Thread: Small metalworking lathes

Originally Posted by TK1

Are they accurate, decent quality for the money, etc? I'll mainly be turning/milling brass and maybe aluminum, so won't be heavy duty but I do want something accurate. Will only be used occasionally.

It depends what you mean by accurate. If you are only building models does it really matter if the metal pieces are a few thou out? It's not like the wooden components of models can be made to the nearest though and neither are any of the metal pieces going to be placed under high or even moderate wear or loadings.

Originally Posted by TK1

I'd be interested in the esteemed views of the more experienced people here on the small (and cheap ) small metalworking lathes/mills available. Things like the Carbatec C1 or Hafco AL30 (Sieg C1) and similar such as the M1 sold by ozmestore1 on ePay. Basically sub-$1000 and short bed lathes.

Are they accurate, decent quality for the money, etc? I'll mainly be turning/milling brass and maybe aluminum, so won't be heavy duty but I do want something accurate. Will only be used occasionally.

They are excellent considering the price. I have a 7x12 lathe & and X2 mill.

There are two major makers of these: Seig & Real Bull. The Real Bull version has a couple of little nice touches. I think Ozmestore on eBay sells the Real Bull variant. You might also want to check out Sherline & Taig as well.

You may need to spend time cleaning and adjusting things, but they are essentially ready to go out of the box.

The lathes are more commonly known by their capacity in inches, 7x10, 7x12, 4x6 etc, and X1, X2 etc for the mills. Lots on Google if you use those terms.

The C1 (4x6) is quite small, you may as well get the bigger 7x12 as the price difference is small. Figure out the biggest item you'll ever turn, and buy the one that matches. (We all know that never works out, but anyway.)

Bear in mind they come with little or no tooling. Check the fine print carefully, often where you have two sellers with different prices, the higher price may be due to it having accessories. This is stuff like centers, gears, chucks, clamp kits, vices etc.

Despite the inch measurement, they are usually metric, that is the screws have metric threads, as one turn of a wheel give a movement in a fraction of a mm, not inch.

Sometimes the dials are marked in inches, so what it says and what it does don't quite line up. This only annoys the Americans and the occasional uneducated old codger. It doesn't matter anyway as you measure what you're turning with calipers & micrometers, not rely on the dials.

The only time it matters is when cutting threads, although most people get by and the differences tend to be minor. My lathe came with both metric and imperial leadscrews, I've never bothered with the imperial one.

mini-lathe.com home page & www.mini-mill.com have a lot of info on these. LittleMachineShop.com - tooling, parts, and accessories for bench top machinists sells accessories, but there's always eBay or a real store like McJING Tools Online in Sydney, often cheaper than eBay.

Note the reviews for the newer machines that now come with a brushless motor that improves performance. For example the older lathes have a gear for selecting speed ranges, the new ones don't, the speed controls covers 30-2500 rpm.

You can use them as a woodturning lathe, provided you clean up well afterwards.

Oh, Moyles in Sydney as well for bits & pieces.

Dropcat,that is a great posting you did.All the info you need.
I have a C3 (7 x 14) I worked out what I wanted to make,and the sizes I wanted to make.
I then checked the different lathes out for size and came up with C3 with some help from forum members
I then had made up for me an adapter to fit a wood chuck to it.I also made a tool rest and other tooling
All to suit model making.
Got tooling from USA.All cheap,but I only turn brass and wood or wary small steel parts
Have a look HERE & HERE look at posting #16 for pics
Have not had any trouble with wood on lathe at all.But I must say I dont have any troubles with moisture on anything in my Garage.
I keep lathe oiled but not always cleaned after turning.
I am not saying I know all about it but it works for me and my model turning
Since purchase,I have found that I could have done with an 8" swing but I would need more space than I have.So I made the right choice for me
Geez I carry on sometimes