input/thoughts!!!!!! (machinists come take a read)

[knownothingmags]

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=4841&category=1271799306

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3501&category=1387807683

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=4288&category=1387807683

purely for hobby.
small parts and stuff. let me know what you think.

I know I may go bigger some day, have no idea when that will be or if it will happen.
as you know I have a 3D printer it is small, it isn't the big boy right out the gate.
so like that printer I intend to use these machines inside and out, and know them the same way.

I do not have 220v or even 440v to play with, 3phase, cant do any of the listed things in this current residence.
military housing and such.

someday who knows when, but when we buy the house, ill put the lines in where I need them so that if I go big I can.

thoughts please,
constructive criticism, and on topic to this thread please, or even hard truths, whatever helps
anyone with knowledge and help to be input here please chime in.

im going to be picking Mr. Carter's brain from Carter machine some time soon, so he will be of as much help as he can give.
word is he is doing something with a mag for someone or himself not sure(I have no other info on this but that) and it has nothing to do with custom bodies or production of any kind.

thankyou,
KNM.

[knownothingmags]

no one?

[Levi]

I'm not a "professional" machinist, but I do some machining as a hobby and some prototyping for my own business. I have worked in the manufacturing world in various capacities for the last 12 years however. A couple thoughts for you...

Concerning the lathe, one thing that jumped right out at me was that it appears to use change gears rather than a quick change box for changing your thread pitch. Personal opinion here, but I've always found change gears to be a bit of an annoyance, and much prefer paying the extra for a lathe equipped with a quick change. Also, for the price of it (or just slightly more) you could find a good used South Bend "Heavy 10" lathe. I used to have one, and it was a darn good little lathe, had a 10" swing and mine was the short bed which gave about 20" between centers. With the appropriate motor you can still run these off of single phase 120V too. The South Bend wouldn't do metric threading right out of the box, however metric transposing gears can be found.

South Bend also made a "light duty" 10", along with a 9" swing model if I remember correctly. Also you might look into a used Logan lathe.

Not sure what to tell you about the little mill, it all depends on what you are trying to do with it. I don't have any experience with the smaller hobby mills, so I don't really have any good advice here.

Do you not have 220V at all? Even single phase?

[knownothingmags]

Do you not have 220V at all? Even single phase?

its in the house on the dryer,
yes, I could run a heavy duty extension cord, but leaves house door open.
and unplugging it all the time is going to be annoying as changing those gears.

[Levi]

its in the house on the dryer,
yes, I could run a heavy duty extension cord, but leaves house door open.
and unplugging it all the time is going to be annoying as changing those gears.

The 10" South Bend I used to have had a 1Hp 120v. single phase motor. Plugged right in to a standard household socket. A lot of the smaller lathes out there have single phase motors.

[skife]

The 10" South Bend I used to have had a 1Hp 120v. single phase motor. Plugged right in to a standard household socket. A lot of the smaller lathes out there have single phase motors.

my uncle picked up a small southbend lathe at a garage sale for $100, it came with various cutters and some round stock, i used it twice and then he sold it.

i can think of countless things i could use it for right now.

[Levi]

my uncle picked up a small southbend lathe at a garage sale for $100, it came with various cutters and some round stock, i used it twice and then he sold it.

i can think of countless things i could use it for right now.

That's a steal of a deal!

[knownothingmags]

my uncle picked up a small southbend lathe at a garage sale for $100, it came with various cutters and some round stock, i used it twice and then he sold it.

i can think of countless things i could use it for right now.

were you just thinking out loud, or was there a message to that find of your uncle's?
on topic to helping the OP, please.

but yes I checked craigs list and I have stopped at large garage sales.

[Levi]

You're in California right?

Here is a Clausing lathe in Temecula, anywhere near you? http://www.ebay.com/itm/221378385731...84.m1423.l2649 yes it has a 3ph motor in it, but for the price it might be worth swapping on a 1horse single phase motor. Hard to tell from the pics whether it uses a standard type motor or something oddball... it would be wise to confirm availability of a 1ph motor prior to purchase.

Here is a REALLY nice Logan Lathe, listing doesn't say what it has for motor. Comes with an Aloris quick change toolpost too. I would go for something like this long before the little lathe you linked to. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lathe-Logan-...item27df2d13f4

There are several South Bends on ebay too. Most of the ones currently up there seem to have 3phase motors. Keep an eye out and you can find them equipped with single phase motors fairly regularly. The other option you may consider if the price is right on something with a 3phase motor, is swapping in a single phase motor. Then at some point down the road when you have 220V available (even if its single phase) you may want to swap back to the 3ph motor and set yourself up with a VFD to do the phase conversion and have infinitely variable speed too.

I recently pulled my knee mill out of storage, and since I no longer have a phase converter this is the route I went. I've been using it for a few weeks and really like the VFD setup over a rotary phase converter. Here's a couple pics of my setup.






I think that you will end up outgrowing the little lathe you linked fairly quickly. For the same money plus a little bit of research and legwork I think you can find a lathe that you will be happy with for MUCH longer and also fits you current electrical requirements.

[knownothingmags]

You're in California right?

Here is a Clausing lathe in Temecula, anywhere near you? http://www.ebay.com/itm/221378385731...84.m1423.l2649 yes it has a 3ph motor in it, but for the price it might be worth swapping on a 1horse single phase motor. Hard to tell from the pics whether it uses a standard type motor or something oddball... it would be wise to confirm availability of a 1ph motor prior to purchase.

Here is a REALLY nice Logan Lathe, listing doesn't say what it has for motor. Comes with an Aloris quick change toolpost too. I would go for something like this long before the little lathe you linked to. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lathe-Logan-...item27df2d13f4

There are several South Bends on ebay too. Most of the ones currently up there seem to have 3phase motors. Keep an eye out and you can find them equipped with single phase motors fairly regularly. The other option you may consider if the price is right on something with a 3phase motor, is swapping in a single phase motor. Then at some point down the road when you have 220V available (even if its single phase) you may want to swap back to the 3ph motor and set yourself up with a VFD to do the phase conversion and have infinitely variable speed too.

I recently pulled my knee mill out of storage, and since I no longer have a phase converter this is the route I went. I've been using it for a few weeks and really like the VFD setup over a rotary phase converter. Here's a couple pics of my setup.






I think that you will end up outgrowing the little lathe you linked fairly quickly. For the same money plus a little bit of research and legwork I think you can find a lathe that you will be happy with for MUCH longer and also fits you current electrical requirements.

thanks, put things into perspective,
ill for sure keep looking, for sure. if I have time this summer ill put some real effort into looking,

the only reason im looking is because the crap at school has been efed so bad and I cant seem to find the resources to fix the stuff.
im here in San diego for a while so I have key access to that building. who knows I guess we will wait and see what I find

thankyou,
KNM

thankyou again,

[skife]

were you just thinking out loud, or was there a message to that find of your uncle's?
on topic to helping the OP, please.

but yes I checked craigs list and I have stopped at large garage sales.

thinking out loud lol.

[knownothingmags]

thinking out loud lol.

no problem it actually helped.

im not going big my priorities aren't big production, so im going to stay small,
if I go big, and do production ill find a shop that will let me use there stuff, or ill use my money and send it to someone to be done for me.

[Levi]

I had a couple more thoughts that may be worth consideration...

Regarding quick change boxes; while not an absolute necessity it is a time saver. What I've found is that while learning to run a lathe this translates into more time spent turning the handles and making chips (more time spent learning) rather than time spent fiddling with gears. Its really nice to be able to make a cut at a particular feed, then flip a lever and make the same cut at a different feed and see/feel the difference. Personally I've found that when its easy to change the feeds I'm more likely to experiment with different feeds and therefore end up with a better "feel" for whats right.

Quick change tool posts are really nice to have too if you also have a decent amount of tool holders to go along. But they are really easy to add on later too.

If you haven't already you might want to pick up a copy of "How To Run A Lathe" written by South Bend Lathe Works http://www.ebay.com/itm/How-to-Run-a...-/390759019967
It's a good lathe 101 book for the beginner. Here is a free pdf of it http://www.wewilliams.net/docs/How%2...015th%20ed.pdf

[knownothingmags]

I had a couple more thoughts that may be worth consideration...

Regarding quick change boxes; while not an absolute necessity it is a time saver. What I've found is that while learning to run a lathe this translates into more time spent turning the handles and making chips (more time spent learning) rather than time spent fiddling with gears. Its really nice to be able to make a cut at a particular feed, then flip a lever and make the same cut at a different feed and see/feel the difference. Personally I've found that when its easy to change the feeds I'm more likely to experiment with different feeds and therefore end up with a better "feel" for whats right.

Quick change tool posts are really nice to have too if you also have a decent amount of tool holders to go along. But they are really easy to add on later too.

If you haven't already you might want to pick up a copy of "How To Run A Lathe" written by South Bend Lathe Works http://www.ebay.com/itm/How-to-Run-a...-/390759019967
It's a good lathe 101 book for the beginner. Here is a free pdf of it http://www.wewilliams.net/docs/How%2...015th%20ed.pdf

ill keep looking, who knows maybe I just get lucky and find what I need.
thanks for the book.

[luke]

https://littlemachineshop.com/produc...ory=1271799306

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3501&category=1387807683

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=4288&category=1387807683

We talked about this once before.

Why don't you just rent a small workshop with power and get off the base.