New Metal Lathe

[Gary_Gill]

I bought a 7x10 mini lathe last fall. Soon added the mini mill to make tooling for the lathe and vice-versa. Saturday's project is swapping the original bed out for the 14" version.

[CTMachinist]

For me, I actually want the shorter bed - I need it to be small and portable, and the extra weight isn't worth it to me for what I do on it.


If I need to do a bigger project, I'll put it on a Bridgeport lathe!

[stache]

CTMachinist
I just got my Cummins lathe. I noticed that the hole in the center of the chuck is NOT 3/4" dia. Is it possible to open it uo to 3/4". I didn't measure it but, I did try to put a 3/4" rod thru it and that's how I noticed it was small.

[Gary_Gill]

The 3" three jaw chuck has a 5/8" hole IIRC. The spindle has a 25/32" or 13/16" thru hole. As does my 3" four jaw chuck.

[stache]

Gary did you bore yours out to 13/16"? If so how did you do it?

I wanted to use my lathe for turning the tennons on pre-made bits but, all of the one I have are too wide to fit comfortably in my chuck. I need to go well past the jaws in order to hold the bit tightly in order to turn it.

[Gary_Gill]

My lathe came with the larger hole thru the spindle - easily passes a 3/4" diameter rod. It is a Harbor Freight model 93212 as opposed to the older 33684 lathe. Same basic machine with a few differences. Such as safety guards with switches and a cover or the lead screw. They did cheapen the half nut design and mine broke. I replaced it with the half nuts from the 33684. Cuts threads as it should now.

You can purchase a couple of different collet systems that will hold stock up to 3/4" diameter. Littlemachineshop.com has #3 Morse taper collets as well as ER-32 collets. The 3MT collets use a draw bar from the back of the spindle to tighten the collet. The ER-32 can be used similarly or with a collet chuck that allows you to put the work through the spindle while it is held in the collet.

Buying a lathe is just the beginning. The tooling and accessories will cost more than the lathe. I purchased the mini-lathe and mini-mill late last year. I have made a couple pipes with them but spend most of my time and lunch money making tooling for both machines. I am currently working on a collet holder to fit the 5C collets. These collets are available in 1/16” to 1-1/8” diameter plus several sizes of hex and square. Keeps me busy and off the streets.

Update - Checked the through hole diameter 25MAY06. It is 13/16"

[MilesW]

Craig can you give an up date on the Lathe? How do you like it and would you recommend it?

[LexKY_Pipe]

I'm absolutely loving it. It's accurate and easy to use. It was a snap to set up. There are several bulletin boards on yahoo that deal with these mini lathes and I found them to be very helpful.

I've even ground some of my own cutting tools. So I'm good to go.

[Pegoda]

Craig, are you using woodworking tools or the tool post and cutting tools that are common to the lathe to cut the briar? I have a 10" Atlas with a 54" bed and a South Bend 9" with a 24" bed and wish to use them but have not tried as yet. I need advice please. Thanks.

[LexKY_Pipe]

I use a Jet Mini Lathe for my briar work. I use the metal lathe for stem work. As I've said in an earlier post, I like this setup because it's somewhat more portable. If it were a perfect world, I'd buy a big hog metal lathe and do stummel and stem work on it.