Looking to get into the hobby with either a mini lathe or mini mill to start with, advice?

J

jimsbox

Registered
Registered
Looking to get into the hobby with either a mini lathe or mini mill to start with, advice?

I will probably go with the chinese versions due to budget and space (lacking in both unfortunately). I am thinking a lathe with a vertical table to do milling as a start, then down the line the mill. Thoughts?

I have no experience yet with metal machining but have done furniture,clocks, even engineering prototypes with wood and am comfortable with precision measuring and creation of jigs for accuracy and repeatability on projects.

Jim
 
The three in one machines actually do a pretty good job, all things considered. I have one and it is power nothing, all manual and it is as accurate as I feel like being. As you gain experience and tooling you can consider DRO, CNC or bigger machines. I have been stopped only a couple of times due to size, most everything I have ever wanted to make fit in the machines. The HF 49199 big red is a very popular machine, as well as the Bolton Hardware, Grizzly, and Smithy granite series. All have some very nice machines with options for chuck and taper/tooling sizes. Have a look at those manufacturers offerings and give a shout and we can help you decode all of the mumbo jumbo and get yourself a machine to get started. Hope this helps, And don't forget pics of what you want, what you got, and what you end up makin!!!!
Wheelchair Bob
 
A lathe is the first machine you should get.In the old days,many small machine shops didn't even have a milling machine,relying on milling attachments for their lathes.

Get as large a lathe as you can afford. I don't think much of those little 9" Grizzly lathes. plastic gears and you have to re arrange the gears to cut different threads,EVEN on the little ons that HAVE a quick change gearbox. They only cut a FEW thread varieties, THEN,you have to re arrange the gear train. I've seen 14" swing Kent lathes like that. Just POOR engineering,very poor.

Grizzly sells a belt drive 12" x 36" bench lathe that will do everything you want,and is rigid enough for a milling attachment to ACTUALLY WORK. It's close to $3000.00. I like a belt driven lathe because they deliver SMOOTHER finishes than any gearhead,except for VERY expensive ones,like Dean,Smith,and Grace. Gearheads are easier to change speeds on,but no biggie. My first 2 were belt lathes,as is my Hardinge HLVH. My large lathe is a 16" swing gear head.

Everyone likes gearhead lathes for power and easy speed changes,so it's getting harder to find belt lathes of larger sizes,unless you buy an old lathe(which may be worn). If you don't know what you are doing yet,best to buy a new lathe,or take along a knowledgable friend(if you have one who's REALLY knowledgable!! No joke). I say this because over 40 years ago,before I got my first lathe,we had some "great" machinists in the maintenance area of the museum,UNTIL you asked them to cut a screw thread-a VERY basic operation. They never would. I had previous experience before I had room for a lathe. After I got my lathe,they were coming around asking ME to do stuff for them!
 
I've got an Asian 9 x 20 lathe and an X2 clone mini mill and with a little bit of work they're both good beginners machines. I bought my lathe first and then the mill a year later.

I think a lathe is a good place to start.
 
Hi Jim.

I own a 7 x 12 and it has served me well well for 5 years and I have worked it hard. OK i have done a lot of mods to it
but its not cost me a lot of cash, and its part of the learning curve.

One point to remember is that tooling costs more than than machine at any size. with its 3 morse spindle and 2 morse
tailstock you will be able to move up to a larger machine later if you want without having to change most of your tooling.

Changing a few gears now and again is not a problem once you get the hang of it . anyway its a good way to learn how the thing works.
When selecting a vertical slide go for the bigest that will fit, as ridgidity is important for good results.

Regards Brian
 
Go with a lathe to start, pick your price point and go shopping, it's easy to get caught up in the bigger better spiral and never making a start. Also remember that tooling is going to cost. A lathe, grinder and drill press has kept me busy. Although many people advise to get a mill drill and not worry about a drill press. My problem is a lack of cash, and yes I did'nt allow for tooling much to my ongoing frustration.
 
Remember the saying, One Man's junk is another man's treasure". There are several folks out there that turn out some amazing projects using 7 x 10 mini lathes and even tiny Sherline machines. Basically it boils down to what you really want to do with your machine and as you've seen, you can get all matters of opinions.

Obviously you have a computer and the internet so I suggest you do as much research online as possible and then ask yourself what monies do you have not only for the machine but for all the tooling. Also check around and see how many people have built their own tooling as this can be fun projects in themselves.

Sure, who would'nt want to have a shop full of big iron, and several out there do but then this is a hobby and that term varies greatly among anything you choose.

Good Luck with your decision!
 
Welcome to the world of machining- it's addicting.

I think starting with a lathe makes more sense as lathe work is more complex and can do things that you just can't with a mill, but milling can be done on the lathe with attachments and some creative thinking.

I started with a 9x20 asian lathe, and upgraded from it to an old-american lathe because I just found it too much of a hassle many times to try and make a part on it (Asian). looking back, I'd rather have started with the smaller 7x lathes as they are smaller, cost less, and other than smaller capacity, don't have much less to offer than the 9x20 bigger brothers, and seem to have less issues with them (and come with VS out of the box). you can then upgrade if need be for not a lot of $$$ loss, and if you decide it's not for you, it'll be easier to sell as well.
 
One thing that should come in to consideration for your first machine is, just what kind of things do you want to be working on? You can do an awful lot with the smaller machines especially if you use a little "creativity" but there are limitations. Heck, all our machines are limited to some degree. There may be a hobbyist out there with a shop to rival General Dynamics or Union Pacific but I haven't seen him as of yet (Note: If I were to win "the lottery" there would probably be one shortly after :biggrin:).

Most likely, at this point anyway, you won't really know just where this will take you but it helps to have some kind of idea to at least start with.

-Ron
 
I have made the money to buy all my equipment by taking jobs with my lathe and what else I had. I built from there. I needed a large enough lathe to take those jobs,though. Did most early work with a 10" x 24" Jet,but it was a heavy lathe for its size,and RIGID enough to do real work. Rigidity is the key.

As said,it depends upon what you want to make with your equipment,really. I happen to be someone who wants to be able to take on most anything,but you may be different in your aims. Do concentrate on what your goals are.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top