![s-l1600[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/KKklQAp.jpg "s-l1600[1].jpg")
I didn't find a machining general or anything similar in the catalogue and I read all the links already, but what sort of lathes do you hobbyist machinists use?
I am currently changing fields and studying to be a machinist, and what little manual machining we did last year left me wanting for a small lathe that I can just use in my home and I am interested in hearing what machines you use and which one I should look into buying.
I guess my criterias are that it's relatively silent and can machine softer steels, also something that can be shipped to northern european countries.
Pic not related, it's a lathe I use at work, or same model atleast.
>>985433
The sherline lathes are fucking fantastic, if that's not too small for your needs. They will absolutely handle steels and even cast iron, just don't expect to be taking black-ass-thick roughing cuts at speed.
Pic related
>>985448
OP here, that looks right up my alley, I'll give it a look, thanks.
>>985450
forgot to mention, they also sell a similar vertical mill which uses the same motor, DRO, and CNC servos as their lathe, so you can buy one interface box and use both tools by just switching the cables over. Their CNC is based on EMC2/linuxcnc which isn't Mach but definitely enough for the home or hobbyist user.
>>985452
Yeah, I was reading up on their site, I like the optional stuff.
>>985433
>not using a chigago tools passed down for generations
>in the current year
>>985493
I can't find one to buy. Tubalcain and AvE keep buying all of this shit.
LIterally never seen this shit for a good price in California in 10 years.
>>985433
been saving up for 2.5 years now for a brand new metal lathe. shooting for around 8 grand for new manual one.. not that theres anything wrong with used. but so many times used has missing parts and sourcing parts on a 50 year old machine is gonna blow dick..
>>985448
I'll be honest:
I own a 7x14 mini lathe (specifically a Sieg C3), and, as it is, the size of that thing is fairly limiting, despite the fact that the work I tend to do is already on the small side.
I can't imagine going any smaller than that. The only reason I really went with the one I have in the first place is because I simply didn't have the space for a full-size lathe. The Sherline stuff isn't even any cheaper, and my 7x14 isn't even one of the more inexpensive ones.
Beyond that, working on a lathe as light as mine is already slow going in anything but plastic. The Sherlines are, what, half that size?
I just don't see the use over one of the Chinese mini-lathes.
Ah, this is the perfect thread to ask this. What is the cheapest, best bang for your buck lathe. I need it in metric, because lolmeasurements.
7x12 or 7x14, dunno what that is in millimeters.
>>985568
its a damn workhorse, I even used it to cut nice doorknobs from square steel stock. grandad had it for 40+ years and never had to fuck with the motor/gearbox.
I want to mod it for cnc but i think that would be sacreligious
>Need to turn down some steel shit for things I'm working on
>Broken lathe at work that no one cares enough to fix
>Boss vetoed me poking around at it because it's 220v
>"We'll get someone in here to fix it" -said 6 months ago
>Have a 25% off HF coupon for the 8th
>Really considering going and buying their tiny ass 7x10, doing the lathe work I need to do, machining a longer bed with our CNC mill, and start converting the lathe to CNC
>The more I think about it the more this seems like a good idea, since the HF lathes seem to be well-suited for CNC conversion, buying the lathe in-store saves me from shipping the damn thing, and the used lathe market around here is non-existent, unless you're looking for 60 year old pieces of machinery that have been sitting out in the elements for the past decade that are barely cheaper than a newly made machine.
Need advice on how to tackle this situation, it's not like I don't have the funds (Hell, just got a $3400 tax refund), but for how stingy I am my dad is 10x worse and he's not happy with me wasting money, especially when he's already decided it'd be a bad idea. (In the moving process so I'm living with them for some time)
2 of said parts I need to turn down, learned the hard way that rotary grinding bits don't stand a chance against this kind of steel nor are sanding belts strong enough to do anything of note with the pieces chucked up in a drill press
>>986305
>2 of said parts I need to turn down, learned the hard way that rotary grinding bits don't stand a chance against this kind of steel nor are sanding belts strong enough to do anything of note with the pieces chucked up in a drill press
In that case a 7x10 lathe is not going to do a thing to it other than wreck itself.
>>986325
Damn, thought it would work if I was real gentle with it
>>986327
The problem is, the surface is really rough, which would cause it to do a sort of quick hitting on any toll you try to use.
Which, if the material is as hard as you describe would shatter your tools.
And on a dinky tabletop lathe, it would just make the whole thing jump like crazy and break the whole thing.
You can mitigate the problems, sure, on a larger lathe you could just take thicker roughing cut to smooth the surface at the expense of your tools, and then take lighter chip, or you could take a tiny dusting chip off and hope your inserts will not shatter.
What material is that and what exactly do you want to do to it?
>>986340
Oh, it won't be as rough as in the picture, I'm going to be smoothing it out a good bit before turning it down, it's just an old picture before I got the left one really smoothed out (Was partially there in the pic, compared to the untouched right one)
I'm sure it's 4140 steel, no idea if it was tempered but my guess is no. They're barrel bushings from an old rifle I'm rebuilding, but I have to build the thing in a smaller diameter tube than the original because of ATF horseshit, needs about 1/8" taken off it it to fit (Doesn't have to be a press fit, just not loose before riveting it in place)
Also need to clean up the inside of one of them because it had to be widened to accept a longer barrel (More ATF shittery), as the endmill left a pretty nasty edge that makes mincemeat out of grinding stones.
>Other piece I have to knock 1/8" off of, along with drilling a hole right in the center (Where the stub is) all the way through.
I don't think I'll have a good time trying to do the drilling with a drill press/mill
>>986366
4140 steel you say...
It's not impossible to machine, even with a smaller setup, but if it has been heat treated for hardness, then that's a different story, and based on what you've said it resisting grinding stones, I'd have to imagine that trying to turn it is going to be bad times.
>I don't think I'll have a good time trying to do the drilling with a drill press/mill
The setup isn't the problem, but a regular old HSS drill wont bite into it.
This is sorta unrelated, but I'm at work and a FNG just blew the shit out of a 60 year old lathe because he cranked it in too fast and crashed it.
Like. It won't even turn on.
>>986493
Can you turn the chuck?
If so, does it make crunching noises
If not, can you change gears, and will any of them make crunching noises.
If not, open the back plate and check if there are like these fuse kinda things, like switches that prevent the machine from destroying itself.
Do need more information, like the angle of impact relative to the chuck.
Not sure 60 year old lathes would have safeguards for amazing fuckups like that, but you can always check.
If it was belt driven, the belt is probably fucked, that would be easy fix, but if the gearbox or bearings are fucked completely, then the FNG done fucked up, big time.
>>986366
>sten bolt
>original
>fixed firing pin
>ATF
I assume you'll be converting it to closed bolt as well?
>>986504
Just asked the guy who's taking it apart and he said the chuck won't even turn.
I'm not even gonna attempt to help, they just called the millwright. The extent of my experience is taking out old PLCs and jamming in new ones. I just press the buttons on a CNC.
>>986508
>Just asked the guy who's taking it apart and he said the chuck won't even turn.
Yeah, it's not pretty then.
>>985433
How are you supposed to get murdered by that thing? It looks safe.
Also, /diy/ what is a good machine for creating wooden 3D models of Jets and tanks?
>>986641
>>986488
So, grab some cobalt drills or some other type?
>>986505
Of course, the first bolt modification is going to be removal of the fixed firing pin and making it striker-fired
On another note, got some tungsten carbide cutters yesterday for my Dremel
Pros:
>Slices through steel like there's no tomorrow, holy shit it's something
>Ball shaped ones are incredible for deburring the inside of drilled holes through pipe
>Even worked to deburr the edges of the 4140 probably-hardened-bushing where I widened the hole
Cons:
>Really, REALLY wants to jump around. Pretty terrifying, but manageable with a chip shield around the bit and making sure when it jumps it only does so away from me
>Hard as fuck to get a straight line, maybe just because I've been trying to get straight lines with a conical cutter, but it will really dig in easily
>METAL SPLINTERS FUCK
Goddamn it's like Fiberglass 2.0: Fuck you edition. Anyone ever deal with tiny ass metal slivers and how to not get fucked raw by them? Admittedly I wasn't wearing gloves, but I was having to pull splinters out of my arms and legs where they went in straight through my clothes.
Debating if I should borrow my buddy's Gauss magnet, since I could remove probably 75% of the splinters with a magnet laying around the shop, and my buddy uses that Gauss magnet to crack HDD platters without having to disassemble them
Probably a bad idea, but I still have more cutting to do
Random pic of my drilling skills, probably shouldn't have trusted my drill to not walk on me when drilling straight through from the other side (Came out ok though since the final drill size was 3/8" so the holes there are just a bit egg-shaped)
I have a shit harbor freight lathe in muh shed. I was going to try and turn some rings today. If anyone knows a good jewelry type machining resource, I would appreciate it.
![ring-blanks_damasteel_03_960x200[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/j7t1q0K.jpg "ring-blanks_damasteel_03_960x200[1].jpg")
>>986700
>If anyone knows a good jewelry type machining resource, I would appreciate it.
Damascus style patternwelded ring blanks.
![post-29319-129174489837[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/ei6esur.jpg "post-29319-129174489837[1].jpg")
>>986726
OP here, this is also why I want a small hobbyist lathe.
Bluetongue damasteel
This and taking smaller scale orders on small parts and other stuff like that, I have been doing them on a big soviet lathe our work has, thought I'd do them at home at my own leisure.
>>986694
>dremel metal splinters
Holy shit this. I had to ream out some wheel centers for a project car, used the straight carbide cutter. I thought the shavings looked weird at first, then they started getting on my forearms and hands. The best solution from what I've seen is to just deal with the itching for a few hours.
>>986779
Shit man, I just pulled them all out with tweezers or a magnet for the ones that weren't in deep
I've had fiberglass in my hands before and it was real similar, but there was a lot more fiberglass and it hurt like a bitch for them to hang on stuff
Protip for metal splinters: Turn a sock inside out or grab a cotton ball and run it over the affected area, every single splinter will hang on it so you can find where exactly they're at and tell when you get them all
Protip for fiberglass: Blacklights make them glow, for that very reason I keep a little keychain blacklight both in my first aid kit with tweezers and on my person when I volunteer at the scout camp on the archery range (Broken arrows are a bitch)
>>986641
We have an enclosed CNC at work, but it's much larger than that. Someone started it when someone was inside, guy inside made it throw a fault by whacking the shit out of it with a wrench he had on him.
Fuckin scary, man.
>>986838
Jesus christ.
That's why we have safety clips we put on the door locks, so the doors can't be closed when someone is in.
>>986818
There's not much you can do for the metal ones. About the only thing I've found that keeps them off you are extrication gloves or regular leather gardening gloves, but then you lose a ton of dexterity. I just wear some thick cloth ones and exercise caution.
Don't pick things up with your fingertips. Don't let tools slide through your hand.
>>986838
>Someone started it when someone was inside
how is that shit possible?
did the guy come out and kill the guy that started it?
HEY MACHINISTS
HOW DO I CUT A GOOD LOOKING HOLE IN THIS SHIT WITH TIGHT RADIUS CORNERS NO MELTING NO BURRS AND A CHAMFERED EDGE TO MATCH THE STOCK CUTOUTS
>>987106
With a dremel tool and finish it with files.
>>986867
Figured as much
I think what messed me up the most was the angle I was at since I'm using these bits on a steel tube and it was throwing splinters at me (Where I got them through my jeans and jacket), and at one point I picked up the piece to move it and a pile of them slid out onto my hand (When I realized I had a problem)
![pinsetit-suora[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/NwrbxrY.jpg "pinsetit-suora[1].jpg")
Good god people, you might be in the wrong industry if metal chips bother you that much.
Wear protective clothing, gloves and safetyglasses and get one of these. If that's not enough to stop your moaning, Study to be a baker or something.
>>987109
>GOOD LOOKING
>dremel
>files
swiss army knife has the best metal tweezers and its on my key chain
the real problem is dont touch chips while they are still hot
>>987106
>machinists
>posts plastic injection molded face plate
you dont anon. you just dont. you like fascias so you put a fascia in your fascia so you can fascia while you fascia.
you buy pinch weld rubber stripping or something to cover the rough edges so it looks kawaii senpai.
>>987459
I know this is bait, but yes, you can actually still use files, even in
>2016
And yes, they are precision tools.
>>987502
Huh? Are files somehow out of fashion? What am I supposed to use when I need a file?
>>987512
Just use a CNC.
Boxford A-UD (or OD if you wanna be careful with belts) Norton Gearbox. In restorable condition, should be around £700. In Good nick, maybe £1200
Old man just got a Warco. No gearbox but very nice tbf, pump etc in built, coolant supplied to cross slide, has a compound cross slide, has t/v grooves for angle plate/ mill attachment.
Noice overall.
>>987502
dude is saying if you try to make it
>look good
using a
>file
>dremel
on automotive interior plastic (which is painted and black underneath)
it will almost defiantly look like shit
>>987239
>I enjoy having slivers in my hands
>>985433
>wanting for a small lathe that I can just use in my home
http://www.taigtools.com/
>>987822
that a ~3/4hp motor?
>>987802
Anything you cut/machine it with will do that. So the tools suggested are still the easiest way to go, and the finished product will look as good or better than any other method you use. They sell paint in stores, if whatever he's putting in doesn't cover the sides of the new opening.
>>987823
That thing is tiny. 1/3 HP if its a really compact motor. Probably 1/4 HP. No way in hell is it 1/2 HP or over.
>>987822
had one of these. Breddy gud, excellent choice for babby's first lathe. Used mine to make model steam engines. If you continue as a machinist you will quickly outgrow it.
pic related, my 1983 Mazak QT10. Ebay for $3000.
>>987855
A bit large for a hobbyist.
Still, Mazatrol was so widely used in here until, for some reason, fanuc became the thing. So now there are a shitload of old Mazaks on sale and new metalwork students need to learn fanuc. I don't know where I am going with this, I had a point, but I forgot what it was.
>>988022
Was it that you had cheap Mazak's for sale?
Hey /diy/, rate my lathe.
Alternatively, you ever have one of those days?
>>988831
What in the goddamn fuck are you trying to do there?
>>988862
looks like he is trying to reduce the diameter of the shaft collars by sanding them down while they spin.
Hopefully he doesn't need to remove more than a few thou.
I would have at least found some scrap rod to use instead of a nice screwdriver. :(
I scored a Hercus PC300 from my old high school last week for prop building. it's a bit of a pain in the arse though as it's about 20 years old and usedto run DOS (fortunately found the updated W98 software), I haveto re-learn how to do CNC/CAM cad as I just learnt how to 3D print. seems like a pretty solid Aussie built unit. I'll be fabbing up a cabinet and running coolent down the track.
>>989231
Everything you just said sounded like ass.
How much did you pay for it?
I have a tiny little Unimat DB200. The headstock comes off and mounts to a column for milling. I can also turn the headstock 90 degrees and mount a grinding wheel to it.
It's a great little machine for what I do, but has serious issues with rigidity because the carriage rides on rods that can flex.
It's a good first lathe, but now that I've had a taste I want something more serious like a Sherline or an Atlas 6".
>>989375
What are you going to turn out of the banana?
>>988862
I was reducing the diameter of the 2 shaft collars, as I needed a 3/4" OD and 3/8" ID to work with, and these shaft collars not quite the right size due to the damn zinc plating
It was a very last-minute-plan-B kind of situation
>>989360
>Everything you just said sounded like ass.
in what respect.? I speak pretty casually and didn't have much time.
cost me $250
>>990804
that old junk is not worth even half of that, hope you get your money's worth out of it.
>>989385
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzgPOJPTo_A
>>990905
It's interesting you mention that, as the ones I've found are still around the $2500 mark secondhand if you can find them.
>>985433
>I am interested in hearing what machines you use
i have an older HF12x36, its bretty good
>>988831
>use a collet and some stock
>put a lathe tool bit in the vise
>?????
>profit
>>991524
My boss veto'd me doing that, so I have to improvise
In other news, our newly hired EE poked around at our busted lathe, to confirm our suspicions of "Yeah it's fucked". Something fuckey with some safety device most likely not allowing the power relay to engage.
Knew I should have bought a Harbor Freight lathe with the 25% off Mother's Day coupon, but I let my dad talk me out of it
Hi, I'm looking to start turning wood.
Does anyone have a good reference book and a good website to get the basic knowledge right?
Also, what kind of wood lathe should I buy?
I will turn wood less than 3 inch in diameter.
My father have a metal lathe, but he doesnt want me to use to turn wood. He says the wood pulp will wear down his lathe. I guess hes right, what do you guys think?
>>991539
He's absolutely right, you should not turn wood on metal lathe or plastic actually, but that is another bag of cats entirely.
Dunno about a woodwork lathe, is there really no woodwork general on /diy/ atm?
>>991521
Looks bitching, I envy people who have the facilities to house these.
>>986838
LOCK OUT TAG OUT MOTHER FUCKER
