Interest in purchasing a mini lathe /mill

[casca92]

Would like to purchase a mini I mill / lathe combo. To tinker with some gun parts and modifications. Everyone says get a quick change gear model. How long does it really take to swap out a set of gears ?.

Have been looking through the used, nothing there yet that peaks my interest. How disappointed will I be if I just snag a harbor freight lathe, just to practice my crashing and get past the learning curve ?

Also in the back of the Walmart site there is some grizzly machine combos at a decent offering.

I live along the a river, that has some great fishing. So after making Caterpillar parts for almost 25 years-- I might lose interest quick in having to sweep chips off the floor anymore.
Thanks
Casca

 

[Randall Marx]

Welcome to the group, Casca
I don't own one, but it seems to be a popular machine. Many of the brethren here own mini lathes and mini mills. From what I've read, there is quite a lot of modifications and adjustments that can be done to improve those machines. I do have a Craftsman lathe that uses the change gears, so I can comment on that. If you have no need for threading with different pitches or using different feeds while turning, it will be fine. If you anticipate having to change feeds or thread pitch very often, changing the gears manually does get tiring. That is a personal choice that you need to make. It is a pain, but it is also doable. I'm sure someone with more direct insight to using the machines in question will be along soon to offer some more advice.
This really is a great place to come and share projects and ideas, and also to ask for help without fear of nastiness.
Again, welcome and enjoy!
Randall

 

[casca92]

Thank you for input, was thinking perhaps I was in trouble already with my first post was hoping for more input.
. Somebody has to have an opinion ?

 

[Randall Marx]

It may help to post the question in the Minilathe/minimill forum. It will show up farther down the list on the main page. That area would be populated mainly by owners of such machines, so would be less likely to be overlooked by those people. (just an idea that may help).

 

[casca92]

Will try
Thanx

 

[mikey]

Would like to purchase a mini I mill / lathe combo. To tinker with some gun parts and modifications. Everyone says get a quick change gear model. How long does it really take to swap out a set of gears ?.

Have been looking through the used, nothing there yet that peaks my interest. How disappointed will I be if I just snag a harbor freight lathe, just to practice my crashing and get past the learning curve ?

Also in the back of the Walmart site there is some grizzly machine combos at a decent offering.

I live along the a river, that has some great fishing. So after making Caterpillar parts for almost 25 years-- I might lose interest quick in having to sweep chips off the floor anymore.
Thanks
Casca

Welcome to HM, Casca.

First, a quick change gearbox lathe has a wide range of gearing already installed. It allows you to set different speeds and feeds without physically changing the gears in the gear train. It also allows you to cut a number of different screw threads that is within the range of the installed gears. If you need to cut threads that are not allowed by the current/stock gear set then you can change those gears to get the thread count you need. Depending on the lathe, swapping gears can be simple or complicated but it isn't a monumental task in any case.

You said you want to do some gunsmith work on your lathe - a mini-lathe won't be capable of doing larger work, like barrel work. You have to have a larger spindle and I think you're looking at a full sized lathe for that. I don't do gun work but I enjoy reading about it here on the forum. I do know that a mini-lathe is not the machine you need for it.

If all you want is to give this metal working stuff a try to see if you like it then a mini-lathe and mini-mill is a great way to start. Lots of choices from LMS, Grizzly, HF and others. You'll get opinions soon, I'm sure. I suggest you do some reading on these machines, sort out what you want them to do and ask more focused questions. It also helps to know your budget.

Just so you know, almost every hobby machinist starts out exactly the way you're starting - what to buy with limited funds - so yours are fair questions. More than any other site I've seen, this is the place to get answers. Be patient, ask focused questions and you'll get all the info you need.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[casca92]

was looking to do some barrel threading and possible some chamber reaming. have been stuck do the metal working thing for about 24 + years for a little company in Joliet, illinois. for a little company called Caterpillar. machined parts for the large mining trucks and most of the hydraulic parts that go into their products. As all good thing come to and end. the Joliet plant is moving to SOUTH OF THE BORDER. seems they can get top workers for $25.00 a day. Trying to get my STRAIGHT A high school student a little interested in some grease and oil, fire and hammer projects.

 

[XXXXX]

I have both a mini lathe and mini mill.

Honestly, for the little I need to do threading, the change gears are not much hassle.

You can use a tap/die to do most threading (even using the lathe to power tap). For cutting threads, it's really not frequent enough to worry about quick change gears IMHO.

Beware you can't fit long barrels in mini lathes and that most won't fit through the spindle

 

[woodchucker]

I have a south bend lathe 9 model a with the quick change box. I can't imagine having to change gears. I am always changing speeds to get the best finish . And for threading. Mostly I rough at a high speed, and finish at a slower feed rate, and it takes a few attempts sometimes to get the feed rate correct. So I would say yes the quick change box is important. If you don't worry about finish quality then the gears alone are ok. But it's a cheap investment if you get the gear box, the machine is worth more too if you sell it.

 

[mikey]

was looking to do some barrel threading and possible some chamber reaming.

You're going to need a much larger lathe than a mini-lathe for this kind of work, that's for sure. Your best bet would be to post your question on which lathe to get in the Gunsmithing section of the forum and they will give you some good choices. Then its a question of budget and features but you'll find a good lathe for your needs.