Recommend me a mini lathe

[chimpy leon]

I have a budget of around £500 for a decent mini lathe for what will be mainly for smaller diameter steel projects.

I have a lot of experience operating large lathes but very limited time around the hobbyist type.

What do people recommend?

I’m feeling these…

https://www.vevor.co.uk/metal-lathe-...CABEgLk4PD_BwE

Any thoughts?

[angrybear]

I'm toying with the idea of getting something similar & having read up what I can find, on several sites,
it seems to say all these mini lathes come from the same factory & are just painted for whatever "brand" supplier, so the difference is to buy from somewhere that has some back-up.

The only thing I can't decide on is the spindle bore, the sub £500 are up to 21mm, then there's a price jump of 50%(ish) to get the larger 38mm

[chimpy leon]

Yes I’ve noticed that the ones in my budget all look incredibly similar bar the paint job. The cynic in me would say they were all made in the same Chinese factory… In that case it’s like you say, best of choosing a seller with a reputable customer service.

I’m must say the nylon gearing that are found in them doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Is this something I need be too concerned about?

[Gavlar]

I've had a bigger and much more powerful lathe that used fibre gears and my current lathe, whilst having steel gears as standard has a set of nylon (delrin to be exact) aftermarket gears for cutting non-standard threads, that work just fine. I think steel is probably better but nylon will work within the limitations of the machine. In any case, if they do fail, aftermarket gears for the mini lathes are easily available in both steel and nylon.

[El Garro]

The Eastern made machines can be made pretty accurate if you fettle them but they do have limitations.
Some makes have 38mm spindle bore which is useful, most are 20/21.
A small British made machine seems to be the most recommended, usually more expensive and there are lots of old dogs with nice new paint out there, if you have experience you'll know what to look for.
I use an old Chester conquest , it's ideal for guides and top hats etc but I work to half a mm on a good day
Speed controls can give problems but the newer boards are loads better, run them in low gear when possible, motor cools better and boards seem to last longer.
Then there's the brush or brushless motor debate.
A guy who sells and repairs them told me recently that he recommends brushed motors.
That's a subject on its own though.

[Neil.]

I'd go Warco.

Ready to go out of the box.

[Rich]

That's what I'm looking at. My old Myford still turns out very good work but is hampered by the mandrel bore of 19/32 inch, a shade over 15mm.

Something with a 38mm headstock bore or thereabouts would be ideal. It's not just to hold larger diameter stock either. If I want to make a piece say 18 or 20mm diameter I have to cut a short length from bar stock. That means I get a load of stubs that I can't often use. I can't run a length of bar stock through the mandrel.

[angrybear]

I'd go Warco.

Ready to go out of the box.

But allegedly made side by side with Vevor, Crenex, Amadeal & Draper according to what I read on one of the model engineer forums ?

[Shed tuner]

That's what I'm looking at. My old Myford still turns out very good work but is hampered by the mandrel bore of 19/32 inch, a shade over 15mm.

is there enough clearance to ream it out ? You only need to get to 16mm to cover pretty much any airgun barrel...

[Shed tuner]

is it a space or a price constraint that's pushing you towards a mini-lathe ?

I recently sold my Hobbymat mini-lathe and bought an older, but much bigger and stronger machine - still a home/hobbyist grade, but way more useful for airgun jobs. Net cost basically zero.

[El Garro]

Have a look at item number 353061234315
On that auction site. I can't vouch for the build quality or how much work is involved to true them up but I nearly bought their 1000w model recently, fixed my old Chester instead but I like the sound of the 38mm spindle bore. Lots less wasted stock .

[pajj]

I wouldn't worry too much about the plastic gears, perfectly serviceable, and anyway better for one of these to strip rather than do more damage somewhere else. Also thought most of the generic minis are 19mm bore , could be wrong.

[chimpy leon]

is it a space or a price constraint that's pushing you towards a mini-lathe ?

I recently sold my Hobbymat mini-lathe and bought an older, but much bigger and stronger machine - still a home/hobbyist grade, but way more useful for airgun jobs. Net cost basically zero.

To be honest both. I will be in my garage and even after sorting all the junk out and several tip runs leaves me with little space.

[chimpy leon]

Have a look at item number 353061234315
On that auction site. I can't vouch for the build quality or how much work is involved to true them up but I nearly bought their 1000w model recently, fixed my old Chester instead but I like the sound of the 38mm spindle bore. Lots less wasted stock .

Thanks, that looks like a good machine, certainly a step up from what I was initially looking at. The extra spindle clearance and 750w motor makes it better for any bigger projects that may come up. One for the shortlist cheers.

[Phil Russell]

A thought: while some minis are labelled as 20mm spindle bore that does not mean you can stash a 20mm rod down it. The limit could well be set by the bore in your chuck ... maybe 15 mm?

Also: watch out for lathes that are fixed speed. In my opinion a variable speed unit is better. And go for the longest bed distance you can.

Cheers, Phil