Modest minilathe rodomontade

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

Zack Lau W1VT

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

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.

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

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"