Let's Talk About "Micro" Lathes

[RaisedByWolves]

A question I'd like to pose to Taig users.

Their stock motor is rated 1/4 h.p. My original Atlas 618, a far more heaftier lathe also had a 1/4 h.p. motor. I never saw it as being deficient, within the lathes limits. So why does a Taig need a comparably rated motor?

Not all 1/4hp motors are created equal. The rotor diameter and where or at what RPM the motor develops the rated HP matters a lot.

In the video I posted earlier, that motor makes its HP from near zero rpm (for arguments sake, but I have it set to 280RPM in use) all the way to full RPM of 4500.

So basically it all depends on how the motor is designed.

I overpowered that lathe as this lets the motor run cooler at extremely low RPM. IIRC the original motor was an industrial 1/3hp unit.

 

[skogkatt007]

As a for instance, does this motor look like it would be sufficient for a Taig:

https://www.grainger.com/product/41NL03?gucid=N:N:PS:Paid:GGL:CSM-2295:4P7A1P:20501231&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoZr6qrflhgMVl0ZHAR1LTwBbEAQYDyABEgJDW_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

200rpm short of the Taig supplied motor. But I doubt that alone should be an issue.

 

[Pevehouse]

Sorry, you caught me sleeping.

I admit I’m partial to the Prazi/Hmat line, very well made and well thought out machines which were very expensive in their day.

I have the order sheet for the MD200 I sold, SD300 and SD400 I still have. Iirc the SD300 was $1800ish in the mid 90s and the SD400 was around $4K in the early 2000s.

The Proxxon line ranges from near exact copies of the Prazi lathes, to what is offered now which are similar but of lesser quality.

I’m not even sure if they are imported to the states if you are stateside, but the saddle and tailstock are now cast zinc along with other parts.

Finding these lathes is not too hard, finding one in good shape can be more difficult. They don’t wear like a traditional lathe due to their construction, but too often are left neglected and get rusty.

There’s a couple near me that I would buy for the right price to restore, but the sellers think their rusty basement machine is worth its weight in gold, when it’s actually a parts machine.

If there’s anything specific you would like to know just ask away.

Best to quote the post so I get a notice.

Figure I better chime in since I’m another Prazi owner. I have an older Prazi lathe and BF500 mill combo that is finally up and running thanks to Raisedbywolves and a machine he parted out so that I could get mine going. Got to say, I have not had a. Chance to really play with it too much but the accuracy is there, no doubt. Mine is one of the German made machines that was advertised as being .0001 or better capable and definitely believe it could be with some tinkering. I did post mine up on flea bay just to see what interest I got. I currently have a guy out of California that wants me to get a shipping estimate to ship it from Alabama to him. Reminds me now that I should do that. Honestly wasn’t interested in letting it go but since I don’t really use i, I figure someone out there may really enjoy it, so if the price is right I may let her go

 

[RaisedByWolves]

As a for instance, does this motor look like it would be sufficient for a Taig:

https://www.grainger.com/product/41NL03?gucid=N:N:PS:Paid:GGL:CSM-2295:4P7A1P:20501231&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoZr6qrflhgMVl0ZHAR1LTwBbEAQYDyABEgJDW_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

200rpm short of the Taig supplied motor. But I doubt that alone should be an issue.

The lack of torque is going to be a deal killer here over missing a couple hundred rpm.

1/20th hp is equal to a fan motor.

 

[Forty Niner]

As a for instance, does this motor look like it would be sufficient for a Taig:

Not exactly an answer to your question, but I use a Treadmill motor on my Taig lathe. It is a DC motor and with the treadmill controller it gives me a huge speed range and plenty of power. It is rated 1.5hhp at 95vdc. I'm very satisfied with the setup.

 

[skogkatt007]

The lack of torque is going to be a deal killer here over missing a couple hundred rpm.

1/20th hp is equal to a fan motor.

Yep is a fan motor.

So what would you say as a general rule is the lowest hp for a Taig. They advertise their setup capable of 1/8" cuts in mild steel with lube I think. Imo a Taig is being pushed too hard if you're doing that more then once in a while. So, typically cuts of .015-.025" in whatever is average work. What hp should be a muinimum for that?

 

[skogkatt007]

Unless I'm mistaken, it's their seldom seen watch lathes (md100?) that had the .0001" spindle runout. The md200/sd300/sd400 and I imagine their mill had .0002" on the runout.

Figure I better chime in since I’m another Prazi owner. I have an older Prazi lathe and BF500 mill combo that is finally up and running thanks to Raisedbywolves and a machine he parted out so that I could get mine going. Got to say, I have not had a. Chance to really play with it too much but the accuracy is there, no doubt. Mine is one of the German made machines that was advertised as being .0001 or better capable and definitely believe it could be with some tinkering. I did post mine up on flea bay just to see what interest I got. I currently have a guy out of California that wants me to get a shipping estimate to ship it from Alabama to him. Reminds me now that I should do that. Honestly wasn’t interested in letting it go but since I don’t really use i, I figure someone out there may really enjoy it, so if the price is right I may let her go

 

[Mauzinette]

Check out Cowells, they make pretty sweet micro lathes!

https://cowells.com/

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Yep is a fan motor.

So what would you say as a general rule is the lowest hp for a Taig. They advertise their setup capable of 1/8" cuts in mild steel with lube I think. Imo a Taig is being pushed too hard if you're doing that more then once in a while. So, typically cuts of .015-.025" in whatever is average work. What hp should be a muinimum for that?

Not having ever used one or having seen the change belt arraignment up close all I can say is at least whatever Hp they came with.

I like being able to go really slow on speed, both for torque and also detail work like threading and such.

I would look into the small variable speed DC motors and controller from the mini lathes. Might be able to find one cheap from someone who has done a servo motor controller.

Or if your serious with this machine look into Customcrafters offerings.

 

[skogkatt007]

I have no specific intention of biying a Taig anytime soon, though I've been nursing the urge for nearly 30 years, I do have a small batch of comparably sized lathes. 1/4 hp has to be overkill for something that size (their Marathon seems to be equivalent to a washing machine motor). I have for instance a smaller Boston Gear motor, for hp it says .05 TE. 1.35 amps. A chunky little monkey, weighs at least 10 lbs. Now I have yet to cast/machine or buy a pulley for it, but I want to say that has to be sufficient for a Taig/Edelstaal Machinex 5/Unimat 3/watch/clock latje. Or a Sherline. Maybe I'm wrong, but their motor seems cumbersome.

I'm also eyeing a 1/8 hp 3600 rpm motor. Again I would expect that to be sufficient (more so).