New lathe...now what?

Larry42 said:
Looks smaller than I had expected. What are you intending to make with it? I'm guessing that you will do better with HSS tooling rather than carbide. Depending on the system used many variable speed drives don't develop much power at slow speeds. You will want to use some way oil on the bed. Keep it covered when not in use so it doesn't collect a bunch of dust and get gummy. Will it cut threads?
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Doesn't appear to. This is a really tiny lathe it seems. The carriage drive is on the tailstock side, which is a first for me! No compound either, so it is really just for turning down and drilling.

I wouldn't dare trying carbide on it, you'd get just about no depth of cut before stalling it.
 
Now that you have the lathe there is no end to the things you will
'need".
 
Tell me that lighter in that picture is HUGE!! I have. Ever seen such a small lathe! What is the go of waste in that motor? Crazy, i had no idea! By what you'll be doing, i assume the rest bar and leveling isn't something you'll be worrying much bout? Can you cut threads? There is no half nut?
 
All good advice and I'll 2nd Slayer! \m/ \m/

Sent from my SM-T378V using Tapatalk
 
Wow, that is really tiny and I say that as someone who owns a mini-lathe.

With such a short bed you will probably find yourself running out of room very quickly, but it will still be a good learning experience for you.

If you plan on doing any drilling, you may want to invest in some screw machine drill bits which are much shorter in length than the standard type you find in most stores. I'd also look to see what the smallest available drill chuck you can use is. A standard 3/8" chuck will eat up most of your working length even before you add a drill bit to it.



WD40 works fine as a cutting fluid for aluminum, but don't use it as a lubricant for the machine. WD40 isn't intended as a lasting lubricant.

Most recommend a way oil like Vactra 2, but 3 in 1 oil can be used on most small lathes. Sherline says 3 in 1 oil can be used, but recommends Super Lube synthetic grease on their machines.

Super Lube

I was using my lathe in a spare bedroom for awhile. I bought a 2x4 foot piece of 1/4" hardboard to put under the lathe, and a piece of poster board behind it to keep the worst of the mess contained. One nice thing with mini-lathes is they don't throw the oil and swarf as far as the big ones, so it is fairly easy to keep it contained. The plastic spindle guard on yours will help with that too.

Welcome, and don't feel intimidated by the large lathes many members have, almost all of the information transfers regardless of size.
 
For the record, I use an ISO 32 oil on just about all lathe surfaces (ways, bearings, bushings, ... )

I tried some way oil, but it does not let me "feel" the movements on the lathe as well as the ISO 32.
This is on my G0730 mill and G4003G lathe.
 
With this lathe I mostly intend to do golf tees, rings and pens. (what I think as light work)
I'm not sure how powerful the motor is or what metals will work. Hoping it will handle some of the harder metals - not in a hurry to get things worked down, more then happy to take my time with things.

I did pick up some steel rod (think its cold rolled) so I have no idea how it will handle it..but I guess we'll find out!
I also need to do some digging on types of metals and all that good stuff.

It does not do threads witch is a bit upsetting but its fine for what I'm doing. (theres gotta be a way to use a drill to get threads done, will just take a bit of math I suppose.)

It's the smallest lathe I could find that didn't look like it was from the heart of china (that's a joke btw)

Like I said before, this is mostly just an entry lathe to see if I like machine work as much as I think I do.
If this one works for what I'm doing, I have no problem spending more money for something nice and of decent size.
I've been getting more and more interested in lathes, CNC machines, welding and blacksmith work recently, enough so I'm thinking about looking into it as a career.
Gotta start somewhere right?
 
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And on that note, if anyone knows a company that makes small lathes with more features and built well for around 500, ill return this one and get something else, not attached to it. =p
 
You will be able to do threads on your Lathe with a tap and die set. You just need the tap holder and die holder for the tail stock. You could probably add a compound and power feed pretty easily.
 
Troptics said:
And on that note, if anyone knows a company that makes small lathes with more features and built well for around 500, ill return this one and get something else, not attached to it. =p
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That is one small lathe ! :grin: I just noticed the lighter . I would think you could find a nice $500 Atlas or SB that would suit you well . Have fun learning and welcome to the site .
 
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