I'm thinking about getting a metalwork lathe and while I'm tempted to go for a decent old Boxford or Colchester, part of me wonders whether it might be more sensible to start with one of those Chinesium toy/mini lathes, as a brand new item. The main advantages I see in the latter:
1. I could get started straight away, rather than (perhaps) having to spend an age fettling
2. It would use less space and be generally easier to locate/move about
3. I could get familiar with the practicalities/principles of lathe work at a more convenient scale

Of course, a cheap-ish mini lathe will be fairly crap and it might be a dud straight out of the box, or it might fail after little use and regardless, it will be very limited in what it can do.

Assuming I don't mind burning £300-£500 on a mini lathe in the expectation that I will need to blow a further £1200 or so not too far down the line, is a mini lathe worthwhile prep for big boys toys?

Thanks.

Bill.

On 28/11/2019 17:30, wrote:
I'm thinking about getting a metalwork lathe and while I'm tempted to
go for a decent old Boxford or Colchester, part of me wonders whether
it might be more sensible to start with one of those Chinesium
toy/mini lathes, as a brand new item. The main advantages I see in
the latter: 1. I could get started straight away, rather than
(perhaps) having to spend an age fettling 2. It would use less space
and be generally easier to locate/move about 3. I could get familiar
with the practicalities/principles of lathe work at a more convenient
scale

Of course, a cheap-ish mini lathe will be fairly crap and it might be
a dud straight out of the box, or it might fail after little use and
regardless, it will be very limited in what it can do.

Assuming I don't mind burning £300-£500 on a mini lathe in the
expectation that I will need to blow a further £1200 or so not too
far down the line, is a mini lathe worthwhile prep for big boys
toys?

Something like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05vUCdzhoe4

Might be of interest.

In some respects a mini lathe is probably not a bad place to start,
since it can be ebayed later.

However it does rather depends on what kind of stuff you want to make,
and whether you will outgrow it too fast.

I get the impression that much of the cost is spent not on the main
tool, but all the paraphernalia that surrounds it. So as soon as you
have the lathe, you realise a good selection of micrometers, DTIs (plus
stands), tool holders, chucks, collets, tooling and so on will add up to
more than the cost of the tool. Many of those bits you would retain for
the next one.

(much as one ends up spending more on router cutters, than on routers etc!)


--
Cheers,

John.

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On 28/11/2019 17:30, wrote:
I'm thinking about getting a metalwork lathe and while I'm tempted to
go for a decent old Boxford or Colchester, part of me wonders whether
it might be more sensible to start with one of those Chinesium
toy/mini lathes, as a brand new item. The main advantages I see in
the latter: 1. I could get started straight away, rather than
(perhaps) having to spend an age fettling 2. It would use less space
and be generally easier to locate/move about 3. I could get familiar
with the practicalities/principles of lathe work at a more convenient
scale

Of course, a cheap-ish mini lathe will be fairly crap and it might be
a dud straight out of the box, or it might fail after little use and
regardless, it will be very limited in what it can do.

What level of experience do you have already? It might be worthwhile
looking for evening classes in workshop practice including lathes and
milling in your area before splashing out on new or second hand kit.
They will have bigger more powerful and CNC kit to play with.

Assuming I don't mind burning £300-£500 on a mini lathe in the
expectation that I will need to blow a further £1200 or so not too
far down the line, is a mini lathe worthwhile prep for big boys
toys?

What sort of things are you intending to make? How big a job does it
need to swing? And do you intend to turn steel or mostly softer
lightweight materials like brass, bronze and nylon?

Blue practice wax is quite handy to learn on (and recyclable).

Ancillary tools mount up but are transferable when you upgrade.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 28/11/2019 17:30, wrote:
I'm thinking about getting a metalwork lathe and while I'm tempted to
go for a decent old Boxford or Colchester, part of me wonders whether
it might be more sensible to start with one of those Chinesium
toy/mini lathes, as a brand new item. The main advantages I see in
the latter: 1. I could get started straight away, rather than
(perhaps) having to spend an age fettling 2. It would use less space
and be generally easier to locate/move about 3. I could get familiar
with the practicalities/principles of lathe work at a more convenient
scale

Of course, a cheap-ish mini lathe will be fairly crap and it might be
a dud straight out of the box, or it might fail after little use and
regardless, it will be very limited in what it can do.

What level of experience do you have already? It might be worthwhile
looking for evening classes in workshop practice including lathes and
milling in your area before splashing out on new or second hand kit.
They will have bigger more powerful and CNC kit to play with.

Assuming I don't mind burning £300-£500 on a mini lathe in the
expectation that I will need to blow a further £1200 or so not too
far down the line, is a mini lathe worthwhile prep for big boys
toys?

What sort of things are you intending to make? How big a job does it
need to swing? And do you intend to turn steel or mostly softer
lightweight materials like brass, bronze and nylon?

Blue practice wax is quite handy to learn on (and recyclable).

Ancillary tools mount up but are transferable when you upgrade.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Thanks Martin and John for the replies.

The truth is, I don't really know what I want to make. From time to time, it might be turning a threaded item, or various parts for some contraption that I'm making. A lot will be making replacement parts for tools and machines in the household inventory. Materials will mainly be steel, brass or aluminium.

I did consider night classes and to my amazement, the wife is interested, too. She finds ThisOldTony's YouTube channel almost as fascinating as I do.

In terms of experience, I'm a reasonably handy DIYer and I have a fair collection of toys, but no metal lathe experience (only wood, which is obviously a different sport).

Regards.

Jim.

On 28/11/2019 17:30, wrote:
I'm thinking about getting a metalwork lathe and while I'm tempted to go for a decent old Boxford or Colchester, part of me wonders whether it might be more sensible to start with one of those Chinesium toy/mini lathes, as a brand new item. The main advantages I see in the latter:
1. I could get started straight away, rather than (perhaps) having to spend an age fettling
2. It would use less space and be generally easier to locate/move about
3. I could get familiar with the practicalities/principles of lathe work at a more convenient scale

Of course, a cheap-ish mini lathe will be fairly crap and it might be a dud straight out of the box, or it might fail after little use and regardless, it will be very limited in what it can do.

Assuming I don't mind burning £300-£500 on a mini lathe in the expectation that I will need to blow a further £1200 or so not too far down the line, is a mini lathe worthwhile prep for big boys toys?

Thanks.

Bill.

I had the same thought process some years ago (25?) and bought a Boxford
BUD at auction to get started and went to evening classes to learn some
basic skills. I didn't do much with it but fancied something with a
gearbox so replaced it with a Chipmaster (again, at auction). Then I
bought a Holbrook C10 for beans from a workshop that was being closed
because it no longer met H&S requirements - this weighs about 1500kgs
and is somewhat OTT. I rarely use it but it's a joy to use when I do.

My advice: if possible, get something with a gearbox and that comes with
a package of basic tools (JohnR is correct that the machine is only the
start), look at the WARCO and PROXXON websites, be very suspicious about
combined mill-lathes for anything other than light work.

In message ,
writes
On 28/11/2019 17:30, wrote:

Snip
Thanks Martin and John for the replies.

The truth is, I don't really know what I want to make. From time to
time, it might be turning a threaded item, or various parts for some
contraption that I'm making. A lot will be making replacement parts for
tools and machines in the household inventory. Materials will mainly be
steel, brass or aluminium.

I did consider night classes and to my amazement, the wife is
interested, too. She finds ThisOldTony's YouTube channel almost as
fascinating as I do.

In terms of experience, I'm a reasonably handy DIYer and I have a fair
collection of toys, but no metal lathe experience (only wood, which is
obviously a different sport).

Not really.

There are probably more wood shavings on my lathe bed than steel swarf.

For most d-i-y work with HSS tooling, coolant is unnecessary.

I think the evening class suggestion a good one as a lathe is a
dangerous piece of equipment to *learn by experience* on.

You might save a few pennies by not bothering with a gear box and lead
screw but I use mine a lot for hands off turning.
--
Tim Lamb

On Thu, 28 Nov 2019 18:13:59 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

snip

In some respects a mini lathe is probably not a bad place to start,
since it can be ebayed later.

However it does rather depends on what kind of stuff you want to make,
and whether you will outgrow it too fast.

I get the impression that much of the cost is spent not on the main
tool, but all the paraphernalia that surrounds it. So as soon as you
have the lathe, you realise a good selection of micrometers, DTIs (plus
stands), tool holders, chucks, collets, tooling and so on will add up to
more than the cost of the tool. Many of those bits you would retain for
the next one.

(much as one ends up spending more on router cutters, than on routers etc!)

All seconded.

My first lathe was an Emco Unimat 3 but had previously used lathes
(and mills / shapers etc) at school and college.

I bought the Unimat for RC modeling type work but then started doing
bigger stuff (full size electric vehicle racing) and so p-exe'd the
Unimat for a very clean Myford ML10.

Nowdays though, I find myself 3D printing stuff more often than I am
turning, partly because my 3D printer is indoors and the lathe in the
(cold) workshop but also in many instances the 3D printed solution is
just as good and a darn site faster. It's also generally less
wasteful, given that you only waste a bit of material each print
(brims, skirts and supports etc).

The last instance was a couple of spacers that go between the roller
of a keel roller and its bracket (to keep the roller central) on a
dinghy trailer I'm rebuilding. Took about 30 seconds to measure,
'design' and slice, then about 5 mins to print (two at once). ;-)

That said, I wouldn't be without the lathe, nor the 10 tonne hydraulic
press, the MIG welder, pillar drill, metal cutting horizontal bandsaw
and of course, the angle grinders. ;-)

Oh, and half a dozen digital calipers (because I'm always wandering
about with them and putting them down ...).

Cheers, T i m

On 28/11/2019 20:34, wrote:

My advice: if possible, get something with a gearbox and that comes with
a package of basic tools (JohnR is correct that the machine is only the
start), look at the WARCO and PROXXON websites, be very suspicious about
combined mill-lathes for anything other than light work.

Its possible to get surprisingly high end results from some of the small
multi-purpose machines though if sticking to smaller work. Some of the
stuff this chap knocks out is incredible:

https://www.youtube.com/user/johnnyq90



--
Cheers,

John.

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