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

Jim,
Look around at some of the good used machines in your area. You can still find good deals out there. My brother just picked up a 10" Atlas lathe that had all the accessories-plus some, and ton's of lathe tooling for $700. I choose a lathe first myself, Got a 9" model B South Bend around twenty years ago then picked up a used Bridgeport ten years ago. Next will be a surface grinder.

Good Luck,

Tom
 
George, McGruff....it boils down really simply. A lathe is not a mill, and a mill is not a lathe. Each is designed for specific tasks that it excels in. Attachments are emergency measures, or where there is simply no way to have both. And molds are NOT the same as dies, all dies are not tools, and certainly all molds are not tools. All these are separate fields. Sure, they overlap a little, and a mold shop will have a lathe, and a shop specializing in turning will have a mill. Why? Because they compliment each other. It's as simple as that. If you want to be a die maker, or a moldmaker, then sure.....a mill is the prime tool. But for general T&D work, it takes both to be efficient.

Let's leave it at that. You guys both have the experience to back up your positions, and these contentions are not really pertinent to the decision faced by a beginning hobbyist.
 
42 said:
George, McGruff....it boils down really simply. A lathe is not a mill, and a mill is not a lathe. Each is designed for specific tasks that it excels in. Attachments are emergency measures, or where there is simply no way to have both. And molds are NOT the same as dies, all dies are not tools, and certainly all molds are not tools. All these are separate fields. Sure, they overlap a little, and a mold shop will have a lathe, and a shop specializing in turning will have a mill. Why? Because they compliment each other. It's as simple as that. If you want to be a die maker, or a moldmaker, then sure.....a mill is the prime tool. But for general T&D work, it takes both to be efficient.

Let's leave it at that. You guys both have the experience to back up your positions, and these contentions are not really pertinent to the decision faced by a beginning hobbyist.
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Wow, I think you just stated what I did in everyone of my posts, which George seemed to miss completely. I never said one time to buy a mill, I said examine what you want to make and base your purchase on that.
 
For some reason I don't like to see newbies mislead. Maybe it's because,even after all these years,I can still remember how hard it was to get correct information. The computer helps,but can also mislead.

Mcruff,I did read your post several times,but thought it was outside the needs of the home hobby area,and COULD be misleading,perhaps. I can get passionate!
 
I would definitely say you should go with a lathe first. I got my lathe first (a 7x14 minilathe) and a mini mill a short time later. I have since gotten a larger mill, and sold my mini mill (for close to the price I bought it for), and am looking to upgrade my lathe as well. I don't regret getting the smaller machines first; I learned a lot, and the initial cost was low enough that I could justify it. I also made quite a few projects, and had a lot of fun ;)
 
One advantage I think a lathe has over a mill from a beginners perspective is you only have 2 axis to deal with instead of the 3 a mill has.:)
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for the input and I welcome more from all of you, some disagreements developed but that is okay, gives me more points of view and a deeper understanding. I appreciate each of you that took the time to this point. I am constrained to what I can basically put on a work bench. I already have an old chinese floor drill press that I have tuned to give me reliable and predictable results. I am leaning towards the MicroMark 7x16 lathe to start with. I will initially just be screwing around on material to get the feeling of how to use it and then eventually will try to build a steam engine. Once I have the funds available I will probably get the mini mill from Little Machine Shop. I am thinking the fixed post model as opposed the the +/- 45 deg model, seems it would be more rigid once set up properly. Any input on that plan of action? I really don't want to give up floor space for fixed 400 lb+ machines, I do have a 2 ton shop crane on casters that I can use to lift out of my pickup if I go with a larger/heavier lathe and mill. Seems like I could do most of what I want to do with the smaller ones though, primarily learning to use them to begin with. I will eventually build a cnc router which will be on its own base to use to make parts for protypes and complement the lathe and mill, but even that will only have a work surface of about 24in x 24in. If I have to do any thinig bigger, I can farm it out.

Again thanks for the input and please continue.

Jim
 
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.
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Nice to know :)
 
Anybody have any thoughts about the Grizzly horiz/vert bench mill as follows?[h=1]G0727 Mini Horizontal/Vertical Mill[/h]
 
jimsbox said:
Hi guys,

Thanks for the input and I welcome more from all of you, some disagreements developed but that is okay, gives me more points of view and a deeper understanding. I appreciate each of you that took the time to this point. I am constrained to what I can basically put on a work bench. I already have an old chinese floor drill press that I have tuned to give me reliable and predictable results. I am leaning towards the MicroMark 7x16 lathe to start with. I will initially just be screwing around on material to get the feeling of how to use it and then eventually will try to build a steam engine. Once I have the funds available I will probably get the mini mill from Little Machine Shop. I am thinking the fixed post model as opposed the the +/- 45 deg model, seems it would be more rigid once set up properly. Any input on that plan of action? I really don't want to give up floor space for fixed 400 lb+ machines, I do have a 2 ton shop crane on casters that I can use to lift out of my pickup if I go with a larger/heavier lathe and mill. Seems like I could do most of what I want to do with the smaller ones though, primarily learning to use them to begin with. I will eventually build a cnc router which will be on its own base to use to make parts for protypes and complement the lathe and mill, but even that will only have a work surface of about 24in x 24in. If I have to do any thinig bigger, I can farm it out.

Again thanks for the input and please continue.

Jim
Click to expand...

I've heard plenty of good thing about the MicroMark so I'd say that's a good plan. Get it and get going! :biggrin: Once you get a handle on what you are doing you can worry about the next step and what other equipment you might want to get.

-Ron
 
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