About to order a small lathe

[andyf97]

I need to work on some little metal parts like 100mm x 15mm x 15mm made from brass and lights alloys in an almost experimental way just taking small amounts of metal off each time then manually trying to fit it inside another square bar.

I searched around a bit and found the Sherline 4400 17" units to be quite expandable late if I need to add a cnc feature. the total cost of what I am ordering is like 1900 US dollars.

Are there any alternatives that have the expansion possabilities like the sherline equipment have.

[handlewanker]

Hi Andy, one thing you will notice with a small lathe and that is that the chuck doesn't have much holding capacity except maybe for small round work.

The biggest drawback is also the spindle bore size, which in my humble opinion is the most important aspect of deciding on a lathe's capability. (been maching for more than 50 years)

Nowadays you can get fairly decent cost effective Chinese lathes that have spindle bore sizes that are quite large compared to lathes of 30 or 40 years ago.

If you go for a spindle bore size of 25mm then you can use 25mm diam material through the spindle, and all the rest of the lathe's proportions fall into place naturally.

It just depends on what type of work and size you intend to do.

I would suggest that you apply the bore size capacity to your needs and then see what lathes are available round that.
Ian.

[andyf97]

Hi Ian,

It was exactly what I was wondering about too, as far as I know the sherline has if I remember a 10mm bore .

I dont need to work with such big parts so 10mm is kind of ok for most applications, the chuck can got to ober 20mm. my largest worry is cutting quality as the work I need to do is for laser optical mounts. Small but accurate bits and I saw some small chinese lathes and the parts seemed to feel a bit loose.

I have this budget of 1200USD - 1500USD + delivery and trying to have something compact, reliable and also expandable for the CNC and so far all I could find that meets these demands are the sherline.

Super ID you have.

[handlewanker]

Hi Andy, the name originated in UK and was a slang name for a person who worked on a lathe, turning the handles etc.

Some months ago I bought an Encomat 7 lathe for a mate of mine on Ebay for about A$500. (that's OZ dollars).

We were lucky as the lathe had little use and only needed a clean up.

I would advise anyone buying second hand to see the machine first, just like a second hand car.

One thing I would advise to get for any small lathe and that is a quick change tool post with at least 8 tool holders.

Even if you aren't doing a lot of repetition work, the ability to be able to set up commonly used tools, remove and replace them without losing position, is a big labour saving device.

I made my own to my own design many years ago for a small lathe I built, and wouldn't be without it.

I'll attach a photo of it so's you can see how it looks.
Ian.

[Johan Cnczone]

I would suggest to get a china made 12 x 30 class lathe . it is around us$2000 , low cost,easy to operate, it can satisfy most required operations

[ImanCarrot]

I'll second what handle said about the bore size.

The amount of times I've wished my lathe bore size was "just a bit bigger"...

I know it's not relevant in your case, but others might read this too.