lathe questions

[shady816]

looking to purchase a lathe what is a good size hobby lathe? any suggestions on a good one been looking found one locally a jet 9x20 like new 500 sounds like a good price but looks big.

[Gene_SC]

Yep that sounds like a good size hobby lathe. Remember that the lathe is the cheapest part...:) It is the tools and fixtures that cost the bucks. So make sure that itis the lathe you want because if you find that it is to big or to smal you may have to re-invest in more tooling agian whenyou buy the second lateh..:) I bought one for about the same price 4 years back and bought all the tooling for it and realized when I started making things that the lathe was not big enough for what I wanted to do...::( Good luck...:)

[ccjr]

Check out this article.  I thought the 9x20 would be a good step above the 7x12, but this article convinced me otherwise.
 
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_lathe/Versions/Versions_9x20.htm

[kiwi]

A lathe is like a boat...they alway ends up to small...
Heres something to take note of when looking at
diffrent lathes....They often say the spindal
bore is 20mm but the chuck may very well have a
 smaller bore...
80mm chuck has a 16mm bore which is the size on
the 7x12  7x14 mini lathes with the 20mm spindal bore
so 16mm is all it will take...
So the chuck needs to be as big or bigger than the spindal bore..

common chuck & bore sizes...
80mm - 16mm bore
100mm  - 22mm bore
125mm  - 30mm bore
160mm - 45mm bore

Point 2...
DON"T buy a veriable speed lathe...Just don't do it..
gear box is the only choice...

A veriable speed lathes prob is..as the speed reduces so dose the power
out put of the motor....So yer useing a bigish drill that needs to run slow
So yer wined the speed down...and the drill keeps stalling becuse theres no power
to turn it...
And the second thing that happens is when the motors runing slow so is the cooling fan
on the end of the motor....slow speed = high amp draw = heat = no cooling....
You work out the possable resalt....

Pete

[shady816]

thanks for the info not looking to due major machine shop work just alwats seem to have something small and local machine shop has me spending more than the price of this lathe with all the tooling included.

[CharlieDaTuna]

I can only suggest that it is better to go to big than to small. Either way, the tooling is expensive but if the machine is to small and you wind up buying a bigger machine, you will lose money on your first machine and wind up buying tooling twice. Spend more... you will get more... and save much more in the long run.

Been there and done that.... three times...

[normal]

I'll add my voice to the get a bigger lathe chorus.  Buy the biggest thing you can stand to pay for.  Bigger is easier to use, has more features.  A big lathe can easily do small stuff while a small one has big limitations.  Too big is just right!!

[shady816]

i am going tonight to have a look at the 9x20 jet, i am working with a budget but this one is a year old looks like new and comes with over $1000 in tooling he claims everything i could possibly need some of it still in there original boxes unused all for $500 sounds like a steal to me. almost sounds to go to be true... he claims buisness going out of buisness and i hate to benifit from someones misfurtunes i will be prepared to bring it home and i will post some pics.

[normal]

Well.  As long as you put it that way, I'd say go for it.  Post pix so we can enjoy your deal!!

[LongIslandArcher]

I just bought a 7x12.  It's all I need for my purposes.  It's got a 5/8" through-arbor capacity, which is more than enough to put my CFX barrels through to recrown the muzzles.  I can use it to upgrade the seals in the rotary breech too.  7x12 is all I can afford right and fit in my apartment.

[kiwi]

LongIslandArcher - 3/19/2010  4:52 PM

I just bought a 7x12.  It's all I need for my purposes.  It's got a 5/8" through-arbor capacity, which is more than enough to put my CFX barrels through to recrown the muzzles.  I can use it to upgrade the seals in the rotary breech too.  7x12 is all I can afford right and fit in my apartment.

Be very careful...The compression tube is off set to the barrel
it will run out off balance...with the hold point near the muzzel
if you spin it to fast it WILL  bend.....Make a nylon space to go
at the compression tube end to be safe...
SPIN IT SLOW.............

The bore in the 80mm chuck can be bored to 22mm safely..
I bored mine to 26...but was waiting for it to fly to bits...
replaced it with a 100mm bored to 26mm before it did...


Pete

[LongIslandArcher]

Thanks for the tip!

Probably would be easier if I just clamped down the barrel in my drill press and recrowned it that way.

[shady816]

i picked it up all is well it appears to be about three years old but barely used and allot of extras, i will post pics soon.

[CharlieDaTuna]

I have no doubt that you made the right call Robert. Pretty hard to beat a deal like that and I'm sure that you won't be sorry. Now to learn to use it..... Getting it set up and accurate is the hardest part. After that it is all trial and error as you learn.

[RCnMo]

If you haven't already, take a look at the yahoo 9x20 sites. There are a million mods for your machine, starting with the compound, it's weakest point. If you can get a hold of Yel01z06, he could probably send you in the right direction. He's turned one of those lathes into a much more friendly machine.