Rebuilding a cheap lathe

[Jake M]

@Jake M

It was not an unfair snipping given how most people would take it as a blanket dismissal of using carbide tools/tooling on a 7x.

I said, "If it's in his wheel house". Eric is a self described woodchuck. 60/40 he's got a white wheel or a wet grinder somewhere close by. "If" it's in his wheelhouse.

I said "If it comes with something, run with that", and I said "They all can work." Hardly a blanket dismissal in any way.

i said, "Easier coming up to speed". Let me quote your whole paragraph-

In fact, I would go so far as to caution anyone brand new to using a lathe to be aware that yes, carbide tooling has its place, but research and understand is required before buying into it. Learning basic turning with HSS tooling first is a good idea as is learning to grind and hone HSS tools.

We're not saying anything different.

 

[markba633csi]

"and another fellow who lost his entire arm to a circular saw. There was an electrical short, he got shocked and his right arm, which was holding the saw, jerked the saw up into his left arm. The arm was so messed up that the doctors amputated it".

Had the guard had been disabled or removed?

 

[SouthernChap]

Thanks for the info. I'll pick up some spindle oil and use that.

I don't wear jewelry of any kind, so that's not an issue. I do work with power tools rather frequently and in my time I've known more than a few people who didn't respect the power that power tools have and they paid a price for that. I know one guy who cut the tip of his thumb off with a table saw, another fellow who drove a nail into the bone in his leg with a framing gun, and another fellow who lost his entire arm to a circular saw. There was an electrical short, he got shocked and his right arm, which was holding the saw, jerked the saw up into his left arm. The arm was so messed up that the doctors amputated it.

In short, I'm extremely conscious of safety. I'm not familiar with all the safety precautions one should follow when working with a metal lathe so I very much appreciate the tips on that.

One other thing you may, probably, already know is the general "No Gloves" rule*. Better cold or dirty hands than no hands.

As for the mini lathe, as others have said, it will be a project itself to get it fit for use (and that would be the case even if it was in pristine condition) but it will teach you an awful lot (I speak from recent experience).

If you're into the idea of machine fettling, modification and upgrading, then you'll enjoy yourself tremendously getting it up to scratch, and as I said, learn a lot.

To learn what you need to know, I'd recommend binge watching the Blondihacks channel on YouTube.

Particularly these playlists:

Absolute Beginners, Start Here!

If you've never even touched a machine tool before, but want to learn, start here!

youtube.com

Lathe Skills

This is an educational series to help you learn to use your metal lathe. Watch them in order for best results! Satisfaction not guaranteed, especially if you...

youtube.com

These two playlists should give you a good grounding.

For mods, fettling and improving the mini lathe, the following few YouTubers' channels are worth watching:

We Can Make That Better
Steve Jordan
Artisan Makes


If however, you're a goal orientated type of hobbyist, who is less interested in the tools and tooling, but more in what you can make with the tools, then any mini lathe may well be a frustration to you and you'd be better off either with a new larger lathe (maybe something like a 9" swing lathe, the Chinese machines seem to get better the bigger the swing) or a well looked after, used 'old iron' lathe (something like one of the smaller Craftsman or Atlas or Southbend lathes) or maybe, if you really want a small, small lathe, a Unimat, Hobbymat or Prazimat lathe. There's apparently a reasonable supply of these little, well-made European lathes (that seems to be the 'inspiration' for the modern Chinese mini lathe) on the used market in the States.

*Up until recently, I used to wear the very thin nitrile medical exam gloves (they would snap, tear or break well before they dragged a hand in) to keep cutting oil, other cutting fluids, etc., but given I was chucking multiple gloves away every time I was in the workshop, I started to feel bad about the waste and damage to the planet so I stopped.

 

[SouthernChap]

So, I know I’m going to be berated for saying this, but…

I don't think berating people is this forum's style and especially not when you've posted such a sensible message.

 

[Eric S Dunn]

So, I know I’m going to be berated for saying this, but…
I have 3 lathes, one of which is a 7x10 Chinese mini lathe.

The lathe you have is a serious project in and of itself. The work to get it correctly working is usually extensive. An awesome learning project but…. The working window on the 10 inch length makes using it almost impossible for anything but the smallest of parts.

If you’re going to invest your time and new knowledge to make this machine run correctly, I would recommend purchasing a longer lathe bed from Little Machine Shop.

I think you would find the usefulness of the small lathe much greater with a longer bed.

Just my 2 cents.

John in Mn


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Appreciate the input. I thought about that, even looked into it. The biggest that the Little Machine Shop can get me to is 16" ... which is still smaller than what I want.

This one fell into my lap for free so I might as well learn what I can with it, hopefully without spending too much money on it. I don't mind the time to clean it up and the cost of changing the belt and whatever worn bits and pieces is no problem, but spending large amounts to upgrade a machine that is too small for my purposes is probably not the wisest way for me to go. I think I'd rather put that money toward the larger machine that I've been eyeballing.

 

[Eric S Dunn]

One other thing you may, probably, already know is the general "No Gloves" rule*. Better cold or dirty hands than no hands.

As for the mini lathe, as others have said, it will be a project itself to get it fit for use (and that would be the case even if it was in pristine condition) but it will teach you an awful lot (I speak from recent experience).

If you're into the idea of machine fettling, modification and upgrading, then you'll enjoy yourself tremendously getting it up to scratch, and as I said, learn a lot.

To learn what you need to know, I'd recommend binge watching the Blondihacks channel on YouTube.

Particularly these playlists:

Absolute Beginners, Start Here!

If you've never even touched a machine tool before, but want to learn, start here!

youtube.com

Lathe Skills

This is an educational series to help you learn to use your metal lathe. Watch them in order for best results! Satisfaction not guaranteed, especially if you...

youtube.com

These two playlists should give you a good grounding.

For mods, fettling and improving the mini lathe, the following few YouTubers' channels are worth watching:

We Can Make That Better
Steve Jordan
Artisan Makes


If however, you're a goal orientated type of hobbyist, who is less interested in the tools and tooling, but more in what you can make with the tools, then any mini lathe may well be a frustration to you and you'd be better off either with a new larger lathe (maybe something like a 9" swing lathe, the Chinese machines seem to get better the bigger the swing) or a well looked after, used 'old iron' lathe (something like one of the smaller Craftsman or Atlas or Southbend lathes) or maybe, if you really want a small, small lathe, a Unimat, Hobbymat or Prazimat lathe. There's apparently a reasonable supply of these little, well-made European lathes (that seems to be the 'inspiration' for the modern Chinese mini lathe) on the used market in the States.

*Up until recently, I used to wear the very thin nitrile medical exam gloves (they would snap, tear or break well before they dragged a hand in) to keep cutting oil, other cutting fluids, etc., but given I was chucking multiple gloves away every time I was in the workshop, I started to feel bad about the waste and damage to the planet so I stopped.

Thanks for the comment.

Been through Quinn's entire repetroir already (except for the miniature train stuff, which is of no interest to me) and I'm working my way through Artisan Makes content now. Haven't heard of the other two, but I'll look into them.

I'm of the "wouldn't it be nice if I had something to do" type of hobbyist. Well, if I'm being completely honest, I'm more of the "wouldn't it be nice if I had something interesting to do so that I have an excuse to put off doing those things I need to do" type of hobbyist.

 

[BCNU6OF1]

I don't have any experience with the Chinese stuff, but...free is a great place to start in my opinion. I'd take it apart, clean it up with one of the aforementioned chemicals and pop it back together. A lot of people have fun with those little lathes, and it will get you some idea of what you will want when you get a new to you lathe.
My only advice is freshly cut metal can be sharp. Lol.
And everyone on here is usually more than willing to offer advice or ideas if you need help.

 

[Eric S Dunn]

"and another fellow who lost his entire arm to a circular saw. There was an electrical short, he got shocked and his right arm, which was holding the saw, jerked the saw up into his left arm. The arm was so messed up that the doctors amputated it".

Had the guard had been disabled or removed?

I remember it, but not the details. That happened a long time ago, back in the 70s.

 

[VicHobbyGuy]

There are a few members on here with 7x lathes, all will say roughly the same thing about headstock bearings, spindle and bedway length.

Not all will agree with your list.

 

[VicHobbyGuy]

As I understand, on those 7x lathes the gears are the weak link.

IMO, (and in my experience) plastic change gears are preferred, and work well. If the 7x lathe is a Sieg with Hi-Lo transmission inside the headstock, those plastic gears are breakable. More than one 7x owner has switched those transmission gears to metal and then changed back to plastic because of the noise.