Joe Corona wrote:

I just got a 7x12 mini lathe,I want to practice on cheap plastic
meterial before I become proficient enough to work on metal.Do you
think
plastic is a good material to learn basics of turning and if that is
the case what type of plastic do you recomend, and some suppliers. I
tried the internet,but the choices are limitless and many suppliers
deal with
other companies


What materials you plan to turn when you get past practice time? I'd just start with some
12L14 or aluminum. I have a feeling your lathe will tell you quite quickly if it doesn't
like what you are doing.

Play with the feed levers and such while not having material chucked to make sure you
understand how things work. Start out with low feed rates, low speeds, small depth of
cut. Listen to the machine, it will tell you when it is working.

Look up sfm values for cutting with carbide and HSS.

Wess



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