little lathes around the world and they can't all be wrong.

Also have a look at what this guy does with his mini lathe and what he has done to modify it.

http://www.gadgetbuilder.com/

A friend of mine in the US has the 7x16 version and he is very happy with it, in fact he bought a 7x12 first, then bought a 9x20 but found he didn't like being without the variable speed and sold the 9x20 and bought the 7x16.

There used to be an 8x16 model available too, but I haven't seen that one lately.

To sum up, for what you want to do the 7x series mini lathe will do what you want it to do and you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to get in to metal turning. By all means if down the track you find you would like a bigger lathe, upgrade and sell the mini lathe, you won't lose much by doing that and you will have learned a hell of a lot in the meantime.

Have fun (yes it is possible without a 40+ year old lathe)

For some reason the 7x12 and 8x14 sized lathes are poor value (relatively expensive) in Australia.

A basic 9x20 with quick change gearbox is not expensive, and more capable for what you want to do.

Plenty of help available on the yahoo 9x20 forum as well. H & F sell them. This model fairly new and looks OK : http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/L160

Rob

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Have fun (yes it is possible without a 40+ year old lathe)

Heresy! I decree Fred should be burnt at the stake for witchcraft immediately!

Originally Posted by Ueee

Heresy! I decree Fred should be burnt at the stake for witchcraft immediately!

Nah, throw him in the water, if he sinks he is innocent, if he floats he's guilty THEN burn him at the stake

Just trying to provide some balance in the advice being given, not only to this poster, but to almost every new poster asking what lathe to buy.

As I have said before, not everyone has the expertise to judge whether a 40 year old (usually ex-school) lathe is still good to use, or indeed suitable for their needs.

I agree with Rob however about the 9x20 lathes, I have one myself, but there none for sale with EVS these days and these mini lathes do have that facility and should handle everything a static model builder can throw at it.

I'll give an example of me buying my first mill, I bought an X2 and learned on that (not having eve used a mill before). I then bought a DM45 mill, a few times the X2 size, I wouldn't have wanted to start from scratch wit that one.
I sold the X2 for not that much less than I paid, money well spent. That X2 was purchased from ozmestore and I had zero problems with it, sorry not quite correct, had to replace the speed pot at a total cost of < $2.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Nah, throw him in the water, if he sinks he is innocent, if he floats he's guilty THEN burn him at the stake
Just trying to provide some balance in the advice being given, not only to this poster, but to almost every new poster asking what lathe to buy.
As I have said before, not everyone has the expertise to judge whether a 40 year old (usually ex-school) lathe is still good to use, or indeed suitable for their needs.
I agree with Rob however about the 9x20 lathes, I have one myself, but there none for sale with EVS these days and these mini lathes do have that facility and should handle everything a static model builder can throw at it..

I agree, it's a bit like when home gardeners ask on a chainsaw milling forum about what chainsaw he should buy to prune their shrubs and suddenly they're being told to buy a monster chainsaw.
bosco555 probably should be asking in a modellers forum rather than a Metalwork forum.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

I agree with Rob however about the 9x20 lathes, I have one myself, but there none for sale with EVS these days and these mini lathes do have that facility and should handle everything a static model builder can throw at it.

The 9x20 lathes are basically a copy of the Austrian Emco Compact 8 which was, within its limits, quite a nice machine. My father in law owns one and he's a retired scientific instrument maker so knew what he was getting.

As for the copies, the quality varies, but I'd agree with getting one of those.

As for variable speed, it's nice but frankly I'd trade it off in an instant for the better rigidity & work envelope. If you really really want variable speed, you can add it later. If you need a bigger work envelope, you need to buy another machine.

PDW

It's always interesting looking at this subject.

I always can't help but think "what would I buy if I was to replace the lathe I have ?"

Given that the current sized lathe does everything I want, I suppose it comes down to bells and whistles.

A much smaller version of the CQ6230 (with a morse 4 spindle) would be nice, but that's not to be.

Rob