You may find that the popular consensus for a lot of things is far from
reality.

What I described the mini lathes as; is light duty and a poorly designed
compound slide and mounting method.
However, put a cover over the carriage gears so chips won't jam the gears,
as they can easily just fall in there. Titanium would be a good choice, but
plastic will suffice.

I didn't imagine the ideas that I submitted.. I own a Clarke 7x12 ($410
total) and an Enco 9x20 ($600 delivered), both bought new. My other machine
was bought used.
I have 3 series 100 (AXA) tool post sets, Phase II wedge and piston, and a
HF total piece of crap made in India.

There are few, if any advantages to actual cutting performance, as far as
using carbide inserts instead of appropriately ground HSS on machines as
small as a 7" mini lathe, or most small bench lathes.

The motor on most 7x mini lathes is about the size of a 1/2" corded drill
motor, and
not all of that power gets to the workpiece.
Micromark shows the weight of the Microlux 7x14 as 90 lbs without
accessories.

Just curious, Darren, what metal are the headstock gears made of?

There are 2 MSC customer appreciation days scheduled this year, kind-of a
tent sale/mini trade show specials on many of their goods, including Aloris
(that's where I saw the dates shown).

Enco carries many of the products MSC carries, and they have specials every
month.

In the final assessment, watts are watts.. and small industrial lathe
performance can't be attained with a Chinese hobbiest grade mini lathe.
Consistent performance and elimination of chatter are realistic goals.

I've seen most of the LMS and other add-on parts, and after installing all
of them, a mini lathe still won't perform like a small industrial lathe.
The end result could be the first $5,000 mini lathe, though.

--
WB
..........


"Searcher7" wrote in message
...

I wouldn't say the mini lathes are "poorly designed". They just have a
lower capacity than the larger lathes.

When Don and I discussed this years ago, he is the one who mentioned
my need for the modified compound to use my AXA tool post with.

My lathe is the Microlux 7" x 14". And it is common in the mini lathe
community to replace the OEM tool posts with AXA tool post on these
type of lathes. And the consensus is that it improves the overall
performance of the machines.

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...ProductID=2280
http://littlemachineshop.com/product...ProductID=1777

Again, HHS would be the norm, but I there are advantages to insert
tooling.

MSC is now offering another special. "Save up to 35% off all orders
over $199".

So I have to make a decision quickly. :-)

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.