# Lathe Recommendations?



## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

It seems like this has come up before but searching I came up empty. For metal working what mini Lathe would you recommend? 

Is MicroLux worth the money? I've seen one advertised in Garden Railways.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

The Microlux lathe is a good lathe but if you want one that has all the bells and whistles (and one that I can attest has been the choice of my father for over two decades making live steamers) I would recommend the Unimat III. As you preogress you will find that the Unimat will be able to handle everything up to 1" scale main driving wheels on 4 3/4" gauge engines. Anything larger and you will need a larger lathe! The accuracy of the Unimat III is much improved over the original Unimat so if you find one on ebay make sure it's the newer version. The Microlux was a "some assembly required" before you can use it affair if I remember correctly. Dad had one that I practiced on but I don't know what he did with it...


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

I see a Unimat III on ebay for $2,000 is that the going price? Yikes. 

 Unimat III on ebay


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## Rod Hayward (Jan 2, 2008)

This would be good, I am selling it, but the shipping would kill you. Its was made in the UK too...


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

The MicroLux is a fine machine for the money. I cannot attest as to whether it is better or worse than any other machine for the home shop as I have not used the other brands (I did use a much larger Lathe back when I was in High School and it was a very nice, stable, rigid, machine) The MicroLux is very nice (in my opinion), but not nearly as stable and rigid as a big ($$$$) commercial-shop lathe. Still I know that given the skills of the operator, some wonderful stuff can be made with it... not that I have any skill or capability or have made anything with mine that I am willing to "show off", but I have made a few things that made having the lathe worthwhile owning and I have seen some absolutely exquisite work that was done by someone else using a MicroLux!

As for it needing some assembly... not much is needed. The tail-stock is designed to come off (and I take it off at times depending one what I am doing with the lathe) and it arrives in the "off" state, and the chip pan underneath of it needed to be applied with the rubber feet/bolts. You do have to do some disassembly to get at some of the surfaces to clean off the anti-corrosion coating (Cosmoline), but that is not difficult (just kind'a gloppy!). 

For me the most difficult part of setting it up for use was getting it out of the shipping crate! It was bolted to the bottom of the crate and in shipping it apparently got severely bumped or dropped on one end and the bolts took on a shallow "Z" shape because of that. Getting them to rotate to unscrew was quite the exercize... the whole lathe had to shift on the mounting board in a circular motion while undoing those bent hex socket-head bolts. If I had known what the problem was when I started trying to undo them I would have just grabbed a hacksaw and sliced them off, but I wasn't that smart, so I just kept working hard with the Allen key twisting the bolts. 

Given how badly the bolts were bent, I am pleased to report that I have never detected any problems with the lathe that I would attribute to whatever happened to bend them. The bed is flat and straight and the drive train runs true. I didn't even have to adjust the tail-stock to center it on the drive center of rotation.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Rod, yes I can't imagine the shipping cost. What are you replacing your lathe with? 

CT, Thanks for the input on the MicroLux. Did the base machine work or have you needed to add accessories? 

Anyone have input on the Sherline?


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## Cougar Rock Rail (Jan 2, 2008)

Jim, have a look at the 'sticky' post at the top of this forum section--lots of info on the different lathes there. 
Anyone have input on the Sherline? 
I have a Sherline and am extremely pleased with it. A lot depends on the average size/type of material you expect to be machining. If you are doing say mainly brass


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Depends on what you want to call "accessories"! 

It did not come with bits! So, Yes, I bought "accessories". Unfortunately, I think the bits they sell on the same page as the lathe are the wrong size... too big. I now buy 1/4-inch square bits (either HSS or carbide) The 3/8-inch bits that MicroMark sells end up putting the cutting tip too high on the workpiece. I have to shim the back-end to lower the front-end, but that changes the angle at which the tip is touching the work and I don't get good cuts. The smaller bits have to be shimmed "up" but that "can" be done, whereas you can't shim the big ones "down".

I bought a knurling tool, but I would purchase a different one if I ever need a new one (or better yet, I will make my own!) This one just presses in from the side and that puts extreme pressure on the lathe which is bad for it. The best kind grip the workpiece from opposite sides so there is no off-center torsion on the lathe itself.

You will want a set of files that you can dedicate to use around the lathe. A grinder to make your own bits if you are going to do special shaping of parts (wheel profiles). 

Some cutting oil (the lathe comes with a dinky EMPTY bottle to use, but you gotta get the oil). I bought some at the True Value hardware store (cutting oil... stinks bad!) But you can also used WD-40 for cutting aluminum, and 3-in-1 for some other metals. Depending on the metal, some can be done without cutting oils, but it is recommened to use something. The idea is to absorb the heat of cutting so as to, 1) not work-harden the workpiece, and 2) not dull the tool by overheating it.

You will want some sort of shop vac to help clean up the mountains of swarf the thing will bury you in. Maybe a nice bench brush to help you swim out of it and find your tools laying under it all.

A good set of calipers or micrometers for measuring your work. 

A large scrap box full of little useless pieces of metal to turn into smaller useless pieces of metal, and maybe one or two useful pieces from that scrap. And an other box to dump all the now really too small chunks of metal to haul to the recyclers only to be told they don't take that kind of stuff.

I did spring for the digital readouts on the cross slide and I don't think they are worth it. The batteries, once installed, last about 2 weeks and then need replaceing, whether the lathe is in use or not. Replacing them is somewhat difficult, and it is really easy to lose the screws that hold the battery cover on. Another problem is that the detectors that are used for the digital readouts quickly clog with swarf and become useless... I even have noticed that there is a brass chip that somehow got deep enough in the readout that it is embedded IN the display somehow... I have no idea how it could get that far into the unit. They were real nice while they worked, but they didn't last near long enough to be worth the money I paid for them. (I have never taken the time to remove them because the manual wheels and markings are still useable from the old way and they are small enough to not be in the way.)

The change gears are nice for cutting threads, but I think it is much easier to use a die than all the setup work that is required to do it on the lathe... BUT... if you don't have a die for some thread size you need then the lathe is available to do it. The gears are for making English style threads (Threads Per Inch. TPI), but Metric can be done, either by purchasing one more gear from places that sell them just for this purpose, (see below) or you can select a "thread per inch" that is close to the metric size and over short distances (thickness of a nut, etc.) it will work just fine. The manual only shows the gears for TPI, but there are several places on the web dedicated to these machines that will show what gears can be used for some metric sizes. I wrote a program to help me pick the gears to use. (I'll even give you my program if you want it, but there are others available on the web, along with simple charts you can printout for later reference.)

For more info... check out these web sites:

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Default.htm

Both those web sites will help you decide what to get and how to use whatever you get.


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## JEFF RUNGE (Jan 2, 2008)

Sherline offers lots of support, and versatility. 

http://www.sherline.com


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Keith, I knew I couldn't be the first to ask. I'll dig through that thread.


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

One thing that never comes up in our lathe discussions is the use of taps and dies. The lathe does a perfect job of putting threads on a rod, or for tapped hole centered right on. Accessories like these are indispensable for the lathe

This one holds a tap in the tail stock:










This on is for holding a die.










Being able to use taps and dies on the lathe opens a whole new world of possibilities.

My vote goes for one of the 7" x 12" for this reason. You need the extra swing room to get these accessories to work. Sherline or Taig does not have the room. The extra swing is also important, because most of our work tends to be larger diameter and shorter length. Wheels, for example.

I have heard a lot of good things about the Microlux, so I would go with that.


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## Jack - Freshwater Models (Feb 17, 2008)

Jim, 

I have owned a few lathes over the years and right now use both a 7X12 Mini-lathe from Grizzley and an Enco 9X20. I use it for a variety of operations and have done some production runs of small parts. 

I would be happy with most of the 7X12 or larger Seig mini-lathes regardless of brand. I especially like the variable speed. I feel that the Seig mini-lathes ar the most bang for the buck in a cheap lathe though not a made in USA product. 

Both the Sherline and Taig are OK but they don't have much mass and I find not having a convential compound slide to be a problem. Of these two I would probably choose the Taig. 

More improtant than the lathe is probably the operator! 

Jack


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Bob, your post was quite timely, I was just looking at Machine Shop 9 video and they were showing the use of a tap  I appreciate your recommendation, your models are superb!


Jack, are all 7x12 lathes made by Sieg? So the Grizzly or Microlux are really the same under the hood so to speak?


Another question, the more I look at Lathes and Milling machines the more it seems like they do the same thing. Can a Lathe do a what Milling machine does and vice versa?


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By jimtyp on 06 Nov 2009 01:12 PM 
Bob, your post was quite timely, I was just looking at Machine Shop 9 video and they were showing the use of a tap  I appreciate your recommendation, your models are superb!


Jack, are all 7x12 lathes made by Sieg? So the Grizzly or Microlux are really the same under the hood so to speak?


Another question, the more I look at Lathes and Milling machines the more it seems like they do the same thing. Can a Lathe do a what Milling machine does and vice versa?


With the appropriate attachments you can get a mill to act like a lathe and vice versa, but they won't do it well. The average lathe will hold a longer workpiece than the average mill, but the average mill will not move the workpiece or the tool tangentally easily. To make a mill do what a lathe does you would put the workpiece in the mill jaws and put the bit on the table and then move the table to engage the bit into the workpiece and move the mill head up or down to cut along the length of the workpiece... difficult at best and you can't put a tailstock on the workpiece to help keep it rigid... the appropriate fixture on the bed might be used to move the tool along the workpiece, but that distance is usually quite short so you could not hold a long workpiece.

Using a lathe as a mill can be done and it is a bit easier, but again, it takes a special fixture/attachment to hold the workpiece on the tool rest and then spin the mill bit in the lathe chuck. The problem is that the tool holder usually does not have an easy way to adjust the height of the workpiece in relation to the bit So you can cut slots or bore holes, but only in line with the chuck. To deviate from that position you have to be able to move the workpiece up and down and that requires a different fixture/adapter on the tool post part.

The two machines are complementary... the lathe is to make round things and the mill is to make flat things. (But I made a cube (6 flat surfaces) on my lathe once! FUN!)


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

I just purchased a 7x12 from Grizzly and I'm happy with it so far. I'm a newby as far as using a lathe so I don't have any wisdom in that area to give you.  The reasons I went with the 7X12 are the same as everyone else has said. They are larger then the Sherline and Taig so you get some advantage from the extra mass. But, of course, the main reason is the price. I wanted to purchase both a lathe and a mill, so cost was a big consideration. My lathe came in a cardboard box with Styrofoam packing, the chip tray was bent a little, but otherwise no damage and it works great. At least as soon as I can figure out how to use it.  

Jason


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

My voite goes to taig. I got mine from cartertools.com. The price was great and you get a discount on all future purchases. I started with the basic setup and assembled myself. Tail stock, 3 jaw and 4 jaw adjustable chuck, cross slide table, die attachment, cutter set, motor etc. 
I have not only increased my productivity, but improved the quality of my work. I've used the Sherline and it is also good. But still like my taig.


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