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If, for example, I needed to trim a AL 16od8id 8mm spacer down to 5mm ... would a full-size lathe be too big?
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How much lathe is too much lathe?
- Thread starter adamgoldberg
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Bill Gruby
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If you can mount the part you are big enough,
"Billy G"
"Billy G"
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Are you considering getting a lathe? What do you consider as "full size"?
#1 What do you think, or know, you want it for?
#2 Have you got room for the intended lathe?
#3 How much are you prepared to spend?
#4 What sort of machining experience do you have?
Cheers Phil
#1 What do you think, or know, you want it for?
#2 Have you got room for the intended lathe?
#3 How much are you prepared to spend?
#4 What sort of machining experience do you have?
A big lathe can make some small jobs difficult. We are here to help you, but a bit more info would help us too
Cheers Phil
4
4GSR
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A 20" Lodge & Shipley lathe may be a bit too much to do something in the 5mm range. But to trim up a piece of material 12" diameter, it's was perfect!
My 9" South Bend lathe may be ideal for trimming something 5mm in size.
My 9" South Bend lathe may be ideal for trimming something 5mm in size.
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- Nov 23, 2014
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- 2,634
If you are planning on turning small diameters (5 mm is fairly small) consider the max spindle speed of the lathe also. Tom's Techniques (great site, Tom Griffin is an excellent teacher) recommends spindle speeds of " 400 / work diameter " for plain carbon steel. Math works out to around 2000 RPM's for turning a 5 mm diameter. You'll be hard pressed to find a 20" lathe (for example) that spins up to that speed. In fact, a lot of 12" gear head lathes only go up to 1400 RPM's. You can do your work at a lower speed, but the surface feet per minute of material removal will not be optimal. We're pretty much all hobby machinist's here, not production shops, so optimal goes out the window and we work with what we have. The math on drilling an 1/8" hole in brass works out to around 8000 RPM's, my highest spindle speed lathe tops out at 2000 and that works fine.
Like mentioned above and on many other threads on this site, look for the largest lathe you can afford that fits in your shop. If you're buying used iron, if everything is working you'll be able to get your money out of the machine if you decide to upgrade down the road. An in great shape, well-tooled South Bend heavy 10" from 1954 has depreciated to it's bottom dollar so the only thing you're losing is the interest on your money if it had been setting in the bank. Of course you'd be missing out on all of the fun running the machine! Happy Hunting!
Bruce
Like mentioned above and on many other threads on this site, look for the largest lathe you can afford that fits in your shop. If you're buying used iron, if everything is working you'll be able to get your money out of the machine if you decide to upgrade down the road. An in great shape, well-tooled South Bend heavy 10" from 1954 has depreciated to it's bottom dollar so the only thing you're losing is the interest on your money if it had been setting in the bank. Of course you'd be missing out on all of the fun running the machine! Happy Hunting!
Bruce
What is the "work envelope" of your planned work.
What is your shop space budget and what about your wallet?
We have had the disease for years and lost count at 8 lathes years ago.
We get what we can find and are always looking for the next one.
Had a few craftsman variants and the small hf one that we gave away as it needed work.
You constantly upgrade and collect tooling as you go.
They come with whatever and go with less...
Currently have 3, a Logan on a bench we cannot get to...A 14.5 SB that an antique dealer begged us to take for $250.00 and our 16 X 54 L&S.
for the small stuff and fast find we suggest the small hf 4 X 10 lathe as it has not changed in years and they maintain a parts supply.
Ours had broken back gear inside and bad belt.
Was making crankshafts by offsetting work so nasty interrupted cuts.
The friend was able to order parts and is using it.
The 3 jaw chuck on ours was very repeatable meaning you could remove the work and return it with little error.
Variable speed via a know we great.
They do go on sale and never show up on cl.
If you need larger work then get the small one for now and watch for the next one...
We were not looking for the SB but had to help out a friend and take it...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk
What is your shop space budget and what about your wallet?
We have had the disease for years and lost count at 8 lathes years ago.
We get what we can find and are always looking for the next one.
Had a few craftsman variants and the small hf one that we gave away as it needed work.
You constantly upgrade and collect tooling as you go.
They come with whatever and go with less...
Currently have 3, a Logan on a bench we cannot get to...A 14.5 SB that an antique dealer begged us to take for $250.00 and our 16 X 54 L&S.
for the small stuff and fast find we suggest the small hf 4 X 10 lathe as it has not changed in years and they maintain a parts supply.
Ours had broken back gear inside and bad belt.
Was making crankshafts by offsetting work so nasty interrupted cuts.
The friend was able to order parts and is using it.
The 3 jaw chuck on ours was very repeatable meaning you could remove the work and return it with little error.
Variable speed via a know we great.
They do go on sale and never show up on cl.
If you need larger work then get the small one for now and watch for the next one...
We were not looking for the SB but had to help out a friend and take it...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk
B
British Steel
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There's also spindle collets for small work, my 13" Holbrook has through collets from 1/16 to 7/8", from there up it's chuck work and I have those from 4" up to 10"...
In a hurry I've gripped a small 3-jaw chuck in the 10" 4-jaw and used the 4-jaw to set eccentrics, 3-jaw to grip (repeat) parts.
Dave H. (the other one)