Beginner looking for opinions on getting started

[markba633csi]

Hi Zapper- Sherline is one model, also consider Taig if you happen to see one for sale. Check out http://www.deansphotographica.com/machining/projects/projects.html
for some ideas
mark

 

[Paintzapper]

That being said, the vast majority of my work is 1" and under and I recently upgraded to a 13" x 30" lathe and I absolutely do not regret that decision. I use mine daily though.
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You may be disappointed with a mini lathe. They are very much built to a price and one thing that seems to suffer across the board is the assembly quality of the machines.
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If you do buy a new machine I'd set aside a full day to get it set up. The temptation to turn it on straight away and play about is strong

Completely understand the limitations on size of the machine, If you could see the available space I actually have I am more than certain most every one of you will agree a mini mill is the way to go
Will do on the setup time, I usually have a habit of learning as much as I can about a new hunk of equipment before I even purchase and visually verify everything looks to be in order before actually using it. Kind of a manual snob too!

I always tend to say the biggest and best you can afford and have space for. However if you have a fairly well defined envelope of what you want to do, let that be your guide. But be warned you will suddenly find a need to make something bigger, So try to aim a little oversize, it won't be long before you'll be glad you did..

Yeppers, I'm trying to balance current and perceived future needs with output capeabilites and available space for all the equipment. I don't usually like to jump into things without over thinking it, sometimes it takes me months to figure out what I actually want to do with larger purchases. Thankfully I have plenty of time to decide on one.

If you are seriously considering a Sherline machine, you may want to spend $20 and get the book entitled Tabletop Machining, written by Joe Martin, who owns Sherline.

That will most definitely end up in my hands if I choose to go that rout. Probably will get it if I don't grab it as I like physical copies of books to go through and make notes in. Thanks!

Hi Zapper- Sherline is one model, also consider Taig if you happen to see one for sale.

Added to my list of possibilities! Thanks!

 

[markba633csi]

Maybe consider getting something a little bigger than you had in mind- trying to keep it "small and cute" sometimes works against you.
Atlas, Jet, South Bend, Logan are all good and capable machines

 

[Downunder Bob]

One thing you will need to consider is screwcutting, are you likely to be doing any screw cutting. many small lathes are quite limited in their screw cutting ability.

I know the USA is still majority imperial threads, but they are slowly being forced to change to metric, because of imported equipment, so you really need a machine capable of making both imperial and metric. Machines are generally made with an imperial leadscrew, or a metric one. Unless the vast majority of your work will be metric I would opt for the imperial leadscrew as long as you can get the special 120 x 127 tooth gear that allows you to convert from imperial to metric.

Some smaller machines do not offer this ability and of those that do, because of size limitations, they often supply a 63 x 60 gear for an approx conversion, it's ok for short threads, like nuts and bolts, but for long pieces like a lead screw small errors will creep in.. Also if you will be doing a significant amount of screw cutting you will want a lathe with a quick change gearbox, preferably a norton style QCGB. Manually changing change gears all the time soon becomes a PITA.

 

[Aaron_W]

Welcome, I was in your shoes about 3 years ago. My only real metal working experience was high school shop class, and my only lathe experience was a wood lathe in 9th grade. High School was some time ago.


I've got a Sherline lathe and mill which I have been very happy with, but as Mikey points out they are small so you will really need to think about the size of the things you want to make. The long bed (a $100 option that is well worth it) provides plenty of length for a small lathe, but they only have a 3 1/2" swing (theoretical maximum working diameter) which in practice means you are looking at stuff 1 1/2" diameter and smaller. I was able to make a 2" diameter fly wheel on my lathe, but that was really pushing the limits and I had to really think about how to do things.

If you feel the Sherline can handle what you want to do, they are very nice machines with a lot of support from the company. There is a huge variety of accessories available from the company. Occasionally you can find a good deal on a used one.
I think the lathe weighs about 30lbs, and the mill 50 lbs so they can easily be moved and stored in a cabinet or on a shelf out of the way and operated on a sturdy table or bench top.

Unlike a lot of the mini-machines Sherlines are basically ready to go right out of the box. Some assembly is required but I was up and running within a couple of hours of delivery. The only thing that held me back from making chips that first night was I hadn't thought ahead to buy some metal and had to wait until Monday when the local metal supply opened so I had something to practice on.

If it matters to you both Sherline and Taig are made in the USA.


Combination machines are not generally recommended but Sherline does offer a milling column for their lathe, which allows it to be converted into a basic mill for much less than the cost of a full mill. $160 vs $700 for their cheapest milling machine. Not ideal, but depending on your needs possibly a consideration.



Nobody has commented on your budget... You can probably buy a lathe and a mill for $2500 but you will find you are lacking in basic tools and tooling. The general rule of thumb seems to be to plan on spending 50-100% the cost of the machine on the basic required tooling. You will continue to find tooling that you "need" to have, it is an addiction that the people here are all to happy to feed.








Really consider the size of your projects though. I think the Sherlines are great machines, but if you buy too small you will be very frustrated. There are some nice lathes in the 8-9" size class that are still relatively portable (under 300lbs), 110v, don't take up a great deal more space and provide much more capacity. They do cost a fair bit more, but not too hard to find used.

 

[TerryH]

Over the past few months I've gone down this same road. I also had/have a limited budget so I turned to Craig's List. Found an Enco 105-1110 mill in good shape with quite a bit of tooling for $500. Have more in it now. I decided to disassemble and cosmetically restore it. I bought a new mini lathe prior to buying the mill but I wanted something bigger. Found a Grizzly G0752 lathe on CL for $1200. Used most of the tooling that I had from the mini. Did some cosmetic work, added QCTP, more tooling etc... on the lathe as well so have more than that in it as well. Just found a like new Central Machinery T-591 bandsaw this morning that I ended up getting for $165 is near mint condition. My point is given your similar work envelope and similar budget you can do it and get some pretty decent machines and stay within your budget with patience and persistence with used equipment.

 

[Paintzapper]

Screw cutting won't be too much of an issue, but I will keep what you said in mind Bob.

I know I will be starting off with a mill and maybe get a lathe further down the line. I know I have access to a nice lathe from my friend on the few occasions I may need it but the mill and proper accessories I will need will come first. Added some of your guys experience and equipment suggestions/aquisitions to my ever growing list, thanks!

 

[mikey]

I know I will be starting off with a mill and maybe get a lathe further down the line.

I bought a lathe and mill at the same time, along with most of the tooling I needed. I found that I used the lathe far more than the mill. Still do. Of all the tools that will teach you about metal working, the lathe is the best ... just saying.

 

[wrmiller]

I bought a lathe and mill at the same time, along with most of the tooling I needed. I found that I used the lathe far more than the mill. Still do. Of all the tools that will teach you about metal working, the lathe is the best ... just saying.

Depends on what you're doing with them I guess. I'm the exact opposite in that I use my mill much more than I do the lathe. Probably 3 to 1.

My friend said the same thing about getting the lathe first, as I will use it more. I kept thinking of what I would use each machine for, and every time I came to the conclusion that I would use the mill more. So I told my friend he was full of it (politely of course) and bought the mill first.

While I really like my 1340GT, I knew it was marginally more lathe than I need, but I wanted the Norton gearbox as I hate change gears. The good news is that I won't wear it out making the small stuff that I want/need. So I never bought into the 'buy the largest lathe/mill you can afford' talk. My ideal lathe size-wise would be a Hardinge HLV or copy, but I could never afford one. Oh well.

My point is that not everyone uses these machines in the same way, nor has the same needs/wants.

 

[mikey]

True, Bill, true ... we all have different needs.

I don't buy into the buy the biggest whatever thing, either. I think you should settle on a size that suits your current and projected needs, then buy the best one you can afford. I can afford to buy any lathe I want but I chose an Emco lathe and Sherline machines; in their respective classes they are very good machines.