Coffee In My Sugar: A Scissor Knurler / Lathe Question

mikey said:
Totally understand the cost issues. The reason I suggested the PM1340 is because it is ideal for what you have in mind. The spindle bore will take your 37mm stock easily and it is a Taiwanese lathe with a good build. It has all the features a good engine lathe has but in a smaller package and at a steal of a cost for what it is. Another option is the 1236T; it is also worth a look.

Believe it or not, I'm actually looking at this from a cost standpoint. If I was going to do prototype work or small production work then I would want to start off with a lathe that can do that kind of work. It will NOT pay to buy a small hobby class lathe and then trade up to a 1340; it will cost you more to do it that way. I would also opt for a new lathe that will work right out of the gate instead of having to deal with wear and functionality issues.

You should also understand that fully tooling up a lathe will cost you nearly as much money as the lathe does, if not more. This is less of a concern if you can recover those costs by selling what the lathe produces so if your marketing survey looks good and you think you can make a go of it then buying a lathe like this might just be the best bet for you.

Perhaps you might discuss this with some of your family members who would invest some money in your dreams. If my son came to me with this idea, I would buy the lathe for him and tell him to go for it. Something to think about, maybe?

Good luck to you with this.
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You're a good guy. I hope to do the same for my son some day. Your insight is valuable and I agree with everything you've said. But, there's still that cost problem... the upfront one.

I'm still soaking up all the advice and exploring options. Hopefully I can find an affordable solution.

Thanks again for the quality advice.
 
Shars may not stock them any more, but Travers does (their TTC brand):
www.travers.com

TTC Quick Acting Clamp Type Knurling Tools

Make Perfect Knurl Patterns with TTC Quick Acting Clamp Type Knurling Tools. The quick-acting clamp-type knurling tools from TTC offer long-lasting performance. They allow for a faster setup so that you can readily start working with them. Their rugged construction and scissor-type knurling...
www.travers.com www.travers.com

You can always use a lantern or 4-way toolpost instead of a QCTP, to get around the shank size restriction. HP is important, as it the rigidity of the saddle - with those Sieg-style 7" swing bench lathes, you can see the saddle flexing when trying to do a deep knurl.
 
LooseNut said:
Is this the tool you're referring to:
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I couldn't find a Shars Scissor Knurling Tool.
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It is. I do like the clamp nut on my Eagle Rock over the Shars. I can put a ratchet on the Eagle Rock and really clamp down, little tougher with the knob on the Shars. I do the tightening with the lathe turning and am always a little uneasy with the Shars knob bumping the spinning chuck jaws with my hand. It's safer on the Eagle Rock with the ratchet way far away from the chuck jaws. One of the projects on my "list of good intentions" is to either tap a new nut for the Shars from some 3/4" hex stock on hand or just run a hardware store nut/washer in place.

Bruce
 
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The G4000 is a 9x19 lathe, for $100 more you could get the G602, a 10x22 lathe, almost 100lbs heavier (1/3 again the weight of the 9x19), a little larger swing, 1" spindle bore vs 0.78".

Buying new from Grizzly this seems like a much better option if budget is keeping you from getting the lathe you really want. Size wise the G4000 is a little more mobile, 250lbs so 2 people can move it without equipment. The G602 is 330lbs so at the limits of moving it without mechanical help.

I just bought an Enco 9x20 to play with which is practically identical to the G4000 (it was close and cheap :) ). It really isn't a bad small lathe, not at all in the same class as the 7x mini-lathes. There is an active community for them and a ton of DIY improvements out there for it. These DIY mods are popular though because stock it has some shortcomings.

They have been around since the early 90s and were sold under a lot of different brands Grizzly, Jet, Enco but they are basically all the same, so there are a lot of them on the used market. Marketed as both a 9x19 and a 9x20. Jet also offers a longer bed version as a 9x29.

Grizzly's 10x22 is not the same as the PM and Weiss 10x22 lathes.


Figure buying either a 9x19 or 10x22 new you will lose half if you sell it. $800 + partial cost on whatever tooling doesn't transfer to have a lathe now vs in several years doesn't sound that awful to me. It can also handy to have a smaller lathe around and those 9x19 and 10x22 lathes don't take up all that much space (about 3 feet long).
 
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DavidR8 said:
In my noob-ness I see the one from Shars and a scissor type as the same as compared to a bump style.
But that could be a false equivalency.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Not sure what benefit there is to scissors vs clamp style, but these are preferable to the bump type (push against the work from the tool post side) because they apply pressure on the work piece evenly don't put a strain on the lathes spindle bearings.
 
I haven't used the clamp type, but I do own a scissor type(now that this thread has shown me the difference!). I will say that the down side to a scissor type is that the torque on the pivot bolt is REALLY sensitive and needs to be pretty accurate to get clean cuts when moving on the Z axis, particularly with a heavy cut.

That clamp style seems like it fixes that issue. That said, I still can get great knurls with the scissor type as long as I do shallower cuts or pay particularly attention to that pivot bolt.
 
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