I have one, but some s**nk (me, unfortunately) stored it in a damp garage and there is considerable corrosion on the ways. If you're willing to do some rebuilding it should be as nice as it ever was.
You are aware that these things are as flexible as can be, and that they aren't set up for threading, yes?
Email me if I haven't talked you out of it. tee eye em at wescottdesign dot com, or check on my website for the email address.
Wasn't there an accessory available (from EMCO) for thread cutting? It was quite odd. On the left of the ... Depending on the model. Other Unimats had *even* a lead screw. :-)
Nick (proud owner of an old wornout Compact 8-I-call-it-a-lathe, now collecting dust)
HI all, I am looking for an old unimat lathe. Price is a consideration as I am a 100% disabled vet. So If you have one sitting around that you would like to sell give me a shout. Tkanks
Yes. You mounted a master threaded quill around the spindle and fitted a follower and cutting tool. The follower would chase the master thread form and move your cutter. Expensive as hell to buy all the master threaded quills.
================ By coincidence there is a nice article in the Feb/Mar issue of the Machinists Workshop Volume 20 No1 p24-26 showing the original threading attachment and how one man modified and improved it.
The article has references to other useful unimat information.
see
Unka' George [George McDuffee]
------------------------------ Watch out w'en you'er gittin all you want. Fattenin' hogs ain't in luck.
Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908), U.S. journalist. Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, "Plantation Proverbs" (1880).
Yes, there was. I probably still have the catalog that shows it.
This one has a nice lead screw; if you were clever you could make a set of change gears.
Unimats have become collectors items and as such are priced beyond their true value as a tool. Have you seen the Taig lathes? Very reasonably priced, capable machines for their size and all parts are available, when needed.
You can even save a few bucks by using your own motor. I originally bought the basic machine and assembled it myself. Then, when more money was available, I purchased the chucks and accessories I needed.
I like to deal with Nick Carter. He offers a 10% discount on most of it.
Ron Thompson On the Beautiful Florida Space Coast, right beside the Kennedy Space Center, USA
Do you really want a Unimat, or are you just looking for a small lathe? Consider the 6-18 Atlas/Craftsman lathes on E-bay. They'd be a lot stiffer than the Unimat, I'd think. ---And not toooo much bigger.
Pete Stanaitis
-----------------------
triker3 wrote:
Or the ubiquitous chines Mini-Lathe, at 7x10 to 7x14 inches swing and $300 or so on sale. Cheaper used, if you can find one. Not much of a lathe, but lots of lathe for the money, and somewhat portable.
They don't draw out the loons when the bidding gets going on Ebay, either. littlemachineshop.com mini-lathe.com
A google search will find you Varmint Al's mini-lathe page. I think he was the first guy to really work up a decent set of web pages for these lathes, and he's still at it.
Cheers Trevor Jones
Sherline, (IMHO) is the hands down winner in the small (inexpensive) light duty and attachment-rich small lathe catagory.
Personally, I think they are overpriced given the small size and lightweight construction. Yeah, they are more accurate out-of-the-box than the Seig lathe, but the Seig can be tweaked. No way can the Sherline be made more robust.
-Carl
Attachment rich and pricetag rich!
Joe Martin says in the writeup in "Tabletop Machining" that he has priced the lathe and all the accesories at the peak of what the market will bear, rather than by any cost/price relationship. Good for the company coffers, but not for the wallets of the guys trying to save a buck and still have a hobby.
I still think that the 7x10 minilathes are a better buy. You can always look to the Sherline catalog for accesories when you are feeling flush, but for a basic capability, they get beat out by the chinese product, warts and all.
Aside from that, the same money as spent on a new Sherline and damn few of the accceory list, can buy a useable bench lathe.
Cheers Trevor Jones
For me the light weight plus the fact that with a few small attachments I can have a funtional milling machine make it just about perfect. I need to move stuff around constantly in a fairly small space and those Chinese tools are just too bulky and heavy, I'm disabled and just the difference in weight makes the sale for me!
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