O/T but a few Qs for a machinist

[PbyCat-Guy]

I'm looking into getting some machining tools, a lathe and a mill to make some parts for models and other uses. I'd like to be able to turn pieces up to 6" in diameter but not sure what I'm looking for in the specs when I look at lathes. I've tried to find a glossary of machining but nothing. I'd like a bench top lathe, due to the cost and intended uses. Any recommendations? My budget is about $900 or so.

[RobC]

Guy, you might want to check out the Home Shop Machinist magazine. Lots of good stuff in there - I used to get it years ago. From your description, it sounds like right in line with what you are trying to do.

[PbyCat-Guy]

Thanks, I'll look into that

[Cvairwerks]

Stay away from the 3 in 1's as they will drive you batty. They look cool, but have extremely limited working capacities and you can't leave a setup if you need to change work types. Also, the rigidity is pretty sparse. Anthing more than very light cuts with good tool geometry and you end up with the unit flexing and poor surface finish.

Wanting to swing a 6" part is going to put you at the top end of the bench lathes. Look for Southbend, Logan, Emco, Myford or Hardinge. Craftsman, Atlas and a few others are out there, but most are badly worn and going to give you a ton of grief trying to do good work. A good machinist can make up for a cruddy machine, but a neophyte will get terribly frustrated and burn tons of time and materials figuring it all out. If you are going to be working mostly pieces under 1" diameter and very short lengths usning soft materials, then I would look at Levin and other watchmakers's lathes too. There is a good primer on what to look for in a lathe, but I'll have to go find it tomorrow when I get home from work.

900$ for a bench lathe is going to be pretty minimal and is going to put you in the class of generally pretty trashed machines. I'll send you the primer as soon as I can find it and you can get a better idea of how things go. You will have to be patient, watchful and willing to accept a well worn machine to stay within that budget.

You can figure about another 600$ for some basic tooling. Unless you go with a quick change Aloris style tool holder that handles inserts, you are going to need a quality grinding wheel that you can dedicate strictly to grinding tool bits. Also, tool steel and carbide blanks take different wheels.
You will also need a good caliper, a couple of mic's. a dial indicator and set up and so on. Stick with the name brand stuff and you will be fine.

I can give you a good reading source via pm, but it has some sticking points that you should know before you go there.

It's a blast to make chips and do your own parts and you will never regret taking the time to learn how.

[robkamm]

try this web site. practical machinist. good info there and stuff for sale. craigs list always has stuff on.

[sdennison]

Go to www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com

Great machine tools and projects.

[PbyCat-Guy]

My dad had a Grizzly table saw and because of how much I liked putzing away on that one, I'm looking at a Grizzly mini 7"x12" lathe. Any thoughts on this one?

http://www.grizzly.com/products/7-x-12- ... athe/G8688

[Cvairwerks]

PracticalMachinist is a wealth of information. One huge caution though, before you ever post, read the list of machines that ANY discussion of, are forbidden. Bringing any of them up is going to get your ears boxed and a warning in a hurry. About all you will get is one warning and Don will toss you off the board.

If you go there, be sure and look up some of the work that rivett608 has done. He does minatures in many materials and does teach some classes for some of the projects he has done. It's well worth your time to run through the threads about his models for both the beauty of the work and the processes he goes thru to build them. For some of his work, think Dr. Park's Mustang model on shrinking steroids... This link should take you to one thread that shoud give you a good idea about what he does.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/ge ... rk-235803/

Also, here is the article by Dave Ficken on evaluation of a used lathe for pruchase.

http://www.mermac.com/advicenew.html