Mini-Lathes

[Old Hippie]

I've been thinking about an interesting handle design I've seen, along with another idea for a handle I thought up.

Trouble is, I don't have a lathe. Now if all I want is a handle I have made some in wood with screw inserts, and a couple hacked out of copper rod stock with hand tools, and of course WCS or RR or any of the retailers can sell me a handle for a lot less than even an inexpensive lathe.

Most of the machinists in my area do work for industry, so they're only happy to take on projects that they can set up on Monday morning and cut all week on the same setup. One-offs and small runs they won't even be polite about.

My experience running a lathe is probably at least 30 years old, but I reckon I've not fallen off the bottom of the learning curve just yet.

Here in Canada I'm finding a lot of "Eastern" products that don't look very good. I'm seeing that Grizzly and King Canada both seem to have somewhat well regarded 7x12 lathes.

For the machinists on here: what are you using? I'm mainly interested in a mini lathe for cost and space requirements. A friend of mine locally is restoring an old West Bend but that darn thing weighs more than my pickup.

O.H.

 

[luvmysuper]

I've got an old Craftsman 12x36 made by Atlas in the 1940's. Heavy, yeah, but it's built like a tank. I looked long and hard at the "cheaper" versions out there, and they were nearly as much money and about a tenth of the quality.
Ok, mine doesn't have a VFD, so I can't precisely tune the RPM to a gnats butt, however, I don't really need to.
I've hogged some metal off of stock with the thing and it never complains, something I don't think I could do with the plastic machines that are going out the door to home / hobbyist machinists today.
You'd be surprised at how reasonable some of these older machines are, as long as you aren't looking for an industrial size.

 

[BlueMaxx]

retracted

 

[12stones]

A Central Machinery bench top lathe would meet your needs. I used them quite a few times at a makerspace I was a member of until I moved recently, and they were more than satisfactory for small jobs like handles and pens. And they can be had pretty inexpensively.

 

[stone and strop]

I've been thinking about an interesting handle design I've seen, along with another idea for a handle I thought up.

Trouble is, I don't have a lathe. Now if all I want is a handle I have made some in wood with screw inserts, and a couple hacked out of copper rod stock with hand tools, and of course WCS or RR or any of the retailers can sell me a handle for a lot less than even an inexpensive lathe.

Most of the machinists in my area do work for industry, so they're only happy to take on projects that they can set up on Monday morning and cut all week on the same setup. One-offs and small runs they won't even be polite about.

My experience running a lathe is probably at least 30 years old, but I reckon I've not fallen off the bottom of the learning curve just yet.

Here in Canada I'm finding a lot of "Eastern" products that don't look very good. I'm seeing that Grizzly and King Canada both seem to have somewhat well regarded 7x12 lathes.

For the machinists on here: what are you using? I'm mainly interested in a mini lathe for cost and space requirements. A friend of mine locally is restoring an old West Bend but that darn thing weighs more than my pickup.

O.H.

If you are in Canada Busy Bee has a mini lathe that is inexpensive and decent, perfect for brushes.

 

[FarmerTan]

Hey O.H. ! I'll be following this...... I have not touched a lathe in 45 years, but playing around with a tiny one sounds fun... Gettin' the War Department's approval to allocate the funds is the hard part.... WAIT! Maybe my number one son needs one for a Christmas present in his huge garage that is within walking distance from my Lazyarseboy!...... That's the ticket!

 

[Old Hippie]

Thanks! Some more key words to check out. I do have a fondness for older, more solidly built gear. I'm still kicking myself for buying a new truck back in 2011, when what I really wanted to do was to get an older truck and build it up right. ("Right" is highly subjective...) But it's a good truck and doesn't complain much, unlike myself.

However, I'm also aware that before too many years go by we'll be looking to move off the farm. This morning my back is slowing down the morning chores. Had to sit down for a moment and let things calm down and oh by the way check B&B. I'm hoping for something I can move fairly easily and install in a new location where there may not be much room for it.

O.H.

 

[FarmerTan]

Thanks! Some more key words to check out. I do have a fondness for older, more solidly built gear. I'm still kicking myself for buying a new truck back in 2011, when what I really wanted to do was to get an older truck and build it up right. ("Right" is highly subjective...) But it's a good truck and doesn't complain much, unlike myself.

However, I'm also aware that before too many years go by we'll be looking to move off the farm. This morning my back is slowing down the morning chores. Had to sit down for a moment and let things calm down and oh by the way check B&B. I'm hoping for something I can move fairly easily and install in a new location where there may not be much room for it.

O.H.

I can relate, to the move....

I'm considering a small home ON the homestead here. Make my son decide what to do with the old place...