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Modest minilathe rodomontade

I was at Harbor Freight when they opened this morning, and the truck was already there. Checking the brochure, I noticed that the lathe went on sale this morning, so I gave out a whoop. Five minutes later, the box was up front, and I was counting out the money. I was swaggering as I walked from my truck to my upstairs bedroom, for the lathe weighs almost as much as I do, and I was working without a hand truck. When I opened the box, I discovered that the machine is red, which brought a smile to my face. According to the manual, the lathe is supposed to come with a chuck key, which I discovered to be missing, though I didn't concern myself about this too much, for I decided that I could easily fabricate one out of some key metal. Also, as though to make up for this, the package included an extra set of gears, which I decided was more than an even trade. I am still setting the machine up, and am looking forward to cutting a test bar, and facing off a plate. I guess I will be needing to get a micrometer and a straight edge in the near future. I am a happy camper!

Michael

Michael Mandaville

Reply to
MichaelMandavil
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Hi Michael,

A little lathe is a great tool--I use my little Sherlines a lot more than the Atlas TH48 in our machine shop--they are just the right size for most of my projects. I have a micrometer to measure to the nearest 0.0001 inches, but rarely use it. Instead, I normally grab a cheap dial caliper that measures to the nearest

0.001 inches. Not as accurate, but much easier to use.

Zack Lau W1VT

Reply to
Zack Lau

Hello, Zack,

Dave Gingery, in his book on how to build a metal working lathe, also suggests using "a calipers and a feeler guage" to measure a test bar, if a micrometer is not available. As you can probably imagine, since I have just bought my lathe, my budget is a bit tight right now, so I think that I will just go for some type of calipers myself at this time, and then get the micrometer later, after my pocket book recovers.

Michael

Michael Mandaville

Reply to
MichaelMandavil

I get my HF mini lathe on saturday and I'm still in the cleaning phase. I took everything apart except for the headstock. I was surprised at the amount of swarf and metal shavings that were on it. I washed everthing off with WD40 and have to get some white lithium grease before I can assemble it back. I have not noticed anything missing except for the oil can and mailin warranty form. I'll probabely order my dial indicator, mag holder,etc from Enco or Littlemachineshop.com.

David.

Reply to
David Heidary

I got a real neat digital caliper from Enco for $60. It takes a #357 battery every year. I'm real happy with it.

Paul in AJ AZ

Reply to
Pep674

Hey Zack and Michael,

Dial and electronic digital calipers from "offshore" are not so expensive, and same is true for micrometers. Latest flyer from Wholesale Tool ( flyer pages 13) has the dial calipers from 13.95 to 45.00, and digital from 17.95 to 99.00, all in US dollars. Individual 1" plain mikes for 9.95 and electronic digital for 39.00, plus a mechanical digital 0 to 3" three piece set for 54 bucks. Also a "6 piece measuring tool kit" looks really good for just $74.00 on page 12 of the flyer.

Take care.

Brian Laws>>From: "Zack Lau"

Reply to
Brian Lawson

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