Starting to outfit a home shop. Need some advice

Thanks for your insight and advice. I appreciate the time you took to reply.

Frank
 
Sunpilot said:
I'm retired with a lot of spare time and I want to get into machining. I had a long lost education in machining, when I was very young, and I have a lot to learn or catch up on. I'm thinking that I want to start with a nice lathe and mill. I have room in my garage for machines, so that won't be a problem. I've looked at some used stuff online but they don't come up very often out here in Arizona. On top of that, I'm not sure I would know a good machine when I see one, or even worse, a bad machine when I see one and I don't have anyone knowledgable to go with me. So, I think a new unit would be the best way to go. I've looked at the Asian websites and see a lot of offerings but I can't figure which are the better ones and which to stay away from. I'm sure budget is a good place to start so I'm thinking about $4500 for the lathe to start.
Click to expand...

Precision Mathews or Grizzly 12×36.

If you start looking at the lathes smaller than 12×36 you start seeing things that will make things harder to do on the lathe.
You definitely want power cross feed,
You definitely want easy access to the compound lockdown.
I find the power lever on the carriage a necessity.
Also in this scale of lathe, you can pretty much cut any English thread without switching end gears.
And finally, these lathes are heavy enough (1200 pounds)
Gunsmithing lathes have better bearings in the headstock than similar but non GS lathes.

As to the mill, they really come into their own at 1000 pounds (but more weight is better.)
You will want a knee mill (4-axis).
 
If you plan things out in advance, you will be happier with your shop. Before you start installing your equipment do a proposed layout of your shop. (It will change,but it will give you an idea of what can be done.) Get a lot of good florescent lighting. Get all the 110 vac wiring installed. I have a duplex box every 3 feet where possible. Each wall and the ceiling have its own circuit. Get all your lighting wired. I have white pegboard where ever possible on the walls. It helps reflect/disperse the light, and it holds a tremendous amount of tools where you can see them. Put a couple of automatic recoil wiring reels in strategic locations. You will always need plugs in the center of the room and other locations. Plumb in all of your compressed air lines (Don't use PVC). Basically get your infrastructure completed before you start moving in your machines. Good luck
 
Welcome to the forum. I started down this rabbet hole before I was fully retired. 1st machine was a used Jet 9x49 VS knee mill. Came with a Chinese very poor quality vice. Added a new Kurt vice, very nice. Spent over a year looking for a used lathe. Looking at the outside of them doesn't tell me much. Finally bought a new PM1440HD. Quality Tools has been good about taking care of a few minor issues. The lathe is OK but it is Chinese. That said it is a lot of lathe for the $. My metal working is in a corner of my manufacturing building with lots of 3 phase available. Even if I had to be in a place with only single phase, I'd get 3 phase tools and a rotary converter. Lathe came with a DRO, I added one to the mill. Recommended. As for all the accessories/ tooling, wait until you have a need. As for cheap tooling, some is fine, others a struggle. My business was full of computers and CNC equipment. For hobby one offs, I don't feel the need for CNC.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top