/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1491585
>prices are prohibiting
so the cheap chinese one will do the job? there should be a ton of info on how to fix the quirks and features since its so mass produced

What do you want to turn?

>>1491586
The Schaublin 70 is an high end Swiss precision lathe very sought after by horologists and even collectors. For my purposes it is overkill and insanely expensive.
The sense of the post is: is there something in the middle?
I'm aware there are dedicated forums to improve chinese mini lathes but eww, you have to be lucky to not get a bad specimen in the first place and that wrecks my nerves.

>>1491589
mainly brass. Max 30mm in diameter and 120mm in length. I'd like to have around 500w.

>>1491590
>I'm aware there are dedicated forums to improve chinese mini lathes but eww, you have to be lucky to not get a bad specimen in the first place and that wrecks my nerves.

a bad specimen is one that has a particular problem without a fix online, if it did you would be able to return it to the reputable retailer you bought it from

essentially, buy it from a good retailer, check that everythings there, make sure all the parts seem fine ( no chipped teeth on gears, leadscrews move freely, you can change jaws on the chuck, etc. ) and if anything's bad - complain to where you bought it from. nothing to get anxious about.

A watchmakers lathe? But your looking between £100-£200 price.

Or make one.
https://www.teepublishing.co.uk/books/lathes-other-machine-tools-and-how-to-use-them/building-a-small-lathe/

>>1491585
Vintage-
stuff like the Unimat DB200 was the go-to for many years, insanely popular so expect to pay good money for a good tool
New-
Proxxon FD series, also horrifically expensive and popular... not entirely sure if 'good' and costs a bit more than its probably worth- in saying that they're one of the few new lathes which is made to some quality standards

Don't even waste your money on the Chink shit, its really not worth anything but landfill and fixing one is just throwing good money at something you shouldn't have done in the first place

>>1491596
The hell read better anon. I don't need a watchmaker lathe, just something small, and of better qualoty that chink shit. I can spend up to €1000. Also 500w chinese lathes cost no less than €450.
>>1491598
Proxxon are very low powered and yikes overpriced imho.

>>1491602
Just as a word to the wise, see if you can hunt around for torque specifications on their motors.
Basically someone throwing "500w" on something means its either drawing down 500w and inefficient as a hit-miss engine from the 1920s, or they're just making up a number which is kinda around 500w, or it is actually a high quality motor which is both efficient and produces good amounts of power.

That's sort of where I've seen the big disparity on power tools is the plethora of garbage motors and you will have to pay money for a legit one

Just make one.
Plenty of plans out there.

>>1491585
machine your own lathe

>>1491606
>>1491629
What makes you guys think I have access to an entire machining workshop when I'm on the werge to buy a fucking ching chong turds turning mini lathe?

>>1491604
Electric motors are very efficient, even a shit one is able to put out 90% of absorber power.
The problem is the transmission, in order to obtain a demanded RPM. In cheap machines, gears or belt pulleys are way preferable over digital RPM contol since the circuitry will be inevitably poor and will dissipate tons of power and probably giving shit torques.
A mechanical transmission might be less practical to use, but the motor will always spin at its optimal speed.

>>1491640
Just buy parts and put it together.

>>1491596
>Or make one.
>>1491606
>Just make one.
>Plenty of plans out there.
>>1491629
>machine your own lathe
>>1491658
>Just buy parts and put it together.

lololol

>>1491640
maybe you can buy an already modified chink lathe from someone who has found something better

>>1491673
it's quite odd I can't find used chink lathes in my area...
>>1491598
I'm doing a research on ENCO UNIMAT lathes. They look lovely and definitely cheaper than fucking Schaublin.
Do you know a model with built in screw cutting?

>buy chinkshit lathe.
>Use lathe to make metal gears to replace chinkshit plastic gears.
>Machine better lathe with shit lathe.
>Become lathe god because so much experience.
Checkmate.

>>1491585
>mini lathe,
i've been interested in this too lately.
I just stumbled on this YT channel recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nvnkQWsq-0

He specializes in mini-machining equip like mini milling machines, mini lathes and stuff.
fyi- i think he does have a website that sells the stuff too. but his yt vids are 100% just straight honest info, no crap like hopped up loud music hipster commercial marketing crap

pretty good, down to earth basic info. has some pretty good comparison vids where he talks about the features of different models

>>1491790
Yikes
https://youtu.be/DIEb-pzfwjQ

>>1491790
Is for wood only?

>>1491764
>Do you know a model with built in screw cutting?
I think the DB's bigger brother the SL-1000 might have had that. Not sure if it was standard or a bolt on

>>1491640
OP. Stop acting like a twat.

I'm building my own lathe.
I don't have a machine shop.


I have aluminium and steel stock, hacksaws, a power drill, rasps, files and a fucking set of wet'n'dry paper.

2x 12V dc motors with a combined power of about 1/2hp.

A little tip for you.
There are firms out there that will send you free samples of their lead-screw driven linear rail systems....FREE.
Use one of those for the ways, build an aluminium mount for the motors, buy some gears and and buy/make your own chuck.

Now fuck off.

>>1492085
>I'm building my own lathe.
>I don't have a machine shop.
>I have aluminium and steel stock, hacksaws, a power drill, rasps, files and a fucking set of wet'n'dry paper.
>2x 12V dc motors with a combined power of about 1/2hp.

Please show photos and videos of your progress because this is awesome if it works. Don't wait until you finish or fail, please, but go ahead and give us some info whenever you can. I'm particularly interested in that free thing you use for the ways, and how you made your own chuck with those tools.

thanks for any info you can provide.

>>1492085
The hunk of shit you are building will only good to make plexiglass dildos if you are lucky.
You clearly have no idea of all the issues in building a machine that works metals and can hold a reasonable amount of precision. Reasonable, I'm not talking about high precision.
You can DIY a wood turning with the tools you listed, but forget a metal one.

>>1491585
sexy AF .... i know that's probably a little wierd for a human to write, but stillllll....... imean, just lookit the attachment set .........

>>1492106
Still in design stages but I'm absolutely convinced it can be done manually. Also, my pleasure comes from the making of things that move.... I'll get bored with it once I've built it probably

I'm using pic related for inspiration. If this 16 year old can do it with 3d printed parts... I can do it with metal and a hacksaw.
Mine will be stiffer, because his looks wobbly as fuck desu.

I'll follow with a pic of the module I'll use for the ways. I actually have a few of these, so I might hack one up and use another for the cross slide.

The company that produces them has a manual dial with a readout of up to 100microns so you can move it accurately.... but I might just fuck that off and use a stepper motor and a coupler to dial it in electronically.

Basically a hybrid manual cnc lathe.

...getting there.

>and how you made your own chuck with those tools.
The plan is Billet + cut 4 channels for the jaws and use some threaded rods.

I'll post a pic of my sketch in a minute.

Link to 3d printed lathe: https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Lathe/

>>1492121
precision linear motion rails + carriage + lead screw I'm using for the ways.

>>1492115
>The hunk of shit you are building will only good to make plexiglass dildos if you are lucky.

Ah nice, I see I've found my first buyer then!

>>1492123
Overall sketch plan

>>1492124
Ah cunt. It's upside down. sorry.

>>1492124
prelim chuck design

>>1492125
and finally, the motor clamp

>>1492115
>you cannot make precision components by hand
heh.

Anything you're doing as a home gamer can be done by hand if you're careful enough.
This isn't a silicon die 5nm transistor factory - OP want's a lathe to turn brass bushings or some shit.

also
>/diy/ - do it yourself
You realise where you are right?

>>1492115
Have you never watched clickspring? The guy is making a astrological clock with files and handmade drill bits.

>>1492121
>>1492123
>>1492124
>>1492125
>>1492126

nice plan. keep us updated. make your own thread if you like.


>>1492137
>The guy is making a astrological clock with files and handmade drill bits.

"making" implies it's his current project. the antikithera or whatever is not being made by hand. Are you referring to another project? (and yeah, clickspring is incredible, and makes excellently edited videos without tons of useless chit-chat and pointless footage like so many youtubers)

>>1492138
The only thing I see clickspring not doing by hand on the Antikythera is cutting the blanks for the gears and drilling.

Everything else is done by hand right? he uses files for the gear teeth, Laps and polishes everything manually.

What other machinery has he used? I don't remember seeing a lathe, but I might be wrong - it's been a while since I watched it.

>>1492141

I watched the first one or two where he made the frame, and almost all of it was done using machinery that I would love to own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tRUVGTjLJA

I'm a big fan of his, and yeah, he does lots of stuff by hand, but the precision steps often use very nice machine tools.

>>1492085

most people aren't going to be dedicated and autistic enough to bench fit an entire homemade lathe when unfucking a chinese mini-lathe would be easier. other than learning to fit as an apprentice or being a shirtless 7 year old in a bangladeshi sweatshop there isn't really much reason to make parts by entirely by hand

out of curiousity how much fitting experience do you have and what tolerances are you working to?

>>1492171
>out of curiousity how much fitting experience do you have and what tolerances are you working to?

Zero and around 0.00dunno
Making shit is basically just a 'cheaper' version of therapy for me since my parents became severely ill.

Being able to file down bits of metal really slowly over a period of days, cutting teeth into other bits of metal and having them fit together just right is just heaven for me.

I'll likely just build it, then use it to turn more accurate versions of its own parts, fit those - rinse and repeat.

OP here

>>1492137
>>1492136
making small precision parts with files, stones and abrasives is one thing, making a machine that deals with high forces and has to keep precision like a metal lathe is a whole different deal. You need casting iron facilities, heat treatments, massive parts just to have rigidity and low vibrations.
Also horologists do a lot of hand fittings, but they also have a lot of expensive tools and machinery.
>>1491790
that's actually a good channel, might consider the unfucking the chink way

What I want to build with it are custom trumpet parts: heavy caps, boosters, and mouthpieces. They are all made of brass.

>>1492183
>need casting iron facilities
No you don't. You can use concrete.
Any cunt can cast high cement, low water concrete in their garage. Your home-build would be stiff as fuck.

>>1492189
Yeah look if you want to go hardcore DIY just for fuck's sake, then just go mine in an ore and smelt your own iron and build the first tools using rocks.
I don't want to build a lathe I want to make trumpet parts.

>>1492192
You ARE a fucking trumpet mate

>>1492196
uh...ok...???

>>1492121
This is looking cool as fuck, anon
good work

>>1491585
My mini machine shop is Sherline.
I got it all at an estate sale.
They're expensive, American made tools, but they do what I need.

>>1491847
Punishable face. Horse like teeth.

>>1491585
Precision Matthews is slightly higher quality chinese shit.

The made-in-china south bends might be good, I don't know.

Having a hard time finding the mini lathes online though for some reason... Maybe they didn't sell very well?

In other news, new surface grinders don't need wheel balancing by hand.

https://www.mmsonline.com/products/surface-grinders-said-to-eliminate-need-for-hand-balancing

>>1492509
This thing looks like the creme of cheap chink shit lathes

https://www.amazon.com/South-Bend-Lathe-SB1001-8K/dp/B007UMFWS6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

>>1492123
coming from someone also making machine tools from linear actuators drylin style ways are not the way to go

https://www.igus.com/info/linear-guides-5-mistakes-ca

>>1492546
Why?

>>1492085
>>1492121
That POS is not even close to being a lathe. Look at that ridiculously thin spindle and the overhang. That "linear ways" have 0 stiffness.

>>1492115
this pretty much

Don't get me wrong i think it is doable in fact i'm in the process of building one myself but it is way way more work than you'll think. If you want a decent starting point look at the Gingery-lathe (youtube: makercise). That thing when finished is somewhat close to chinese machines but less stiff and may creep (alu). The very least you'll need is a surface plate and a scraper. My machine uses a granite block as a base and scraped steel rails for the ways (steel is a pita to scrape but way cheaper than durabar were i live).

Building a spindle is next to impossible if you don't have access to precision ground round stock.

Overall you need a fuckton of time and skill even to reach the lower standard for chinese lathes. And sometimes you can get them for under 200$. It's only worth it if you see it as a educational project.

Aren't the chines mini lathe just mounted on t-slot extruded aluminium

>>1492121
I do agree that spindle rod is waaay too thin.

Might cut plastic though?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZjvPn2oMSY

>tfw didn't know tapers should contact more toward the thick end

>>1492639

god what a retard. one look at that gay as fuck beard and I knew he'd ramble on and waste time with bullshit so he could make a 23 minute video that probably only needed about 3 minutes if someone like clickspring made it.

>>1492649
He's usually down to business, must have been an anomaly.

Where are you in Europe OP? I'm in Switzerland, the land of Schaublin, have a couple 102s (one screwcutting) and watchmaker lathes. I've seen Myfords go for around 1k here, they would be the best bet for your size and budget. Plenty of spares available and lots of established mods out there.

There's the Czech TOS MN80 which is more rare than the Myford but apparently a better overall machine. Similar size, screwcutting.

>>1492622
>Building a spindle is next to impossible if you don't have access to precision ground round stock.

I hear they may have such things on the "Internet". You might have heard of it.

Looking into buying a lathe for a beginner as a gift. He's interested in them, but didn't mention what size. 8 x 12" or 12 x 16", which would I be better off getting him? I'm not sure how limited he'd be in projects going with the smaller size. Is the extra $200 for the larger one worth it, or this the kind of machine that after he's been at it for a year or two he'll want a bigger, more expensive lathe anyway?

t. brainlet

>>1491585
For the hobbyist, chinese lathes are more than enough.

I suggest you find an !!!-old-!!! textbook for working on a lathe. These usually go in to much deeper detail on performing accurate work on a mediocre lathe, but I doubt you will be machining motorcycle pistons.

The working methods described in older textbooks are from the time when tools and machines were much more expensive and the industrial maintenance network wasn't as built out. Every factory was "on its own" so grinding your own cutters, chafing the ways, adjusting the crossslide on an unevenly worn production lathe and other stuff was a thing the lathe operator had to know.

>>1492670
I'm from northern Italy. I can easily find old full sized industrial lathes, there are plenty of them around, but I don't have the space and a tri phase power source.
Since horology industry is virtually non existent here, compact lathes are not a common sight. There are aficionados that have vintage Schaublins, and I can find them quite easily but the prices are obviously high.
I will look into Myfords, thanks for the input. If I can't find anything, I think I will buy a chinese mini lathe at this point.

>>1492782
Well I did a technical high school so I'm familar with machining, even though I never worked in the field. I already have some old US army machinist's handbooks in pdf, they are quite exhaustive and well written.

>>1491847
Never trust anyone with gums like that.

>>1491847
The real yikes is ChuckE2009 pretending to be an authority when he doesnt even understand how a regular tailstock works.
Be wary of who you take counsel from.

>>1492121
>I'm using pic related for inspiration. If this 16 year old can do it with 3d printed parts... I can do it with metal and a hacksaw.

You know how children on youtube make shotguns out of paper mache? Thats essentially what this 16 year old kid, and by extension you are doing.

>>1492862
And?

This is /diy/ not lathes.com you fucking mongoloid.

>>1492898
>This is /diy/ not lathes.com you fucking mongoloid.

but he was right.

>>1492901
And?

>>1491854
only ones i saw he was machining metal parts

What kind of things can you even make with such a small lathe?

>>1492603
because they are made of plastic and aluminium, even the lead screw nut. https://www.igus.com/info/drive-technology-drylin-e-applications-ca everything here is very light load application

>>1492622
>Building a spindle is next to impossible if you don't have access to precision ground round stock.
you dont need stock exactly, a collet chuck from china, is already ground and makes a good spindle shaft

>>1492861
this

>>1493041
a lot of stuff. Mostly new tools for the lathe. Small stuff for repairs around the house, pieces for models or clocks etc. When i bought my milling machine i thought it was way too small but in reality most projects i do are smaller than 3"x3"x3".

>>1493071
>you dont need stock exactly, a collet chuck from china, is already ground and makes a good spindle shaft

If you don't need a chuck yes that would make a mediocre spindle shaft. I thought about that too. Some of them even have a thread in the back which may be used for bearing preloading though you loose through spindle capabilities. The surface in the front is a bit small and probably not even close to being square considering chinese quality. At some point i will probably try to mod one as a high speed or right angle spindle for my mill.

>>1491790
https://www.precisionmatthews.com/shop/pm-1022v-pm-1030v/

>>1491790
that feed reverse is a very nice feature.

>>1491640
>>1491664
https://gingerybookstore.com/cgi-bin/sc/ss_mb.cgi?storeid=*16153e19ebca01b21745af4e19&ss_parm=A88782de0511c57a64cdb1088c986540b

How to build a lathe and other machining equipment FROM FUCKING SCRATCH.

It only takes 5 min to build a lathe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBuUOO3qn30

>>1493107
>though about
ive made 7, they are already preground square, or i just do it my self, i susually hjave a klabyrith seal in the front anyways so its not much issue. i use male threads on the rear shank to preload my bearings so i dont loose through hole . the chuck is not an issue, sherline/taig use chucks with er16 collet threads on them

>>1493279
>, i susually hjave a klabyrith seal i

right. you have made 7 chucks or whatever, and you can't post coherently.

next?

>>1492898
And?
And if you want a usable tool to diy things with, you dont waste your time and money doing something stupid like this.

Much like you didnt waste time digging up raw silicon to try and build your own microprocessors so that you can post this drivel on the internet.
At what point does it end? Should I be bashing rocks together and gathering raw materials in the name of /diy/? Is buying a proper tool too much "buyfag"?

This isnt the /NonfunctionalArt/ board

>>1492961
Believe it or not, some people value building things that are functional. Especially in a thread where the OP is concerned that a chinese lathe is not going to be functional enough.
Dont be surprised when your suggestion of wasting lots of time and money on something completely nonfunctional gets shit on.

>>1493217
Yeah, the Gingery lathe gets mentioned all the time.
Makes me wonder how many guys actually manage to build it.
Also, how many guys end up buying a lathe after considering building that thing.

>>1493439
>cast aluminum bed

Im assuming they all just buy a lathe immediately afterwards

>>1493441
>Im assuming they all just buy a lathe immediately afterwards

correct, except "immediately afterwards" refers to them abandoning gingery while trying to make the first way.

so many blogs start off with enthusiasm, but after two weeks of scraping they sorta die off.

>>1493443
I downloaded the gingery books years ago and planned on doing it.
Once I realized how much scrap you needed, and scrap isnt super cheap like when the book was written, I gave up on it. Its as expensive as just buying a chicom machine.

>>1493436
>>1493438
>making your own lathe from metal is the equivalent of mining silicon for microprocessors

Wow. Im going to stop lurking here because these posts literally infected me with the poster's brain damage.

>>1493450
Good riddance, I hope the people encouraging him leave too. This isnt a kipkay tier hugbox board.

People dont like to hear the truth, but they clearly have never touched a lathe before in their life. Blind leading the blind, then whining when people with experience tell them to get a grip.

Its made to machine fucking metal by being hundreds of pounds, being large and stiff. In the hobby machining world, 500lb machines are considered toys that arent really stiff enough to take decent cuts.

If you are looking for a tool you can actually use, its not going to happen in any reasonable way.
If you are looking for an object that you will brag to ignorant people to feel all smart and special, go ahead.
Notice how the faggots "inspiration" is a tool that doesnt even have a tailstock and was prefaced with "it was made by a 16 year old", not "its a functional tool!".
He would be lucky to turn balsa wood on it.

>>1493471


Some people enjoy making things for fun. Sorry about imposing on your super serious important life on 4chan's /diy/ board.

On the plus side, At least we've identified one big stiff tool in this thread.

>>1491598
>Unimat DB200
I've got one.
The biggest problem with it is the rod ways, they're not very rigid at all and there's not really much you can do to improve that. I also have the column that mounts the headstock vertically for milling and drilling. But the rod ways again make it wobbly as hell, especially with the vise mounted on the cross slide cantilevered way out.
The biggest advantage is that it's tiny, and for the size it does a lot. It's great if you move around often. I had mine mounted to a board with a handle, with that plus a toolbox I had a machine shop I could carry in two hands.

>>1491764
>screw cutting
No. The DB200 just has an optional power feed option. They did make a thread-chasing attachment that copied a thread from a master mounted behind the chuck. It's rare, but my lathe came with one. It's rare for a good reason, it's totally useless and impossible to make a thread with any degree of accuracy.

>>1493475
>Some people enjoy making things for fun

I agree
>>>/po/ is a great board for people building ornamental things mimicking the real thing.

>super serious important life

It has nothing to do with my life, its simply being objective about the machining hobby in general.
A ton of anons over the last 2 years of so have bought lathes and mills on this board. Im all for more to do it.

Im not for turning someone away from my chosen hobby by sending them down the wrong path that will waste time and money.

>>1493425
why would i make any chucks? i make tiny spindles and tiny cnc machines from linear actuators, that arent made of plastic and aluminium, and can cut more than chocolate and candle wax. the fact that you dont even know what im talking about despuite the typos, means your toy lathe for cutting doll house furniture, that was designed by a 16 year old , means your pipe dream candyass lathe will not get off the ground. i was trying to offer up support for diy lathe, while trying to not be discouraging, even though its obvious you have no idea what your doing or how to make it. even though you are being a dick, you can still ask what ever you need and i will try to answer,

>>1491585
The main problem is a smaller lathe has less mass and less rigidity, so less precision, while small parts need extra precision, so there's kinda a soft limit to how small a lathe can be.
And that's why they don't make them small unless it's Chinese crap.

>>1493479
Serious question.

How long has it been since you came here from reddit?

You take yourself way to seriously. Consider killing yourself

>>1492121

That spindle shaft is weak as fuck, and the chuck is unnecessarily far forward of the bearing. That bearing block should have been part of that long peace where all your rods end, so the chuck is as close as possible to the main bearing. The way it is now....i doubt it will do much in aluminium.

Pic related, a mini lathe with a thic spindle shaft and no overhang aka chuck mounted close.

>>1491585

Look into "Optimum Machines". They are "German made" Of course that's a lie, its chink tech, but it's suppose to be a little better than the usual in terms of quality control and such.

I have their mill that i converted to CNC with their "bolt on" kit and it has served me well for years.

>>1492862
>>1493436
>>1493438
>>1493471
>>1493479
>>1493684
Engineer here. I design steelwork connections for tall buildings.

Did you guys even look at the sketches before mouthing off?

They look like design concept sketches. This guy is probably a designer/engineer.

There are even things in those sketches that deal with the spindle problem, the massive overhang and the stiffness issue.

For "hobbyist machinists" you retards clearly can't read drawings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWd7hNQuNxc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i20c5PwtPBM

stepper motor as spindle drive motor for mini lathe

>>1493689
Out of curiosity. Why would you cut threads like this instead of using a die?

>>1493690
because threading dies fucking suck, and you have more control over the thread fit.

>>1493689
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4ensW0qAfM

>>1493704
>>1493689
Is it better to use a regular old electric motor and add an encoder and everything to make it like a Servo instead of using a big servo as a motor?

With a servo you could use the motor torque to hold a part at a certain angle for milling on it too, instead of adding in a mechanical brake to hold position.

>>1493688

I didn't look at anything other than the green plastic machine. I just assumed he already built that, and commented. Looking at the first sketch now, yes, the overhang issue is remedied.

>>1493705
I don't know a lot about lathes but I know a little bit about steppers. it seems to me that it would be unnecessarily difficult to build a reliable closed loop feedback system for a regular dc motor to maintain the speed in such a high speed and high force application.

I don't think you'd want to use the motor torque to mill with. Not stiff enough.

There are servos and steppers with brake systems though. So that if the power is cut, the rotor says put. Again, dunno bout stiffness.

>>1493710
>>1493684
At least read his post before you start criticising, otherwise you just wasted all the time you spent criticising him, and other people's time who bothered to read your post.

>>1492771
bigger the better. get the largest mini-lathe available. even thats only a 16 or 18in between centers, and weighs just a little over 100lbs

>>1492771
that's a wood lathe anon

>>1493717

Nah. To save time, i only read posts with ether pretty pictures, or 4+ replies. As a result of that, my comment too contributed to the cesspool, but such is life. I'm just here 4 teh lulz. I'm a pretty cool guy.

>>1492192
>Well, it's an upgrade from that rusty trombone...

>>1491847

That intro scene was unwatchable.

>>1493475
>On the plus side, At least we've identified one big stiff tool in this thread.

More of a floppy, sad little feeler gauge.

>>1493688
>They look like design concept sketches. This guy is probably a designer/engineer

They look like drafts you learned to make in high school shop class

>>1491847
>lack of set screws to hold the tang means it's shit

There are a lot of reasons to hate the tailstock on mini lathes, not enough travel, tanged MT tooling taking up a full inch and a half of the travel of the quill, etc.

>>1493688
>>1493688
>guy is probably a designer/engineer.
funny thats the first thing i though based on his replies >>1493688
>that deal with the spindle problem, the massive overhang and the stiffness issue
yeah he still made it use 608 bearings and 8mm rod, so no he didnt solve anything

>>1493471
>In the hobby machining world, 500lb machines are considered toys
the boomerest post
>MUH BIG IRON
>MUH USA
i make useful components on a 90lb chinese mini lathe you geriatric retard
anything that spins can be a lathe
accuracy is a result of skill, not rigidity
go build another model train

>>1493857
>i make useful components on a 90lb chinese mini lathe you geriatric retard
>anything that spins can be a lathe

I make lots of cool stuff on my Harbor Freight 7x10, but compared to a tool room lathe it actually is a toy, in the sense that the diameter that I can work with is more like 3 inches for aluminum and maybe 1.5 inches for steel. I can do lots of "real machining", so it's a real lathe, but the limitations cannot be denied.

this is one of the funnier meme arguments on /diy/, and I hope it never goes away. which reminds me, whatever happened to the shot of black meme.

>>1493919
A sharp positive tool anon.

>>1493920
>A sharp positive tool anon.

this. a sharp positive tool can cut any material at any feed rate.

marry me.

>>1493857
>accuracy is a result of skill, not rigidity

maybe a certain amount :^)

>>1493041
Basically just making bigger cylinders of metal into smaller cylinders of metal. So basically nothing useful.

>>1494033
with lots of precision features on said cylinder....

>>1494075
Oh boy my cylinder is 0.552" instead of 0.55"

Honestly what projects could you really do with one of these? They seem like an expensive way of making replacement pins and washers.

>>1494078
grooves, tapers, angles, etc.

use the damn compound

>>1494082
And all of those little derivatives of cylinders result in..?
I'm asking about projects, not features

>>1494094
taper shanks, O-ring grooves, etc.

Plus there is much to be said for the ability to true up something round.

>>1494096
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bU6Hxvu7OU

>>1494094

>>1494078
Most can turn a buttplug to the exact shape of their colon.

You can't do that on a mini lathe though. You'll need a lathe that turns 12" billet at least.

>>1494078
A lot of it is just an expedient way to modify or make basic hardware, true. I used mine too make a forge burner out of brass and stainless tubing. Though I eventually upgraded to a larger size burner that was made of black iron pipe, which I only used my drill press to make. I used it to modify journal sizes a little on some of my AK builds when a miss matching kit gave me a fairly large interference fit for a gas block or whatever. I tried to use it to make a quick change tool post for the lathe, but I was working with scrap stainless of unknown type, and the lathe lacked the rigidity and the motor lacked the power to effectively cut past the work hardening do I ended up finishing it at work on a real machine (my lathe is one of the Chinese 9x20 lathes. I do not recommend it). I mainly use the work machines now if I can help it. The inconvenience of waiting for a chance to do it at work is worth it given how shit my lathe is.

>>1494303
true enough on the low power part, gotta do stuff at a much higher RPM usually

>>1494138
anon... surely you meant to post a die and swage set...

>>1495202
yes

>>1494094
I used my mini lathe to make shims, spacers, standoffs, and bushings. and to turn the right diameter for threading with a die.
you can buy all that stuff in any sizes you need, but when you're broke it's very liberating to be able to make your own hardware.

>>1492148
People complained about his machining it. Later episodes are all done by hand

>>1491602
>Proxxon are very low powered and yikes overpriced imho.
Remember, for lathes you want RIGIDITY. If you have two lathes weighing the same, one with a 550W motor and one with a 2kW motor, the one with the 550W motor is the superior lathe. Overpowered = understiff. You can always turn the same part more slowly, you can never make your lathe less flexible.

Was reading a forum post and came across something called NRO Non-Repetitive Runout.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/245397772_Effect_of_Grease_Lubrication_on_the_Nonrepetitive_Runout_NRRO_in_Ball_Bearing

Thought y'all mind find it interesting.

In the rotational runout of a bearing, there is repetitive runout (RRO for short), which is
synchronized with the rotation, and there is nonrepetitive runout (NRRO for short), which is
not synchronized with the rotation. RRO is attributable to mismatch (biased thickness)
between the center of the rotating raceway and the center of the mounting surface. In the
case of rotation of the inner ring, the mismatch between the centers of the diametrical
surface of the inner ring and inner ring raceway. On the other hand, NRRO is attributable to
the structure of the rolling bearing, the geometrical form errors of the bearing parts and so
on. For example, it is well known that the physical relationship among the inner ring, outer
ring and balls does not restitute in the NRRO of rolling bearings. It was made clear that the
largest element was the frequency of cage (fc for short) and fc was affected by the mutual
diameter differences of the balls, anis-allocation of the balls (1) and conducting electricity (2).
Furthermore, it has recently been clarified (3) that the fc component is affected by the
fluctuation of lubrication inside the bearing. In the case that the runout accuracy of a
bearing is measured on the nanometer level, the affect of factors other than geometrical
form errors is not negligible. One of the authors previously performed experiments under
the purposeful fluctuation of lubrication (3). In such a case, the condition does not imitate the
actual situation.

>>1493857
>i make useful components on a 90lb chinese mini lathe you geriatric retard

Post pics, id love to see what kind of tolerances you hold.

>>1497282
A common misconception is that weight equals rigidity which is not inherently true. You want the weight in the right places. 85% in the base wont do you any favor. Yes it may dampen some vibration if it's cast iron but you wouldn't have to deal with those if you had (dynamic) stiffness in the right places to begin with. That's why you don't want rod bed lathes of any size.

I'd go for a mid priced or used china lathe. Look for a decent spindle (<0.01mm), halfass scrape to some bearing or moglice and put on a solid toolpost. That's probably the best you'll get in a small package for a decent price. The bedways should be quite straight from factory. Even when made in china.

>>1497404
useful =/= tight tolerances.
You can do simple bearing fits and press fits on a small chinese lathe. If you want to build machine spindles for a living yes it's not the right machine.

>>1492121
>flexes cutting air

>>1497282
Proxxon is literally autism
never ever go near it

>>1493690
>1 tool to cut 100 different threads
>100 different dies to cut 100 different threads

>>1497828
Post pics of your useful projects you have made.
Make us believers

>>1497979
What does that have to do with my projects? Just read a book or documents like "principles of rapid machine design" or look at stefan gotteswinter on youtube. His lathe is chinese and modded they way i said.

The worst thing for stiffness is not too little material but to little contact between parts. That is the reason why moglice/DWH works so well. I may post some pics of glued and scraped linear rails for a mini lathe. I haven't been in my workshop for the last 5 weeks due to time constraints but threads on here may live that long. I tested if i can just copy DWH by using JB Weld which actually worked quite well. Though it doesn't make that big of a difference as JB Weld is nearly as expensive as "the real" stuff where i live.

My chinese machines are nearly completely vanilla. I only took them apart, deburred and lubed everything. Spindle runout is way below (0.01mm, i can't measure more precisely). Parallelism and flatness of the ways is not perfect but good enough. The only problems are the really bad gibs (-> low stiffness, already bought moglice but didn't have the time yet) and the quill fit is not good.

My guess is, that the really bad reviews of mini lathes are from people who bought from the ultra low budget sellers. I bet those machines are the "B stock" of chinese manufacturers. The mid and high-priced machines are mostly useable out of the box.

>>1497994
mini lathes are most often bought by beginners who don't yet know how to fix everything wrong with them, which makes them sort of a poor choice for said beginners.

>>1497996
Yes but compared to old industrial lathes you have a gigantic amount of tips, tricks, mods, and plans on the internet. Without the ability to learn nobody is going to be a capable hobby machinist. And gears, spindle bearings etc. for the minilathe are very affordable. If one gear or spindle bearing brakes on an old industrial machine, chances are the cost to repair is more than the complete machine cost.

Also no restraints modding (fucking around with) cheap chinese lathes. On a Schaublin or Hardinge i would really hesitate before filing the tailstock base for fit (like some guy on youtube did to his minilathe).

>>1498011
all true, but without the machinery to actually do said things (mills, grinders, bigger lathes, etc. big enough to work on the lathe parts) they may be limited to buying aftermarket parts half of the time.

Reason to upgrade the shop with used industrial equipment too. I have a Chinese mini lathe and a 7k lbs Pratt and Whitney from the 40s. A Taiwanese mill from the 80s and a Tormach 2018. A Harig 618 ballway (USA) and working on converting the mini lathe to CNC.

Those little sherline lathes are pretty nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nesWMy7Msec

>>1497994
>My guess is, that the really bad reviews of mini lathes are from people who bought from the ultra low budget sellers. I bet those machines are the "B stock" of chinese manufacturers. The mid and high-priced machines are mostly useable out of the box.

You talk a LOT and have been giving recommendations that go against convanteional wisdom btw.
Your "guess is" that everyone but you is retarded and quote
>"i make useful components on a 90lb chinese mini lathe you geriatric retard"

Prove it fag. You dont get to be an authority and talk a lot without proof.
Make us take you seriously anon, it should be real easy with how great you are and how adequate your equipment is.

>>1498088
I'm not him but I have made a few things on my mini lathe that you could consider useful.

lathe + mill is of course a better combo for making stuff

in other news, the Tormach M machines are lower in price now.

https://www.tormach.com/1100m/

>>1498098
>not making the cuts off-center

>>1498570
It works pretty well btw.

>>1498820
Nobody NEEDS a military grade sniper rifle flash stealthier.

>>1498824
okay.jpg

burning chunks of powder slinging out the side aside, works okay

anyone know if it's a good/bad idea to change the gearing on a mini lathe for more reduction? Not going to use the change gears at all on the CNC conversion but I think if I can run in the motor at a higher RPM it will have more torque.

yes it will limit the max-RPM and as stated I don't need the threading gear box.

>>1498098
Do you need to harden it? Just mild steel?

I wouldnt mind building one either, seems like it could be cool.

>>1500467
I don't know if hardening it will help it to resist the thermal/chemical/mechanical erosion of the gunshot or not, but it wouldn't hurt as long as you draw it back down so it isn't brittle.

This is my southbend 10K lathe the day I brought it home.
It was from a high school and saw little use.
Using a VFD with the original 3 phase motor.
Runs like butter and will hold better than a thousandth.

>>1500579
>was from a high school
go over it carefully, it may have been gang raped

>>1500444
some notes, because I'm having a hard time understanding your discussion of engine output

power ≠ torque ≠ revolutions per minute
power = torque * revolutions per minute <=> convert to units in Watts (Newton*Metre/Second) <=> convert to units in Horsepower (pound-feet of work per minute)
torque = force, usually pound-feet or kilogram-decimetres or similar
rotations per minute = speed
work = distance * force

if you change your gear ratios, you'll either go faster (+RPM) at the expense of force (-torque), or you'll increase force (+torque) at the expense of speed (-RPM). some engine types have a predisposition to certain kinds of output: diesel engines have longer strokes and acting on this leverage have higher torque, but they don't go as fast because they trade RPM for torque. these are all based on circumference ratios between driven : driver wheels or absolute circumference of gears, which is teeth, still driven : driver.

as long as your gears are laser-lined, they mesh well, and they're appropriately lubricated, you should be able to transition up gears pretty far before you experience problems. in vehicles, higher performance engines sometimes are equipped with "overdrive" gears (6th and higher) which actually multiply the output speed and drop torque like mad. I expect something similar to happen as your lathe spins up into the equivalent of "sixth gear." the torque is very low but the speed is really high, so depending on what you're trying to lathe, it might or might not be an advantage. as the engine encounters resistance at these speeds, it doesn't have the torque necessary to overcome that resistance. I don't know what the threshold would be for a lathe. with our equipment, for systems of immense resistance (e.g. really fucking heavy machines) they crawl along on hydraulic final drives, because when you drop 1000 horse into a hydraulic pump (low res) your engine won't stall even though you're pushing something that weighs 300 tonnes.

>>1498088
>Prove it fag. You dont get to be an authority and talk a lot without proof.

>You talk a LOT and have been giving recommendations that go against convanteional wisdom btw.

What i talk about IS conventional wisdom. Besides the fact i don't even own a mini lathe and i wasn't the one claiming to make good parts on a mini lathe what proof would be ONE example. There are thousands of reports and threads of people making stuff with mini lathes. Just open your eyes, read and combine with a bit of common sense. You can even find a lot of spotting patterns from people checking the "scraping".

pic related. My prototype of a homemade lathe stiffer than the mini lathe. I know how long it takes and that it's not worth it unless it's for educational purposes. Btw those rails were prepared on a shitty chinese lightweight machine before scraping. Flat and parallel to <0.03mm. That was mostly the steel moving because i fly cut the surface and it was a low quality scrap piece.

After scraping these are as good as i can measure (<0.01mm). One could build a lathe bed like that without any machining tools at all. The base for building a lathe in my opinion is a surface plate and a good dial test indicator.

>>1491790
I have that exact model.

DO NOT BUY.

DO NOT BUY ANY 7" MINI METAL LATHE.

Video is made by a shill. Completely ignores huge fucking flaws in this lipstick pig piece of shit. The ways are butter soft, don't drop anything harder than plastic on there. I've dented the ways with fucking aluminum dropped from 3 inches.

Nothing on it is straight or true. The tailstock base isn't fucking cut anywhere near right. It's so fucked up I can't type it all.

Yes, it can turn and cut metal. It does have some power and it's over the whole range of the RPM. But that's not the full story; despite the power and nice controls like fwd-reverse (quite handy), the fucking thing has so much delay between input (like turn fwd) and anything else that it's practically useless for stuff like turning threads.

It's dressed up shit. Avoid at all costs. A beat up rusted South Bend left in the rain for a month is ten million times better than a brand new fucking nigger mini-faggot piece of shit.

>>1500687
...you scraped the sides of the bedway? why?

>>1500786
It's a box way. You need confinement in 2 directions. The other possibility would be a third rail in the middle just for front to back confinement like some machines use. The normal reason would be to get less cantilevering plus symmetric and small distortion when the machine warms up which I deemed overkill for a small hobby machine but scraping three rails parallel can be about the same effort as scraping two parallel and one parallel at right angle (or any other angle). I just used scrap I had so 2 it is.

>>1495202
Oh that's how that works. That's badass.

>>1500972
ah ok, how stable are those ways with just cap bolts? or are there tapered pins too?

>>1497892
>>1491602
>tfw once bought a Proxxon mini mill
Easily one of the worst decisions I ever made. Basically had to caress the steel off <0,5mm at a time or it would overheat in seconds.

>>1502430
True enough. Though with my G0752 mini lathe I eventually figured out if you crank up the RPM to 800 or higher and use a sharp positive rake tool you can actually remove a decent amount of material, with it's max cut maxing out around a normal/medium cut for a bigger lathe at 350 RPM or so.

Also position the tool closer to the center line of the cross-slide for more rigidity, it made a huge difference.

>>1492121
Dude, I appreciate the effort but this can't be called anything but a toy. You could machine plastics maybe no prob or maybe light brass work but it won't be clean or accurate. If you're serious about wanting to make a lathe, look up gingery lathes. I'll be honest, I tried to go down that path a couple years ago. Its a bitch and a half to get it to spec. Scraping the ways with tolerance is an art in itself and very time consuming. Understanding how you obtain mechanical accuracy and precision is important too if you ever need to actually use a lathe. Honestly, the best thing to do is to go with a chinese lathe. The grizzly line is kinda upgraded from wholesaler and theres tons of online support for them fuckers. Not to mention you can use itself, to upgrade itself, thus ridding yourself of the pitfalls of a shitty lathe. Once you understand the foundations, then maybe try building a lathe to your specifications. It will be a much better experience.

>I spent 4 months fucking with greensand casting only to get stuck on scraping the ways

>>1493443
Scraping is singlehandedly the biggest challenge for completing the workshop from scratch series. The same reason I dropped the project and went with a hazard fraught mini lathe.

>>1491847
Lol, Chucky is the last guy with authority on machining. Hes at best a glorified welder. Hell, half the comments on that vid are shitting on him for being incorrect. He bitches about plastic gears when those are very easily upgraded using the lathe itself.

>>1491847

goddamn how do you get past the first minute

>>1500687
>surface plate
a requirement honestly

>>1503340
I think the difficulty of scraping is exaggerated. There's a lot of very good information coming out since a few years. Getting a machine scraped in perfectly takes years of experience yes but even a beginner can extremely improve a chinese lathe as it doesn't have to be perfect. Getting things flat is actually pretty easy and for the alignment and measuring stuff there's youtube and instagram.

>>1503429
>even a beginner can extremely improve a chinese lathe

what surfaces would I scrape on this? the back side also is finished. And what sort of improvement would I expect in my machining?

And the real question, what are the odds that I ruin it?

>>1503432
I wouldn't even touch the bed unless i'm absolutely sure it is not flat. Even then you're probably better of tweaking it by screwing it on a sturdy table (you can (un)twist the bed by that). You can spot the carriage on the ways and probably get 3 point or even less than that bearing. When you scrape to half decent bearing you'll improve the rigidity of the machine A LOT. If you want you could correct geometrical errors like the squareness of the axes (you want the lathe to cut very slighty concave when facing.

The most you can gain is stiffness and smoother operation/no binding by better bearing. You can't really ruin it as it is probably in a very bad state to begin with. People even use lapping compound on their ways which is comparable to random scraping blue spots without respect for any measurements. The worst thing you could do is scraping every way concave so everything is rocking and wearing really fast. Or taking so much off that a screw will bind. If the geometry is off you can always correct it with more scraping. As i said i wouldn't go for perfect on a chinese machine. Medium is way good enough for hobby use.

>>1503445

thanks. I'll give it a look; lapping might make the most sense after securing it to a solid surface.

>>1503448
I would always prefer scraping but of course you'll need the tools for that. Lapping will help with binding but has no geometric constrains so it will definitely make the geometry worse. Most probably in the way i said (btw convex not concave). Basically like a accelerated wear of the ways. Also there's always the danger of embedding lapping compound in the soft cast iron which promotes further accelerated wear.

Btw a lapped finish is a bad choice for cast on cast hydrodynamic bearing. At least you want some oil pockets in the shorter sliding partner.

>>1503455

thanks. I won't lap it.

>>1503456
Start with buying some blue and just try to inspect the state of your lathe. Take an indicator and play around trying to measure the geometry like DIN8606 and play till you're confident in your measurements. After that you can decide if you want to scrape/lapp or do nothing.

>>1503461
>Start with buying some blue

I've been meaning to buy some anyway, so now I will.

>>1503464
That blue is the complete opposite of what you want though. It is fast drying while spotting blue never really dries. I use Diamant blue but i think there's also a similar dykem produkt.

>>1503471

thank you sir.

>>1503472
this one is what you'll need

>>1503473
lol oil based, don't get it on your hands it will never come off (it will take a few days of washing)

>>1503456
and if you do lap it, use the timesaver stuff that turns non-abrasive after a few minutes of being mixed with water. So if you do imbed any in the cast iron it won't wear the machine faster.

>>1503576
I heard from a lot of people that they have problems with that. I use isopropanol to clean stuff between passes and only clean my hands because of the iron dust which gets everywhere. I have no problem with the blue going somewhere i don't want it to.

>>1503471
the best spotting blue is water soluble paints, and a die spotting ink called canode blue, canode red, etc.

still available and if you actually end up doing scraping/spotting a lot, it will be well worth it by not staining your clothes, hands, and surface plate.

Nor requiring alcohol to clean it off, just soap and water.

>>1503464
and dykem will work for checking fit between two parts, like a taper. not optimal but certainly will work.

they used to use the soot from a candle flame to "blacken" a part for doing that kind of fitment.

Im from the states and purchased a Schaublin 102 well equipped for under a grand. Keep your eye open for a schaublin on ebay, you won't regret it. It should be easier to find one over in italy.

And for screw cutting use a die head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dez1Fq62HIQ

>>1503432
scraping does remove material, remember that.

checking contact would be a good start. Which will involve taking it apart and examining what the Chinese workers sold you, clean it out while you have it apart.

>>1491585
myford super 7

>>1504421
nice