Lathe purchase advice sought

have a 8x14 and 9x30. Might be a little more pricey than you were looking for, but would give a bit more capacity w/o taking up too much more space.

Wayne D.

It is my understanding that the 8x14 is a very nice step up from the minilathe, for not much more money and a slightly larger footprint. You would give up some support and accessories. No lathe in the universe is better supported than the 7X minilathe.

I'd pass on the 9X Chinese lathes.

When you look at specs trying to determine if they are the same, pay attention to the weight.

Dan

I noted that the Harbor Freight 8 by 14 weighs 250 lbs. Their 7 by 14 weighs 90 lbs. I have not used either one.

Dan

As nearly as I can tell, that 8x14 is about the same size and weight as my 9x17 Logan.

Machine weights listed on web pages seem to vary widely. Lathemaster

*states* the 8x weighs 190 lbs (not just listed as a weight).

The 9x20 model probably weighs about the same, although the listed weight may be 250 lbs.

I believe most weights are shipping weight, which is usually clearly marked on crates for international transport. The shipping weight would then include the accessories, and the crating, gross weight, not the actual machine weight that needs to be lifted onto the workbench/table by the user after unpacking.

I guess I'd ask what your budget is, how much room you have and what you want to do in the future. In my not-so-humble opinion, unless you do a LOT of very small work where you need extremely high spindle speeds, I'd get a 10 or 12 inch lathe with a 3 foot bed and quick change gear box, at least.

How quickly do you need the lathe? Are you looking at Craig's List or posting a "wanted" ad there?

Pete Stanaitis

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Doug Miller wrote:

that reminds me, a friend has one of the small Atlas mini-metal lathes - that would be under the $400 you got your cool deal for - it's the smallest of the atlas lathes - it's not all that rigid compared to a clausing or something, but you can lift it onto the bench and store it in the closet (that's what I did when I had one) - if interested, contact me off the list

Deal! make it a Mt Dew or something, though..I dont drink

Gunner

"Aren't cats Libertarian? They just want to be left alone. I think our dog is a Democrat, as he is always looking for a handout" Unknown Usnet Poster

Heh, heh, I'm pretty sure my dog is a liberal - he has no balls. Keyton

Six hundred, give or take.

Main limitation, actually, is the need to take it down a basement stairs.

Small work is all I plan to ever do -- doubtful I'll ever turn anything large enough to need a 10x36.

No real rush. I've been looking at Craig's List. Haven't posted a wanted ad yet, but I guess that's the logical next step.

Ummm... email to snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.invalid isn't going to work...

Yes, I'm interested -- how about you contact me at /doug/at/milmac/dot/com/.

No problem -- iced tea OK? That's something I *always* have in the fridge, even in the winter.

Talk to him!

"Aren't cats Libertarian? They just want to be left alone. I think our dog is a Democrat, as he is always looking for a handout" Unknown Usnet Poster

Heh, heh, I'm pretty sure my dog is a liberal - he has no balls. Keyton

Great!

Gunner

"Aren't cats Libertarian? They just want to be left alone. I think our dog is a Democrat, as he is always looking for a handout" Unknown Usnet Poster

Heh, heh, I'm pretty sure my dog is a liberal - he has no balls. Keyton

It's easy to hit the 10" limit with a pulley or brake drum or wooden bowl.

jsw

I took my 11"x24" Delta (800 lb or so) down the stairs on a refrigerator dolly. The key is disassemble the easy stuff. Only the headstock and bed went down together. All the chucks, tooling, tailstock, cross slide, apron, etc. went down by hand in pieces. Piece of cake. I did have a rope on the dolly and my two sons belaying while I guided as a precaution.

Getting it back up the stairs was a significantly greater issue. I recently posted pictures of that event.

Pete Keillor

These are all variations on the same lathe. I have the HF 7x, was on sale and I had a 50% coupon, so ran me in the neighborhood of $200. It's had some additions made and a stretch bed kit added to it from

These guys have all parts for the thing, usually on the shelf, although they run short of some things sometimes. Check out the accessories. A metric conversion kit is available, leadscrew, half-nuts and indicator included. Beats trying to make-do with wacky change-gear clusters. The 7xs have a healthy spindle, takes a #3 Morse taper, the tailstock is #2. IIRC, the 6" Atlas uses something like a #1 or #0 taper, spindle is really skinny. Change gears for the 6" are zinc and they tend to crumble with age.

Downsides: Some of the early ones would pop the motor control MOSFETs, easy to fix, parts readily available. Chips would filter into the motor control box, shielding was needed. You kind of shoot craps with these, one will be great, another will need a lot of work. If you buy from the HF stores, they will take them back for exchange. The motor control on mine produces so much EMI that the UPS was complaining on the computer. Had to put a filter on the lathe.

I've been satisfied with mine, it's about the largest lathe you can pick up and sling back on a shelf, if that matters. I run mine on top of a Workmate, can actually be run off a car battery with an inverter. Back-country machining, anyone? There's a relatively new book out on just the 7x mini-lathes, British, Amazon has it.

Stan

Second that, though they are OK for aluminum and spin fast enough for polishing and drilling small deep holes. The spindle is 1/2"-20 weakened by a Morse 0 taper hole, and not really stiff enough to support chucked work without the tailstock.

jsw