Bench lathe

[Tony Drake]

Looking for a small bench top lathe, any suggestions on a good one

 

[toyotatruckin]

Ive been using my micromark for several years--right out the box the saddle adjusting plates were warped and one was actually cracked--the plates are junk--I bought a brass plate (not cheap) and had a set milled and instead of using adjusting screws I shim them (yes its a pain but its accurate across the entire plate this way) I just tore the machine down 2 weeks ago to clean it and adjust it --the brass plates had little to no wear--the stock tool post dont cut it so expect to buy a quick change tool post -I bought one from A2Z CNC cost about 100$ and has had zero problems, replace the tail stock chuck with a good one the one they come with are cheap - once you knock some Chinese out of them they are good machines ive had mine for around 4-5 years now--Its a good size for my needs

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Another option would be a lathe from Sherline. While it's not as big as the Micromark Lathe, it's good to go right out of the box. They actually sell two versions, a 3.5X8 and 3.5X17. Here's the website so you can look: http://sherline.com/tools.htm

 

[Steve Seebold]

Looking for a small bench top lathe, any suggestions on a good one

How big do you want? I had a Jet 9X20 about 10 years ago. I sold it because I was trying to use it for industrial use, and I was jusr destroying it.

 

[dave roach]

Go to www.grizzly.com and you will fine what you are looking for.I have a 10x22 and love it.

Dave Roach

 

[Tony Drake]

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-x-10-inch-precision-mini-lathe-93212.html

This is kinda what I'm looking at for size

 

[lohring]

Don't overlook used lathes. They often come with tooling. You will spend as much for tooling as the lathe. What size things do you work on? Hobby size lathes are only good for tiny parts. If you have the room consider at least a 9 or 10 inch swing.

Lohring Miller

 

[Ken Webb]

Try Taig in your search engine. Had one yrs. ago. Not fancy but good. Hobby Lobby hobbies use to stock them or just go direct to the manuf. Sometimes they have some specials. I just checked Taig's site and they have some specials running with free shipping. S/B able to get a rig for $500 or less with accessories.

 

[Jim Mamaril]

Go to www.grizzly.com and you will fine what you are looking for.I have a 10x22 and love it.

Dave Roach

I'll second that, I have had mine for e few years and love it as well. If you do anything larger than a couple inches you will want a larger machine for the rigidity. The Harbor freight machines are very low quality and just don't hold up.Jim

 

[steve wood]

grizzly's are one of the better Chinese machines. tiawain stuff is better

 

[michael winter]

You might also try Littlemachineshop.com I bought a slightly used Harbor Freight locally (7X10) and then upgraded it to a 7x14 plus other goodies. They also carry their own line of mills/lathes but as I recall, most all the 7x10/7x14 mini lathes are made by the same company and rebranded/painted for the end seller. The green one is how I got mine, when I was done, it was red-to match my mill.

Michael

 

[RodneyPierce]

I have the harbor freight mini lathe that you posted in your link. I wish I would have gone a little bigger. My next lathe will most likely be a 10x22 grizzly. They are very nice pieces for the price

 

[dwilfong]

South Bend 9" is the perfect lathe for what you will be doing. You can pick one up locally it would be the only way to go.

Check Craig's list or Ebay. Grizzly still sells some parts new but you can get any thing you need on Ebay to up grad it or replace broken or missing parts.

I got mine off Ebay from some one a hour away. It was $350 and had some missing parts. Went on Ebay and found every thing including a rebuild kit with instruction.

Have about $650 into the whole thing including rebuild and up grade parts.

It is a fun little project fixing up a old South Bend.

 

[glenng]

The old South Bends are good lathes(and inexpensive). MAKE some floor space and look for a heavy 10". Mine is a 13"X6ft built in 1961. Bigger than what I need for a hobby lathe but with 4 Jaw, Bison Precision 3 Jaw, collet set-up and some quick change tooling- just over $1100 into it. Dave, you need to build a backsplash for yours to keep the oil off the sheetrock.

 

[glenng]

Dave, Is that white dog in your avatar a JRT???

 

[dwilfong]

It's a rushing stands.

Ya I should put something on the wall but I'm to lazy.

This 9" is a 1952. that is the great thing with South bend lathes you can find out any thing about them and get any part you want.

the tooling is where the money is but it is getting cheaper with all the stuff from China.

The 3C Collete are great to have thy fit right in the main shaft after you take the chuck off.

You can get all kins of attachment for this thing its great.

The only grip I have is the head stock bearing is a little sloppy.

I need to re shim it. But there is that laziness again.

 

[toyotatruckin]

the 7x lathes are plenty big enough for RC use especially if making one off parts Ive chucked up a 25cc aircooled homelite head and machined the fins down to water cool it and then machined a cooling jacket to fit it---no troubles doing either I did have to machine a mandril for the operation but thats no big deal --best thing is It dont take up a bunch of space and its a tool you can use outside of RC- here follow the link below it compares the various brands of 7x lathes side by side http://littlemachine...the_compare.php

 

[RodneyPierce]

I wouldnt buy another 7x lathe. 10x22 is a much nicer size IMHO.

 

[dwilfong]

Start sticking drills in the tail stock and a 7X gets real short real quick.

 

[toyotatruckin]

never had a problem with my 7x14 being to short---buddy had a 7x10 and that sucker has zero room with a tailstock on it--ive also used grizzlys 7x12 and its also better than the 7x10