been looking at getting a mini lathe for the school shop (7x12). I see imports ranging from 3 to $400 and slightly larger craftsman / atlas lathes going for about the same (used ebay). I want the to use it for our go-cart / mini-bike projects in shop and I am sure I could find a million other car uses for it. Getting one at auction is impossible here in ag. country. Anyone have any experience with these little lathes? I have never run one so I am looking to learn...thanks-
I'm of the opinion that bigger is better. Because the really small lathes are so popular you can get one that is larger (and IMO more useful) for the same money or in some cases less. Besides with a bigger one you can do a more accurate job and be able to handle that LARGER project when it comes along. Frank
I have the HF mini lathe and freakin love the little SOB, but if you can swing the larger vintage craftsman, go for it, size/capacity is totally the liminting factor... Wrok rel;ated party, I'm drunk as shit at work can't type.... got my name in another freakin movie's credits.......fuck graveyard
check out www.homeshopmachinist.net or www.practicalmachinist.com i have a 10X36 Atlas with a milling attachment,it's come in handy numerous times.look for a quick-change style,you don't want the pain of all those gears when you want to thread something.if you do buy used,make sure and get one with as much tooling (3 and 4-jaw chucks,faceplate,steady rest,etc.) as possible,you don't want to have to compete for stuff on ebay-george
I wouldn't buy a lathe for 'home' use if I could not, at the very least, swing a drum or disc brake in it. There will be so many jobs you CAN'T do if it is too small to do those basics, skimming drums/discs/flywheels.
Hey guys, Dan is looking for a lathe for his CLASSROOM.Dan, you gotta start hitting the auctions!!!!! Our ranch auctions round here have lathes all the time! Also, hit the breakfast club at the local diner, might be some local that has something to doante to the school. Good luck man!
Trent-would love to find one at an auction but they are as good as gold here in farm country, nobody lets em go! Do all the mini lathes on the market right now use plastic gears? That seems like a concern?? Trent - was just down in the hills for a whole week, Tonyas grandfather passed away unexpectedly so didnt get a chance to do anything except be with the family-
My thoughts are with you and your wife, sorry to hear the news. I was in Mexico all last week anyway, you wouldnt have found me in town. I will keep my eyes open for a lathe, I run across them quite often.
a lot of high schools have been closing up their shop/auto classes latley due to budget cuts...i've seen them go on their surplus auctions very reasonable. i have a 1941 Logan 10" lathe that came out of a high school about 12 years ago.....it was resonable then,and had very little wear,just a bunch of stupid marks
[ QUOTE ] a lot of high schools have been closing up their shop/auto classes latley due to budget cuts [/ QUOTE ] Not sure if its because of budget cuts or 'trends' but the school I served my machinist apprenticeship in some 30 years ago has turned its huge machine shops into row after row of bloody computer terminals!
From what I understand ya need one that has a removeable bed right at the jaws... lets ya spin something a heck of alot larger then one that doenst have that feature... The other is to get it nice and level... hard to hold a thousandth if the beds got a minor twist factor going on
My dad bought an Atlas lathe that was made for Craftsman in the 40's-50's. It is really heavy cast materials. The weight is probably twice that of the Chinese imports. He gave 450 bux for it on ebay. Pretty nice one. He's happy.
I love my South Bend heavy 10. They aren't as sought after as the 9 inch or light 10s are, so the accessories are cheaper. I bought mine from the jewlers in Dallas that invented class rings. Came with a ton of accessories, but very little tooling. I recently bought a quickchange tool holder and some carbide insert tooling. Between selling a couple of the accessories that were geared for production work and buying some tooling I've got less than $600 in mine.
I have a 50's or 60's vintage Craftsman/Atlas and am happy with it. Sure, it isn't an 80" Bridgeport, but I don't have room for one of those anyway. It came with all the gears threading SAE & Metric - I need to replace the 3 jaw for it, but they're about $125 on eBay or the online places. Small enough to fit in the garage, large enough to do most work. Tackett
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