Speedy Delivery of an eBay 7x14 mini metal lathe

[penndan]

On December 29 I did a buy it now on eBay for a chinese 7x14 mini metal lathe. The estimated delivery date was January 14, so I forgot about for later. But it was dropped off in my driveway this morning. I managed to drag the box into my garage. The snow on my driveway helped a little.
Now I can open the box and remove the big lumps of heavy metal from the carcase so I can get it into my basement where it will stay until my widow's new boyfriend has to deal with it. I'm watching youtube disassembly videos now.
Wish me luck!

Dan

 

[DavidR8]

On December 29 I did a buy it now on eBay for a chinese 7x14 mini metal lathe. The estimated delivery date was January 14, so I forgot about for later. But it was dropped off in my driveway this morning. I managed to drag the box into my garage. The snow on my driveway helped a little.
Now I can open the box and remove the big lumps of heavy metal from the carcase so I can get it into my basement where it will stay until my widow's new boyfriend has to deal with it. I'm watching youtube disassembly videos now.
Wish me luck!

Dan

Congratulations!
Did you by chance by a Sumore lathe?

 

[penndan]

DavidR
It is the blue one listed as"7" x 14" Mini Metal Lathe 550W Precision Variable Speed 2250 RPM 0.75HP sold by a guy in New Jersey. I tried finding the Summer but couldn't under that name. It came with the usual bag of tools and plastic gears. I tried a couple of price offers but the guy refused both saying that they were selling fast and he was running out. So I did the buy it now which was a pretty good price to start with..

Do you have the Summer?
Dan

 

[penndan]

Sorry, I meant sumore
and the cursed autocorrect got me.

 

[DavidR8]

DavidR
It is the blue one listed as"7" x 14" Mini Metal Lathe 550W Precision Variable Speed 2250 RPM 0.75HP sold by a guy in New Jersey. I tried finding the Summer but couldn't under that name. It came with the usual bag of tools and plastic gears. I tried a couple of price offers but the guy refused both saying that they were selling fast and he was running out. So I did the buy it now which was a pretty good price to start with..

Do you have the Summer?
Dan

I used to have a mini lathe.
I was curious because @xyndu published a video recently reviewing the new lathe from Sumore, praising its fit and finish.

 

[Aaron_W]

On December 29 I did a buy it now on eBay for a chinese 7x14 mini metal lathe. The estimated delivery date was January 14, so I forgot about for later. But it was dropped off in my driveway this morning. I managed to drag the box into my garage. The snow on my driveway helped a little.
Now I can open the box and remove the big lumps of heavy metal from the carcase so I can get it into my basement where it will stay until my widow's new boyfriend has to deal with it. I'm watching youtube disassembly videos now.
Wish me luck!

Dan

This one took me a minute to figure out.

Good luck with the lathe, I've seen quite a few of these 7" lathes on ebay at prices that make Harbor Freight seem expensive. Been wondering how they can do that and what kind of shape they turn up in. Have fun with the new plaything, and hope it doesn't take too much work to get it running well.

 

[matthewsx]

Hi Dan,

Hello and welcome

First of all, congratulations on your new machine and the speedy delivery.

If you sense some dubiousness in the replies here please be assured that it's not judgement about you or your machine choice, we don't do that here.... There are lots of members on this forum who have mini-lathes and do great work with them, we've also seen folks go through significant frustration related to poor workmanship as well. Rest assured you have come to the right place for this hobby, there are so many helpful people on here I'm sure whatever you need there will be someone who's "been there and done that".

I would suggest setting your new machine up in your garage at least temporarily and checking everything over before disassembly. You don't want to get it into the basement before finding a major flaw and it won't take long to assure you're at least starting in a reasonable spot with this machine. Most folks have to put a little work into these machines to get good results and there are plenty of guides out there for what to modify and why.

A little measuring and a few test cuts will quickly show if you got a peach or a lemon, here's one tale of woe from last year to illustrate.

First things first with a new lathe?

Been using a little Emco-Maier Compact 5 for the odd times I needed a lathe to do something, which honestly was small work and the Compact 5 did all I needed to do. I guess I have had it maybe 15 years or so, most of the time of which it has just been getting dusty. But recently I wanted to do a...

www.hobby-machinist.com

@DavidR8 started here not that long ago with a mini-lathe and has completely fallen down the rabbit hole with his shop continuing to grow.

@Aaron_W drove all the way down from far northern CA to help me pick up the 13 x 40 Bolton I traded my vintage mini (Craftsman 6") for so rest assured you are among good folks here.

Keep asking questions and poke around in the "mini" section to see what others have already done to get the most out of these machines.

MINI-LATHE & MINI-MILL INFORMATION

Whether it is a 7x10, 9x12, or 11x26, discuss any issues on mini-lathes and mini-mill counterparts in this forum.

www.hobby-machinist.com

John

 

[Mitch Alsup]

Welcome to the disease..........

 

[DavidR8]

Gosh, I hope that I didn't give you a negative impression @penndan .

 

[penndan]

Thanks for all the welcomes.
I'm pretty well satisfied with the eBay mini lathe. I have it bolted down on a heavy work bench. It's getting cleaned up and oiled here and there. The gibs came as well adjusted as I can get them.
I've been buying accessories mostly from Amazon because I get 5% back from them. I did get a couple of things from the Little Machine shop.
I did a little actual turning on a brass plumbing part. That turned out easier than I expected. Then I tried something for one of my other hobby/Pastimes - banjo building. I turned down a piece of bone to make a fifth string pip - a nut for the fifth string. You guitar and banjo people will know what I'm talking about.v