what is a cheap lathe setup that works?

catscradle said:
Not that I'm going to go buy a lathe, but if I'm going to read this thread I need certain knowledge. What does #2MT and #1MT refer to? :confused:
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The "MT" stands for "Morse Taper". The taper, usually refering to the tailstock quill, that your live center or drill chucks insert into. #1MT is the smallest and is common on a lot of the smaller wood lathes and metal lathes. Machine lathes usually use a #2MT or #3MT, depending upon the size of the machine.
HTH

Sherm
 
Sherm
Can you empty your emails some day so I can talk at you some more. They come back saying box is full.
Thanks
 
cuesmith said:
The "MT" stands for "Morse Taper". The taper, usually refering to the tailstock quill, that your live center or drill chucks insert into. #1MT is the smallest and is common on a lot of the smaller wood lathes and metal lathes. Machine lathes usually use a #2MT or #3MT, depending upon the size of the machine.
HTH

Sherm
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Minor nit, and not really of any relevance, but there is actually a #0 MT. The Sherline lathe tailstock has a #0 MT. It's pretty small, like I said, irrelevant...

....but on the subject of #1 MT, it is hard to find some centers for that size ! I've been looking for a #1 MT 'drive center', the kind that is used for driving wood turning, it's got a 60deg center plus 'barbs' radially around the outside to grab the wood (the kind that leave that distinctive pattern in the headstock end of the turning). Anyone know of a source, and possibly the proper name of this dohickey ?

Dave
 
DaveK said:
Minor nit, and not really of any relevance, but there is actually a #0 MT. The Sherline lathe tailstock has a #0 MT. It's pretty small, like I said, irrelevant...

....but on the subject of #1 MT, it is hard to find some centers for that size ! I've been looking for a #1 MT 'drive center', the kind that is used for driving wood turning, it's got a 60deg center plus 'barbs' radially around the outside to grab the wood (the kind that leave that distinctive pattern in the headstock end of the turning). Anyone know of a source, and possibly the proper name of this dohickey ?

Dave
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Like this pitifull excuse here? This came from a old craftsman lathe I got years back, and was rusted in place, as you can tell from the plier marks. Seems like you use to could get through sears, but have no idea if they still have them or not. Ebay would be another possibility. Greg
 

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DaveK said:
Minor nit, and not really of any relevance, but there is actually a #0 MT. The Sherline lathe tailstock has a #0 MT. It's pretty small, like I said, irrelevant...

....but on the subject of #1 MT, it is hard to find some centers for that size ! I've been looking for a #1 MT 'drive center', the kind that is used for driving wood turning, it's got a 60deg center plus 'barbs' radially around the outside to grab the wood (the kind that leave that distinctive pattern in the headstock end of the turning). Anyone know of a source, and possibly the proper name of this dohickey ?

Dave
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My first metal lathe was an Atlas/Craftsman It was about 4X10, it had 0 MT centers and a solid spindle. I wish I would have kept it sometimes, it was pretty stout for a liitle lathe.
If you search tool sites for "spur center", I think you should find what you are looking for.

Tracy
 
RSB-Refugee said:
If you search tool sites for "spur center", I think you should find what you are looking for.
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Thanks for the info Tracy, it helps to use the correct name for something when searching the Internet :). Nothing has come up searching for "#1 MT Drive Center Thingy" :(

Dave
 
Cue Crazy said:
Like this pitifull excuse here? This came from a old craftsman lathe I got years back, and was rusted in place, as you can tell from the plier marks. Seems like you use to could get through sears, but have no idea if they still have them or not. Ebay would be another possibility. Greg
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Pitifull ? You have no idea ! I should post a picture of my home-built Gingery lathe, it's a perfect mate for the center in your picture :) And now that Tracy has told me it's proper name, I'll be searching various suppliers including Sears and ebay.

Thanks again, pardon the interuption ... please carry on with the original thread topic ...

Dave
 
RSB-Refugee said:
My first metal lathe was an Atlas/Craftsman It was about 4X10, it had 0 MT centers and a solid spindle. I wish I would have kept it sometimes, it was pretty stout for a liitle lathe.
If you search tool sites for "spur center", I think you should find what you are looking for.

Tracy
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I recently got an Atlas 6 x 18 at a garage sale. What a little gem this thing is, and it runs beautifuly and is pretty heavy duty for what it is. I only paid $25.00 for it, their asking price but I would have paid $100. or more if they asked. Surprisingly, you see them go for $200 to $300 on ebay, I guess there are some fans of this little lathe.
 
macguy said:
I recently got an Atlas 6 x 18 at a garage sale. What a little gem this thing is, and it runs beautifuly and is pretty heavy duty for what it is. I only paid $25.00 for it, their asking price but I would have paid $100. or more if they asked. Surprisingly, you see them go for $200 to $300 on ebay, I guess there are some fans of this little lathe.
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Does it have a spindle bore? Mine didn't and the only chuck it had was a 4 jaw independent.

Tracy
 
RSB-Refugee said:
Does it have a spindle bore? Mine didn't and the only chuck it had was a 4 jaw independent.

Tracy
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It has a spindle bore of about 17/32. You couldn't put a shaft through it. I got a lot of stuff with it. 3 and 4 jawed chucks and jacobs chuck for the tail stock, face plate and some other stuff. What turned out to be nice is it is the same thread on the spindle as my Delta wood lathe and I can use some of the same parts on both lathes. If you ever find one the old Delta wood lathes they are great.
 
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