DoN. Nichols wrote:

The question is -- do you want to be able to cut threads? If
not, then it could certainly do what you need for small things. (How
big a circle do you need to handle to make your solar powered
hourglasses. :-)

I am pretty much looking at it as two distinctly separate jobs:

1) The dial faces. Those will need something big if I want to expand in the
future. The biggest one now is 4.5" so a mini should be able to face it and
edge it. OTOH I have a nice 9" piece sitting in a drawer waiting for
attention. That one clearly is beyond the mini. OTOH (2) the faces do not
need a tailstock - headstock turning facility should be sufficient, which
brings us back to rotary tables etc.

2) The support structure and the gnomons. These are much smaller and a mini
or a Taig should be adequate. The maximum length is not an issue until the
dial diameter gets past 12" - pretty unlikely.

At this point I see no need to cut threads. However, as these things often
work out, I will want to cut one the moment I buy the Taig :-)

O.K. It all depends on how much you plan to turn things which
are about four times longer than their diameter. For that (or longer)
you will need the tailstock.

For the gnomons pretty essential

You'll also find it very useful for drilling the initial central
hole before boring it to larger diameters. IIRC, the tailstock chuck
will hold 1/2" drill bits -- but the motor may have a bit of struggle
doing it all in a single pass in steel.

I thought the Taig only did 1/4".

There is no *list* of what threads it cuts, so we don't know
whether any particularly useful ones are left out.

I would like to see a much more detailed list of what it has and
what it will do.

See, this is the sort of thing I would not know to look for...

This is the sort of reason why people suggest that you sign up
for a metalworking class at a nearby school (if one is available) so
you will learn what to expect from the tools. This will also give you
access to larger tools for some of your own projects.

It is a good suggestion in principle. There may be one in the New Year. Now,
to spend $465 on the course or a Mini-lathe :-)?

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC