mini lathe question

dave sutton

dave sutton

Banned
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93212

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=RT110-0800

http://www.homier.com/detail.asp?sku=03911

does anyone have any of these 3 lathes? if so which is recommended. i keep going back to the harbor freight one.


there is an article that stated they can be reamed out to 13/16 which seems like enought to accurately tap a shaft. has anyone done this?


i also want a rear chuck. is it possible on any of these? does anyone have a rear chuck on a mini
 
I think that by the time you get all that is needed , you would be better off to buy a cuemaker lathe setup. The only thing is if you want to cut threads etc then a metal lathe is what you need . But if your main interest is cuemaking and repairs , then get a cue lathe.
Neil
 
dave sutton said:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93212

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=RT110-0800

http://www.homier.com/detail.asp?sku=03911

does anyone have any of these 3 lathes? if so which is recommended. i keep going back to the harbor freight one.


there is an article that stated they can be reamed out to 13/16 which seems like enought to accurately tap a shaft. has anyone done this?


i also want a rear chuck. is it possible on any of these? does anyone have a rear chuck on a mini
Click to expand...

Check out this site
http://www.mini-lathe.com/
You really can't go wrong with any of them. Even if you get something else later you will always find a place to the lathe in your shop for various jobs. They also really keep their value for some reason. You can sell one for almost what you paid for it with your eyes closed. It is also a real lathe and learning tool as you become a machinist. Cue makers lathes you can't make parts or do much of anything along the machining lines. Get one, you will have a lot of fun with it for very little investment.
 
The advantage to Harbor Freight is they stock parts and will sell them to you if you got the machine from them.
 
cueman said:
The advantage to Harbor Freight is they stock parts and will sell them to you if you got the machine from them.
Click to expand...

i know chris thats why i keep going back to that one. i have been offered and old craftsman 101 but i cant find much info or parts online. i only googled it
 
conetip said:
I think that by the time you get all that is needed , you would be better off to buy a cuemaker lathe setup. The only thing is if you want to cut threads etc then a metal lathe is what you need . But if your main interest is cuemaking and repairs , then get a cue lathe.
Neil
Click to expand...


macguy said:
Check out this site
http://www.mini-lathe.com/
You really can't go wrong with any of them. Even if you get something else later you will always find a place to the lathe in your shop for various jobs. They also really keep their value for some reason. You can sell one for almost what you paid for it with your eyes closed. It is also a real lathe and learning tool as you become a machinist. Cue makers lathes you can't make parts or do much of anything along the machining lines. Get one, you will have a lot of fun with it for very little investment.
Click to expand...

thanks guys for the info but i have a cuemakers lathe. i want a dedicated lathe for just doing tips/ferrules and hopefully tap shafts.
 
dave sutton said:
i know chris thats why i keep going back to that one. i have been offered and old craftsman 101 but i cant find much info or parts online. i only googled it
Click to expand...

Dave, if your going the 101 lathe route let me know what parts you need. I dont have much in stock right now but I get them often. If there is something you need asap. I can make a few calls.

Dont forget a 101 only has a threw hole of 17/32". That is if its a 6" model. The general statment of 101 can be applied to the 12" version as well. If a craftsman product is stamped 101. in the model # it means its made by Atlas.

J
 
dave sutton said:
i know chris thats why i keep going back to that one. i have been offered and old craftsman 101 but i cant find much info or parts online. i only googled it
Click to expand...

Once more with feeling

ALL the Chineese 7 x lathes are the SAME lathe.
They are made at the same factory in China - only
the paint color differs.

Parts:
LittliMachineShop sells every part for these lathes.

FWIW - a rear chuck won't do you much good on
one of these lathes - it won't stabilize a shaft because
too much still sticks out the back - so it will still whip
unless you support it some other way - unless you plan
to do lots of work on 12 inch shafts.

practice more google.

Dale
 
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yes thank you. I know a rear chuck will not support a shaft however I have an idea for a steady rest system with a live center for cleaning shafts. So I dont have to use my main lathe for that.
pdcue said:
Once more with feeling

ALL the Chineese 7 x lathes are the SAME lathe.
They are made at the same factory in China - only
the paint color differs.

Parts:
LittliMachineShop sells every part for these lathes.

FWIW - a rear chuck won't do you much good on
one of these lathes - it won't stabelize a shaft because
too much still sticks out the back - so it will still whip
unless you support it some other way - unless you plan
to do lots of work on 12 inch shafts.

practice more google.

Dale
Click to expand...
 
Is it just me

Is It just Me, or has anyone else noticed the price of the Homier Speedway version of these lathes. It looks like They recently jacked the price up 100 bucks, but yet They are still out of stock.

I was gonna say to go with that one because It's 12" centers, and the others are only 10". I was thinking more bang for the buck since I have one, but I think I only paid 299 for Mine.

The others are right about them basically being the same lathes, and most are manufactured by the same overseas company called Seig I believe. There may be a few differences in some of the controllers & a few other parts, but they share alot of the same parts, and as mentioned Little machine Shop is a great source of them. I've dealt with them, and everything has went very smoothly.

I turn metal parts mostly on mine, but do ocasionally make or modify cue parts too. I'm probably going to set it up for an extra tip lathe soon, but won't try to get any collar work out of It. I would just get a bigger lathe for something like that. I guess where there's a will there's a way though. Just seems like it would be alot of will.:D

Greg
 
Cue Crazy said:
Is It just Me, or has anyone else noticed the price of the Homier Speedway version of these lathes. It looks like They recently jacked the price up 100 bucks, but yet They are still out of stock.

I was gonna say to go with that one because It's 12" centers, and the others are only 10". I was thinking more bang for the buck since I have one, but I think I only paid 299 for Mine.

The others are right about them basically being the same lathes, and most are manufactured by the same overseas company called Seig I believe. There may be a few differences in some of the controllers & a few other parts, but they share alot of the same parts, and as mentioned Little machine Shop is a great source of them. I've dealt with them, and everything has went very smoothly.

I turn metal parts mostly on mine, but do ocasionally make or modify cue parts too. I'm probably going to set it up for an extra tip lathe soon, but won't try to get any collar work out of It. I would just get a bigger lathe for something like that. I guess where there's a will there's a way though. Just seems like it would be alot of will.:D

Greg
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With the dollar in the shape it is look for a whole lot more imported products to skyrocket. I called my supplier of Moori tips a few days ago and he said he was out and was holding back on ordering more as he said his supplier jacked the price 25% because of the exchange rate.

Dick
 
I bought a 9 X 20 Harbor Freight lathe a few years back. it was 'on sale' plus I had a 15% discount coupon. the final price wound up being less than a $100 more than that 7" model.

it only had the .750 hole thru the headstock, too. maybe if a lot of people wrote letters to the company president, they would modify newer models and have a larger bore thru the headstock.

worth a try people....:confused:
 
You might be able to ream out the spindle to 13/16
You would still need to buy a bigger chuck because the stock one will only let 5/8 pass through
 
chuck bore

chuckpilegis said:
You might be able to ream out the spindle to 13/16
You would still need to buy a bigger chuck because the stock one will only let 5/8 pass through
Click to expand...
Most chucks ahve room to bore the id a little.They are easy to take apart and to check how much material is on the inside.
 
I have the micro lux version of the mini lathe, it costs more, but is better made. It's the same company making them, but this is made to a better standard. It has a speed readout, which I love, and the quick release tailstock. I use it for tips, ferrule and have applied epoxy finish a few times with a homemade extension. They're hand machines. I just wish it was easier to tweak the gibs when nessecary. It seems that they bury the allen head screws under or above anothe piece and can't get to them without removing something else.
Dave
 
I bought a Homier Mini Lathe 2 Years ago for tips and Ferrules and it works great. The Spindle hole is already big enough and all you have to do is buy a bigger chuck. No need to make any mod's.
 
I would like to get a mini lathe so I can tap shafts and not use my big lathe to do that.

Right now I need atleast 3 lathes. Also I want to have my shaft lathe at dead center at all times. Right now I do everything on my hightower and I offset my tailstock to taper. I dont want to move anything.
 
be1163 said:
I bought a Homier Mini Lathe 2 Years ago for tips and Ferrules and it works great. The Spindle hole is already big enough and all you have to do is buy a bigger chuck. No need to make any mod's.
Click to expand...
He wants to work on the joint end of the shaft
With a stock mini lathe I dont think it would work
At least not with my mini
.75 spindle bore
.625 chuck bore
approx .85 joint diameter

Also the standard chuck is big enough for tips and ferrules
 
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