Author Topic: Advice on small lathes  (Read 15340 times)

Offline nats

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Advice on small lathes
« on: February 02, 2019, 07:13:01 PM »
Hello,
Some news because I didn't give up ! :)
I bought few book about motor 3 especially about model engine and one about the theory of ICE and I started doing
some design in Freecad.
In the mean time I realize I'll need a tiny lathe at home because the hackerspace is far and it's not a good way to work
by small time slot.

I saw few tabletop lathe on this forum, I was wondering if Sherline one could be a good choice.

Have a nice week end ! :)

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2019, 07:34:57 PM »
Mehdi, there are several Sherline and Taig users on the forum including me. I have done a lot with my sherlines, lathe and mill and as long as you understand their sire limitations they are good little machines. Not sure how available they are in France, you would know that better than me of course. What I like most about them is the number of accessories available for them which you can add over time as budget allows.

Bill

Online fumopuc

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2019, 07:24:16 AM »
Hi Mehdi. welcome to MEM.
Kind Regards
Achim

Offline nats

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2019, 11:31:29 AM »
Mehdi, there are several Sherline and Taig users on the forum including me. I have done a lot with my sherlines, lathe and mill and as long as you understand their sire limitations they are good little machines. Not sure how available they are in France, you would know that better than me of course. What I like most about them is the number of accessories available for them which you can add over time as budget allows.

Bill

Thanks for the advice, it can be sourced at robotshop in France thanks for all advice :)
I have one more question: there is a currently running ebay auction for a unimat 3, is it a good lathe ? It's in a really good shape with few tools.

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2019, 01:58:56 PM »
Mehdi, I also have a Unimat 3 that is recently cleaned up  after years of little if any use.  It is a nicely built machine but perhaps a bit smaller than the Sherline. The downside is that they are no longer made to my knowledge an not as many accessories are available as for Sherline. Again, it ill largely depend on what kind of parts and sizes you envision as both are small machines.  Do you have a link to the ebay posting? What tooling is being offered with it?

Bill

Offline Flyboy Jim

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2019, 03:11:54 PM »
Welcome to the forum Mehdi.

Since you posted about the desire to have a small lathe, I'll approach my post from that point. Here's the link to the first engine I built with my newly purchased Sherline lathe and mill: http://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,5886.0.html It was done with minimal tooling (but still needed some) and required both a lathe and milll. Subsequent engines have needed more and more tooling and accessories (for example: a rotary table).

The other thing you'll notice in that thread is the wonderful support and encouragement you'll receive on this forum.

Best Regards, Jim
Sherline 4400 Lathe
Sherline 5400 Mill
"You can do small things on big machines, but you can do small things on small machines".

Offline crueby

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2019, 04:15:17 PM »
I used to have a couple of the Unimat lathes, of different models, and wound up upgrading to a Sherline lathe and mill, been very happy with them. As others have mentioned, if you want to do very large parts it gets limiting, but with a little ingenuity and patience it is still adequate - I've build one of Kozo's locomotives, the MEM Corliss engine, a large Lombard Hauler, and currently am making a huge model of a Marion steam shovel with that setup. I like them since they take up little table space, so I can do everything in a small back room. Still, there are larger parts that are not feasible, but you can do a whole lot with them. My largest flywheel was 6" diameter, when done the current model will be 4-1/2 feet long.

Chris
 

simplyloco

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2019, 04:45:39 PM »
I have an original Emco SL, which is a lovely machine, but more suited to clockmaking and jewellery  than real lathe work. For that I have an EMCO Maximat V10P with an FB-2 milling head!
John
« Last Edit: February 03, 2019, 06:29:01 PM by simplyloco »

Offline steamer

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2019, 04:59:44 PM »
The Sherline is a very capable machine, is readily available new, and has parts and accessories that interchange.    If I was to move into a small living space and had to give up my current shop, I would definitely buy Sherline.

Dave
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Offline nats

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2019, 10:38:47 PM »
Thanks a lot for all your advice I'll try to get a Sherline set with a lathe and a mill.
I may start by a "basic package" and upgrade with tools I need.

Really thanks for all advice ! :)

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #10 on: February 03, 2019, 10:47:13 PM »
Good luck Mehdi. Sometimes their "packages" at least have some of the basic accessories and can save you a bit of money. Just be aware that you will want/ need more over time. If you have any questions about accessories, please ask here as most of us will know what we have used or not found useful.

Keep us posted on your progress please.

Bill

Offline steamer

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2019, 10:47:43 PM »
Great plan!   Keep us posted!
"Mister M'Andrew, don't you think steam spoils romance at sea?"
Damned ijjit!

Online Kim

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #12 on: February 04, 2019, 05:53:59 AM »
You're getting a lot of votes for Sherline, and it's a great machine.  But I thought I'd mention that there's also the Taig machines that are quite good.  They are very similar to the Sherlines in sized and capability.  The Taig's are a little less expensive, and the mill has a slightly larger envelope (and I think is a bit more rigid).  But the Sherlines are a little nicer in the finishes they put on the parts (everything is anodized or painted, where as Taig has many bare metal parts (though not all).  The Taig accessories are less expensive than the Sherline counterparts, but there aren't as many of them as there are for the Sherline.  On the plus side, you can use most of the Sherline accessories on the Taig machines.

Initially, I just got the Taig lathe, with a 'milling attachment' that provided an additional axis.  That was great for my first few projects.  But it wasn't long before I wanted a dedicated mill and upgraded to that.  But the milling attachment is a $65 upgrade, compared to a $800 machine.  It was a good compromise for me initially as an introduction into the hobby.

Anyway, they are both good machines with slight differences.  I don't know Taig's availability in Europe.  I think its available in the UK as Petol or something like that.

You won't go wrong with a Sherline, but I just wanted to give you some other options to consider if you're so inclined.

Best of luck as you select your machine!
Kim

Offline nats

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #13 on: February 04, 2019, 01:53:58 PM »
I took a look at Taig lathe, the one you're talking about is a Micro-Lathe-II ? Because they also make a TaigTurn which is heavy and seems like an hybrid between a lathe and a mill.
The Micro-Lathe-II seems really cool, I'll try to see if it's possible to have it in Europe to compare.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2019, 02:15:02 PM by nats »

Offline gerritv

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Re: Advice on small lathes
« Reply #14 on: February 04, 2019, 02:36:37 PM »
I have a Taig, nice machine. Easy to make add-ons such as ER32 collet chuck as they have spindle mount blanks available.
I think in EU (at least in UK) they are branded Peatol.

The Taig is very suitable to condo/apartment living.

Gerrit
« Last Edit: February 04, 2019, 02:41:16 PM by gerritv »
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