Curious if anyone out there owns one of these and can offer an informed opinion on its merits and pitfalls:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95012

As the title indicates, I don't take this thing too seriously. I'm looking to turn mostly 2" or less aluminum or plastic for robotics and audio components (think knobs and such). I'm curious whether it's a decent tool for its size and inherent limitations, or if it's basically a POS.

Mind you, the biggest lathe I can possibly live with is one that I can pick up off the kitchen table and store on top of the refrigerator, so before you tell me to look at one of the larger ones, please bear that in mind :)

I,ve seen it in person, its cute!

are you talking about a 2" diameter or 2" length piece? I dont think that lathe will hold a 2" diameter piece in the chuck, I think the specs say it only holds 1.75" or something.

I have seen this lathe at the store but only in the box and I did take a closer look at it, but that was as far as I went with it. I do own 2 of the 7x10 lathes, which are just the next size up, these can be moved very easily as well. I do know they would have no problem making your knobs etc. The one thing with that micro lathe is after you put a drill chuck in the tail stock with a drill bit you will only be able to make real small parts I am sure as that will take up most of the space.

Regardless what anyone says about the 7x10 lathes, I have had great success and made a lot of money off of them. In fact the first one I got made enough money to purchase the second lathe, an extra motor and eventually an 11x26 lathe from grizzly. It has also help furnish another 6 grand worth of tools in my shop. You just have to learn how to work within its limits, as well as do a few things to make everything turn and slide real nice.

So with that being said I am almost willing to bet that the micro will function fine as well for the right application. But it only being a 1/5 hp motor you will have to be real patient with any aluminum on it. I would have to recommend the 7x10 for $200 more though just for the simple fact I have used both of mine a ton, actually I bet mine have gone through more parts than a large majority of the people on this site, in one month along it cranked out over 2000 parts. Not trying to brag about it, just want to let you know that the 7x10 is one that I recommend and why I am reccomending it.

Dan

Thanks for the input. Size and cost are both issues, but since I live in the city, money costs a lot less than space, if you know what I mean*.

I also saw that the manuals say 1.75" is the largest stock size it handles. I might be able to work with that but I'd like to see if I could get to 2" maybe with a slightly different chuck....

The 4x5 is a whopping 17x10x8 and ~30# in size which makes it seem like it should come with a shoulder strap. How large/heavy are the 7x10s? The manuals only list bed size and shipping weight on the larger machines. What is the weight like? The HF site lists 90# as shipping weight which is still in the range of what you can lift and carry alone but definitely not as easy to carry up and down the stairs (nuts)

* I realize the little machines bring a lot of limitations, so I'm still trying to decide whether I can live within those since I''m not sure I can live with a larger tool at the moment. I made this mistake once when I bought my oscilloscope. I started out looking at a small (phone book size) 5MHz one-channel scope, and then the guys at DIYAudio.com talked me into spending the same amount of money on a 4-channel 60MHz analog scope the size of a large PC case. It can do a lot more, no question, but 6 months in I've never used it for anything the little scope could have done, and the big hog requires a bit of thought to move around. So a 100# benchtop tool scares me a bit in that regard.

Then again, maybe if I throw out all the stuff I'm storing in the basement, the landlord would let me use that space as a work area....

It sounds like a Taig lathe might be what you need.
I started off with a Taig and then moved up to a 7x10 and now a 10x18,
The Taig is very small and probably more capable than the baby lathe.
Take a look at Nick Carter's web site to see what they can do.
http://www.cartertools.com/
Mark

i think the lathe prob weighs in around 50-60lbs. That shipping weight is due to the fact they enclose the lathe in plywood and the little bit of extras they give you with the lathe. It will be heavier but not that much more.

The other thing to consider is how much you will use it. If it will only be a few times then the micro may be better. If you can work within its limitations I am sure that will get the job done. Just not sure on what the frustration factor is like on one of those... Also I dont own a taig so I cant really comment on those ones...

Good luck and let us know what you get.
Dan

Unless you need a portable lathe (moving it between rooms on every use), I would go with the 7x12 from Homier @ $299. It is actually 4 inches longer than the 7x10 from HF and much cheaper.

The weight is not that bad - I carried mine up and down stairs quite easily. Just remember to pick it up from the back side to avoid bending the lead screw. If the rear chip shield is removed it is compact and easy to hold (the chip shield is off mine as it only gets in the way.

You can also mount the unit on a rolling utility cart if you want to move it around.

If you truely need to store on top of the fridge, then you may need to go with the Taig - more expensive but definately lighter.


Aaron

oh yeah I forgot about the homier lathe...I remember trying to order one from them a long time ago...but they were terribly on back order so I went with the HF one...
Hmmm $299 is a really good price. for that price I could get one of those and use the head stock on my mill for a 4th axis and then extend one of my HF to the 12"...need to see if that bed will fit on my 7x10...Pastera...my wife will not be happy with you if I come home with another lathe...I am blaming it on you for reminding me about that lathe!

hmm i really got off tangent on that one...not sure why I wouldnt just keep the 7x12 lathe as is and tear apart the 7x10 to use for the 4th axis...sometimes the brain just doesnt think right..lol

oh yeah I forgot about the homier lathe...I remember trying to order one from them a long time ago...but they were terribly on back order so I went with the HF one...
Hmmm $299 is a really good price. for that price I could get one of those and use the head stock on my mill for a 4th axis and then extend one of my HF to the 12"...need to see if that bed will fit on my 7x10...Pastera...my wife will not be happy with you if I come home with another lathe...I am blaming it on you for reminding me about that lathe!


Go ahead and blame it on me - then I'll have two women mad at my tool addictions.

BTW: Cummins Tools also has the 7x12 but it is $399 and comes with quite a few accessories. HF now lists the 7x12 for $489 - not much of a deal

Aaron

lol...yes my tool addiction too has gotten me a few interesting looks in the past...although she did just get me a coolant system from grizzly for my b-day :) who says it is the men that get trained ;)

Another good micro-size lathe is the Proxxon lathe. They also make a micro-size mill. Both of these are quite portable and pretty precise.

www.proxxon.de

Remember to click the English button! :D Unless you sprechen ze Deutsche. I have their catalog and a few of their tools.

Does the 4x5 lathe even cut threads? I see no mention of this on the website. I wanted a lathe set aside to cut threads on pen parts, so that I could make a fast nib holder, or put a multistart a cap or body without disturbing the current job on my main lathe. I was thinking that for the price and footprint, it could sit on the side of my bench and do small jobs. It might not be long enough to thread a body though. probably could thread it, but not bore it out, and it's handy to do both in one setup.

Thanks,
Dave

Well, for anyone wondering I was all set to order the 4x5 lathe. Then I stopped by the HF store, where they had the 7x10 on sale for $370, which turned into $330 after a 15% coupon, which seemed like a dumb deal to pass up considering that these are regularly selling used for $300 before shipping on eBay.

A critical component too was the landlord giving me the OK to annex some space in the basement for a bench. The other tenants clog it up with junk all the time so we made a deal that I'd police and maintain it in exchange for the space. That freed me to not worry about having to work on the kitchen table all the time.

So far I've done just a few test spins on the new toy I mean tool but it worked really well right out of the box (after degreasing and oiling). I'm seeing no more than .001" runout close to the standard 3-jaw chuck and all of the gibs and guides were adjusted well at the factory.