Starting to outfit a home shop. Need some advice

[Aukai]

Try putting in what size lathe you want, Ebay, and other adds will be up front. I tried 1440 and 2 good name lathes are in California in the 5 K range. Watch for MrWhoopee's listings, he posts up what he's seeing in Ca too.

PLACE CRAIGSLIST, MARKETPLACE, OFFER UP, ADS HERE

Found a deal on Craigslist, Marketplace, Offer-Up, etc.? Please post it here!

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[Sunpilot]

I am in Cleveland and I see alot of used equipment. Let me know if I can help.
One of my customers is around the corner from HGR so if you need someone to look at something there I can do that for you as well.

Thanks for the offer. I'm coming back east late spring.. When I leave for the east coast maybe I'll let you know, if I haven't found anything in the meantime. I really appreciate it

Frank

 

[Sunpilot]

Try putting in what size lathe you want, Ebay, and other adds will be up front. I tried 1440 and 2 good name lathes are in California in the 5 K range. Watch for MrWhoopee's listings, he posts up what he's seeing in Ca too.

PLACE CRAIGSLIST, MARKETPLACE, OFFER UP, ADS HERE

Found a deal on Craigslist, Marketplace, Offer-Up, etc.? Please post it here!

www.hobby-machinist.com

I'll keep my eyes open for those listings. I look at that thread everyday lately!

 

[rongee]

HI Sunpilot,
I'm a rookie myself, recently retired, so take anything I say with a huge grain of salt. I'm learning on much smaller equipment than you're looking for, in my case a 7x16 lathe from Little Machine Shop. What I wanted to add to what the other far more knowledgeable folks have already said is that as you look at your budget, it usually works out that the machine itself ends up being just a part of your spending. You're going to find that you *need* a number of things in order to actually start doing things, and you're going to find that you *want* to get other things, just because. I'm pretty sure that it's impossible to run out of things that you can get for the machine that you buy. It could be a DRO, and there's lots of options there. You could decide that you want add CNC, and there are lots of options there as well. Just examples. One other thought, and that has to do with physical constraints. When I started looking into this, I had no idea what things weigh. My workshop is in my basement, so I had some basic limits as to what I could get down there. I've seen videos on Youtube of a fella that hired a crane to lower his new equipment into his basement. I think you said you're in your garage, and that will probably make things a lot simpler. Anyway, good luck and have fun!

 

[Sunpilot]

HI Sunpilot,
I'm a rookie myself, recently retired, so take anything I say with a huge grain of salt. I'm learning on much smaller equipment than you're looking for, in my case a 7x16 lathe from Little Machine Shop. What I wanted to add to what the other far more knowledgeable folks have already said is that as you look at your budget, it usually works out that the machine itself ends up being just a part of your spending. You're going to find that you *need* a number of things in order to actually start doing things, and you're going to find that you *want* to get other things, just because. I'm pretty sure that it's impossible to run out of things that you can get for the machine that you buy. It could be a DRO, and there's lots of options there. You could decide that you want add CNC, and there are lots of options there as well. Just examples. One other thought, and that has to do with physical constraints. When I started looking into this, I had no idea what things weigh. My workshop is in my basement, so I had some basic limits as to what I could get down there. I've seen videos on Youtube of a fella that hired a crane to lower his new equipment into his basement. I think you said you're in your garage, and that will probably make things a lot simpler. Anyway, good luck and have fun!

Thanks for the input. I do have a big garage with easy access so no problems moving things in or out. I actually watched some videos of people moving around 1500 to 2000# machines, quite interesting! I'm biding my time, trying to educate myself, and asking questions so I can make good choices. With help from you and the other respondents, I'm getting valuable knowledge. Once again Thank you for the advice
frank

 

[T Bredehoft]

As a neophyte, I'd suggest you see that your lathe can change feeds and speeds without hassle. That means onboard gear box, or Quick Change Gear Box, QCGB. You will become frustrated having to change the actual gears, to effect different cutting feeds. This will still be within your budget, just make sure you get the QCGB. Sometimes it's not obvious.

 

[derfatdutchman]

If at all possible stay away from a round column mill/drill, I had one for twenty years and lived with its limitations.

 

[Sunpilot]

If at all possible stay away from a round column mill/drill, I had one for twenty years and lived with its limitations.

I'm aware of the pitfalls of round column mills. Thanks for reminding me though.

 

[ArmyDoc]

The old adage is, "Lathes make circles, Mills make squares." A lathe can make a straight cut, but not as well as a mill, and a mill can make a circle, but not as well as a lathe. So which should you get first? You're going to want both, so base your decision either on what you think you will do most often, or alternatively (since you will want both) on the first/best deal you come across. Here are some factors to evaluate / questions you want to ask yourself and know the answer to when selecting the best machines to meet your needs.

Considerations when choosing a Lathe
- What do you intend to make in terms of size and material - determines swing, length and mass of your machine. (You will likely want more than you actually need. But it's also true that you often need more than you think.)
- bore size if doing barrel work or other things with longer pieces you may want to pass through the spindle bore
- Available power - voltage 120, 220, 440, single vs three phase
- 3 phase is great, but you may have to allocate extra for a VFD or RPC
- Physical space available / ability to move machine to desired location (#2000 machines don't go up or down stairs well...)
- desire for new vs used machine (largely determined by your willingness to spend time working on you lathe, rather than spending time doing work on your lathe)
- DRO vs Manual dials - not felt to be as important on a lathe as on a Mill
- RPM - range as well as adjustability of that range (in other words variable speed vs gear / pulley setting fixed speeds) affects finish and materials
- Hp - affects finish and materials you can work with.
- budget (yeah... at least give lip service to it like the rest of us pretend to do. )

Considerations for a Mill
- size of what you intend to make. (refer to first comment on lathe size regarding how much you want vs need)
- rigidity - which is often reflected by weight, but design / machine type also plays a large role. Flexibility affects rigidity too. For example a knee mill with it's ability to both nod and rotate the head is very flexible, but not as rigid as some other designs.
- DRO vis manual - a DRO is generally felt to be much more important on a Mill than a lathe.
- Physical space available, ability to get machine there (as above)
- Manual vs Power feeds
- CNC capability or upgradability
- RPM - range as well as adjustability of that range (in other words variable speed vs gear / pulley setting fixed speeds) affects finish and materials
- Hp - affects finish and materials you can work with.
- budget (yeah... what I said before.)

Leave some room in the budget for tooling. Even basic tooling can run 25-50% the cost of the machine itself, and over the years it is not uncommon to spend as much or more on tooling than you did on the machines.

 

[Sunpilot]

tHANKS FOR YOUR TIME. i APPRECIATE THE ADVICE

The old adage is, "Lathes make circles, Mills make squares." A lathe can make a straight cut, but not as well as a mill, and a mill can make a circle, but not as well as a lathe. So which should you get first? You're going to want both, so base your decision either on what you think you will do most often, or alternatively (since you will want both) on the first/best deal you come across. Here are some factors to evaluate / questions you want to ask yourself and know the answer to when selecting the best machines to meet your needs.

Considerations when choosing a Lathe
- What do you intend to make in terms of size and material - determines swing, length and mass of your machine. (You will likely want more than you actually need. But it's also true that you often need more than you think.)
- bore size if doing barrel work or other things with longer pieces you may want to pass through the spindle bore
- Available power - voltage 120, 220, 440, single vs three phase
- 3 phase is great, but you may have to allocate extra for a VFD or RPC
- Physical space available / ability to move machine to desired location (#2000 machines don't go up or down stairs well...)
- desire for new vs used machine (largely determined by your willingness to spend time working on you lathe, rather than spending time doing work on your lathe)
- DRO vs Manual dials - not felt to be as important on a lathe as on a Mill
- RPM - range as well as adjustability of that range (in other words variable speed vs gear / pulley setting fixed speeds) affects finish and materials
- Hp - affects finish and materials you can work with.
- budget (yeah... at least give lip service to it like the rest of us pretend to do. )

Considerations for a Mill
- size of what you intend to make. (refer to first comment on lathe size regarding how much you want vs need)
- rigidity - which is often reflected by weight, but design / machine type also plays a large role. Flexibility affects rigidity too. For example a knee mill with it's ability to both nod and rotate the head is very flexible, but not as rigid as some other designs.
- DRO vis manual - a DRO is generally felt to be much more important on a Mill than a lathe.
- Physical space available, ability to get machine there (as above)
- Manual vs Power feeds
- CNC capability or upgradability
- RPM - range as well as adjustability of that range (in other words variable speed vs gear / pulley setting fixed speeds) affects finish and materials
- Hp - affects finish and materials you can work with.
- budget (yeah... what I said before.)

Leave some room in the budget for tooling. Even basic tooling can run 25-50% the cost of the machine itself, and over the years it is not uncommon to spend as much or more on tooling than you