The best Christmas present I bought myself about 4 years ago (or was it five?) was a mini lathe. I had never used one before so basically had to teach myself from the beginning. There are many of these 'mini lathes' around and I think they all originate in China and are just rebadged by various suppliers. It may not be the bees knees of lathes but it sits on a bench top (I had no space for a larger unit on its own stand) and does all I ask of it. Spring guides, top hats, end protective caps, new transfer ports, modifying screws and bolts to aesthetically match obsolete ones, scribing score lines for a bell target plate, even making new rollers for a greenhouse door etc etc. At present I am experimenting with making seals from urethane. It's great fun and fully recommended.
Limitations: I am sure this is not a real limitation but I recently saw a beautiful solid steel spring guide for a HW77. Beautiful, but I would be reluctant to make one because of the amount of raw steel that would need to be cut away ... delrin is far more forgiving.
I should have bought one many years ago.
Cheers, Phil
Dremel : agree. Indispensable... but mine is not a 'dremel' it is a cheapo £10 version from Aldi but works. Perfect for cutting spring coils.
Originally Posted by Phil Russell
The best Christmas present I bought myself about 4 years ago (or was it five?) was a mini lathe. I had never used one before so basically had to teach myself from the beginning. There are many of these 'mini lathes' around and I think they all originate in China and are just rebadged by various suppliers. It may not be the bees knees of lathes but it sits on a bench top (I had no space for a larger unit on its own stand) and does all I ask of it. Spring guides, top hats, end protective caps, new transfer ports, modifying screws and bolts to aesthetically match obsolete ones, scribing score lines for a bell target plate, even making new rollers for a greenhouse door etc etc. At present I am experimenting with making seals from urethane. It's great fun and fully recommended.
Reply With Quote