Looking for really good, small machines.

[tomwalz]

Looking for really good, small machines.

Would appreciate any recommendations on really good small machines. I have always found the whole “desktop” sized, machine world fascinating. Part of that is limitations caused by space and budget but mostly just think they are cool. Not really interested in toy versions of real machines or purely hobby machines.

Thanks,
Tom


Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.

http://www.carbideprocessors.com

Good engineering starts with a Grainger Catalog.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Start by eliminating Unimats.
The newest ones are made of plastic.
The old ones are metal, but are really bendy.

As with machine tools of all sizes, all else being equal, the heavier machine is better.

Speaking of which, Harbor Freight has a ~$450 metalworking lathe that is nicely constructed, as these things go, and would do serious damage if dropped on your foot.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=93212

Is that what you had in mind?



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[btrueblood]

I have one of those at home, and another like it here at work. They are handy for prototyping and the like, with a good set of carbide indexable tooling. LittleMachineShop.com has a very good quick-change toolpost for these that makes setups much easier.

 

[unclesyd]

Like posted above you have to be careful when buying any small tools when it come to quality. Like Mikeholloran sated you want it to hurt when you drop it on your foot.
I would personally check around on some of the user groups before I purchased.
You also have to watch Harbor Freight as evidently they have numerous suppliers for their machines, We have a local store and as stated they had a very nice small lathe, massive and tight so I told my buddy about it and it want long until he called me to let me know the lathe was a piece of crap. I went immediately to the store and the lathe on display was an entirely different machine. It wouldn't have made good boat anchor. The One they have on the floor at this moment is a nice one. I bought a drill press and once I changed the spindle bearings I have a very nice CI bench top drill press.

I've bought stuuf from these people and been happy with the service.

http://www.blueridgeshoponline.com/main.sc

 

[MikeHalloran]

I'll second the vote for Blue Ridge Machinery.

They have a good selection of small machine tools, and accessories and supplies for small machine tools, reasonable prices and good service.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[racookpe1978]

I'd go to eBay and look for used Atlas lathes and mills.

They last forever (many are still running in home/hobby settings) from their first purchase in the mid-50's.

Besides, its fun to run "antiques" and simple. American made - though the orignal machinist who made is likely now to have great-great-grandkids.

And no American job making machinery.

 

[Compositepro]

I still have my 6" Atlas lathe I bought when in high school in the '70's. Don't really use it since the 14" lathe from Harbor Freight is easier to use. The 14" lathe has worked adequately for about 7 years now.

 

[berkshire]

Hey Tom,
Harbor freight has the lathe Mike talked about, on sale this week in Ca for $399.
It should work good, if you know where to get a good set of carbide tipped tools for it.

 

[unclesyd]

This looks like an interesting site. The Taig equipment looks pretty good. There appear to to be lost of article about Taig which could apply to other equipment.

http://www.cartertools.com/

 

[ScottyUK]

Another possibility:

http://www.cowells.com/.

A little smaller than my old Holbrook, but on the one time I have had the pleasure of using a Cowell's lathe I thought it was a rather nice machine.


----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[kjoiner]

Tom,

I'm a little late getting in on the conversation, but I have a small 7 x 14 lathe from Micromark - similar to the one mentioned by Mike Halloran and btrueblood. The lathes from Homier, Toolsnow (formerly Cummins Tools) Micromark and Harbor freight are pretty much all made by Sieg, a Chinese maker of smaller machine tools. I also have a mini mill from Micromark also made by Sieg. It's known generically as the X2 model. These small machines can do a pretty good job. They are made from cast iron, have change gears for threading and come with a 3 jaw chuck. I chose the Micromark machine for two reasons:

1. It has cross slide and compound lead screws with .050/turn pitch. The other machines have .062/turn pitch. There are machines with metric main lead screws and those with inch (1/16" per turn) lead screws so the choice is yours.

2. The Micromark machine has less grease on it - they even mention it in their ads

http://www.micromark.com/

Having said that, you do have to do some tweaking to get them dialed in. They typically come covered in grease and require some cleanup. You would also want to refine the surfaces of the gibs etc. by using some 400-600 paper. They're not South Bends. As mentioned before,

http://www.littlemachineshop.com

has a wealth of parts and tips on these machines. There are also a couple of user groups on Yahoo that I belong to where users share all kinds of information.

Here is another site with info:

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Default.htm

I think the machines are a lot of fun and have saved me hours/weeks at work not having to farm everything out to a machine shop.

By the way, the lathe is around 95lbs and the mill is at least 110-120lb so like Mike said you don't want to drop them.


Kyle