New Guy, New Machinest, Looking For A Start

Reverend Bow

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Gents, I am new to machining, but I would like to start.

I was at Harbor Freight today an was looking at the 7x10 they have in the store.

I was looking on line about it and it brought me to this forum. Most forums chalk this thing up as pure evil, but I like the can do atmosphere here.

I understand there are better units out there, but as a starter, and available locally, this seems to be it.

I have a project in mind, which is converting a Brass framed kit 5 shot Colt .36 BP pocket pistol to 5 shot 22 Mag... 22 barrel liner is already installed, I need to cut it off and crown the muzzle, then counter the forcing cone.

The biggest trick I think will be boring the cylinder to sleeve it from .36 down to the .22Mag. I already have the 0.375 OD x0.065 wall DOM steel tubing for the sleeves, I just need to turn down the OD to fit in the bored cylinders.

Will the 7x10 be up to a task such as this?

So.... is the HF 7x10 good enough to start with for this type of project?

Thank you for your input.
 
I don't know about that machine or your particular project, but I'd go for the 7x12 over the 7x10. It's only thirty dollars more and the extra length is easily worth it.
 
Also new here and for what its worth I decided to pick up a vintage machine of much larger size for Im sure less than the HF machine.

My reasoning being more capacity equals more better and that with all the fiddling the forums say comes standard with the HF machine Im not losing much more time reconditioning a classic.


Dont let that sway you to much though, I am heavily biased by a passion for vintage iron as well. Its entirely possible I made an entirely illogical decision

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I own a 7x12 Homier that is the same lathe as HF. Right out of the box they will do light cutting and hold size within .003 and sometimes closer. They will have a lot of chatter on some materials as the fit for most slides leaves a bit to be desired. I have done a lot of work on mine to get it to hold sizes to within .001 and if I need closer I stone and polish the part down. There are a lot of sites with modification for making them better. But they are still limited. If you really look around you can find some good deals on something a little larger for not much more money.
But will it do the job. Yes it will. I turned one of my blackpowder 44's into a 22Lr using mine.
 
Thanks for the replies gents.

I guess I didn't realize 2" makes that much of a difference.

Also new here and for what its worth I decided to pick up a vintage machine of much larger size for Im sure less than the HF machine.

My reasoning being more capacity equals more better and that with all the fiddling the forums say comes standard with the HF machine Im not losing much more time reconditioning a classic.


Dont let that sway you to much though, I am heavily biased by a passion for vintage iron as well. Its entirely possible I made an entirely illogical decision

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I can understand that, I just do not have the room for anything vintage sized.

Standard 2 car garage... with 2 cars in it, and the rest of my tools is a serious limitation.

I own a 7x12 Homier that is the same lathe as HF. Right out of the box they will do light cutting and hold size within .003 and sometimes closer. They will have a lot of chatter on some materials as the fit for most slides leaves a bit to be desired. I have done a lot of work on mine to get it to hold sizes to within .001 and if I need closer I stone and polish the part down. There are a lot of sites with modification for making them better. But they are still limited. If you really look around you can find some good deals on something a little larger for not much more money.
But will it do the job. Yes it will. I turned one of my blackpowder 44's into a 22Lr using mine.

Thank you sir. My wife has always told me "find the one you think you want, then go to the next level higher and if the price isn't that much worse, go better.

.44 to .22LR? do you have a thread on that?
 
No I don't....but should do a write-up one of these days. I did just to have a special plinker.
 
If you do get the HF 7x10 the following link has many coupons 20 to 25% off:
http://www.hfqpdb.com/

As BillH50 said it will require some work on your part to tighten up the machine. All the gibs need to be tight to get the accuracy he has. It can be done and is actually fun to make these little lathes work better. I have converted mine from 7x10 to 7x16 using the Little Machine Shop kit. If you are patient I think it can do what you ask of it. You will find many upgrades and modifications for the 7x10 to make it a decent little machine.

Roy
 
If you really are stuck with such a small available footprint the HF may be they way to go.

It seemed to me that small older lathes fell into a few distinct categories that all make them a hard sell.

1: they can be oddball machines with specific tooling and fixtures that cant be found today.

2: they typically have an external motor, that has advantages but a major disadvantage is for a given sized machine the total space required will be more.

3: they can be junk, the 190 Cmans spring to mind. Junk may be harsh but what I learned was enough to turn me away from all but a freebie.

4: the good ones are apparently gold and are priced accordingly! Watch maker, jewelers and small gunsmith lathes are only worth it if you absolutely cant stick a 12" machine somewhere.

Again, rank newb here. This is just the impression I got while shopping.



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I started my machining hobby with a 7x10 HF lathe. It served me well, was a good machine to learn on and completed some decent projects with it. I recently traded it for my a 12x36. I wish I would have kept the 7x10 (now 7x12). Either way I am glad I didn't start my self education with a used lathe. It is hard enough tinkering with a new Chinese lathe to get it to run right. No way could I have taught myself anything about using a lathe while refurbishing an old lathe at the same time. I would never have figured out which one of us was making mistakes.
 
Thanks again.

I picked up "The Home Shop Machinist" today and there is a coupon for the HF 7x10 for $449. that is quite tempting...

Yes, my footprint is very limited, love my house, hate my garage....

I realize the best bet is yo get a 12" or bigger, but I need to be realistic and work with what I have. Since i am just starting out, I want to be able to afford to start and learn something.

Roy,
Thank you for the link, and you are correct, I enjoy the challenge of taking a lower end equipment and making to perform at higher levels.
 
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