Is this lathe worth buying for constructing small engines.

[steamer]

If youre a visual learner, I could suggest some youtube channels to watch

Keith Fenner     Turn wright machine shop

Adam Booth      Abom79

Keith Rucker    Vintage Machinery

Matty's workshop

Cutting Edge Engineering

Go Create Hobby Machine Shop

Blondihacks

Tubal Caine    Mr Pete's workshop   ( great beginner lessons from a shop teacher... https://www.youtube.com/@mrpete222)

Mark Presling     https://www.youtube.com/@Preso58

Last but not least    Joe Pi.     Best set up wizard I've ever seen   lathe or mill.

that will keep you busy learning......

Dave

[Kim]

To Dave's list of YouTube links, I'd add Blondihacks.  She has a great series for beginning hobby machinists and does an excellent job of explaining things. 

You should watch several of these YouTube channels.  Each of them has a slightly different way of doing and explaining things and some will fit your learning style better. Plus, hearing things multiple times is important when you're learning new skills.

You're getting really great advice from many people here.  And if you continue to post on the projects you do, you'll get even more.  Most of what I've learned about this hobby I've learned from people on this forum (and watching the above list of YouTube channels ). This place is filled with people who have a lot of experience and who are willing to take the time and effort to help others.  As long as you're willing to share and listen, people will be more than happy to help!

Kim

[steamer]

Absolutely....sorry Quinn
Dully added.

Dave

[Jasonb]

I think you might also want to reconsider what you actually want to do with the lathe.

Thread started as a lathe that can be used to make "Small Engines"

Now it seems you want to use it for general workshop use - a large coarse thread and parts for the tractors on the farm

[gipetto]

I'm sorry for wasting everyones time. i guess the thread can be closed rather than allow it to stray off topic. I know this is a small engine forum and if and when i start a project relating to that i will post a thread about it, so that everyone can benefit.

[Jasonb]

My comment was not meant to say you can't post here about putting the lathe to other uses.

However if you also want it to be used for things other than small engines then the size of lathe that members may suggest would probably not be the small micro lathes. If you want to be making things around the siz eof that filter housing then a 7 x 16 mini lathe would probably be the smallest to consider but preferably something larger with a 9-10" swing.

[gipetto]

the circular part of the housing is well within the specified swing distance of the lathe so that shouldn't be an issue. i expect it will be difficult to hold in a chuck, but if a small cylinder is temporarily welded in the center of the piece then that should do. the mounting bracket can be welded on afterwards. all i need the lathe to do on the upper part is to cut two grooves for o rings and excavate a cavity for the fuel to flow. the rest can be finished on a drill press. I could reuse the bottom part, but i may make one if i get on well.

[ozzie46]

Absolutely....sorry Quinn
Dully added.

Dave

   You might want to check what you actually typed in the original post.


   Ron

[steamer]

Absolutely....sorry Quinn
Dully added.

Dave

   You might want to check what you actually typed in the original post.


   Ron

      Serves me right typing without glasses!      Sorry about that.   Fixed....

[Jasonb]

the circular part of the housing is well within the specified swing distance of the lathe so that shouldn't be an issue.

Well you will find out.

Diameter is not the only factor to consider. These small micro lathes will indeed swing such a diameter but the size of cut you can take will be considerably less than you can with smaller work. There are several factors that come into it, one is they have quite a high slowest speed so there is risk of chatter if too big a cut is taken. They are flexible so you need the work rigidly mounted which having it tacked onto a spigot won't help. As the diameter goes up the lathes with electronic speed control loose grunt as the motor needs to be run slowly this means very light cuts are needed which means a job can take a long time or if rushed then constant stalling can damage the electronics of any plastic gears if the particular lathe has plastic gears.

My lathe will easily accommodate a 10" flywheel but I only need to do a flywheel of that size once every couple of years so can live with the limitations of the machine. If I were regularly turning work that size then I'd be looking at something else that can better handle it. Same with a small engine you may only have a flywheel of any significant diameter but lots of other much smaller jobs so a micro lathe will do. start wanting to make more bigger parts and you need to be looking at a bigger lathe.

Same with that nut, it is not just a case of buying a few extra change gears so you can cut that pitch. There is a reason that as a lathe gets bigger it is equipped to cut coarser pitches. The loads put onto a lathe when cutting say 4tpi or 5mm pitch are considerable due to the amount of cutter engagement etc. so even if you could gear it correctly the lathe and the geartrain would not be upto the job. I don't think I would even want to try such a nut on that size machine by driving the leadscrew which is one way to do coarse pitches on smaller machines.

[gipetto]

I see what you mean. I have used and abused my 750w drill press for many years now, and it's just not able for the larger stepped drill bits. when i do use them it creates a triangular hole due to some kind of harmonic, that destroys the bit. also the motor is too weak, stalling out.
this lathe at 600w is even weaker, but has the advantage over a drill bit in that a smaller cutter can be used.

I don't worry too much because I don't have the funds to start a proper workshop and i have already accomplished a great deal with primitive tools.

[gipetto]

I see the lathe specifies a fixed centering point on the tailstock. is that going to have to be replaced with a live point at some time? seems like it would cause a lot of friction.

[crueby]

True - I much prefer a live center on the tailstock.

[Minh Thanh]

 Hi .
 Just adding a personal opinion when reading this topic
 Buying a large or small lathe (by mini standards) depends greatly on the size of the projects you will be working on.
 A slightly larger machine can make small parts, but too small a machine cannot make large parts - sometimes it is possible but it requires a lot of machining experience, as well as maintaining the durability of the lathe....
 So I think choosing the size of the lathe depends a lot on the size of the projects you will do in the future, so before buying the machine, think and choose the largest size for the project that you aim and buy a lathe that corresponds to it
 If you don't have experience, buy a cheap machine , used machine and practice with it, I think those machines are still capable of making a model engine.

[Jasonb]

With such a small distance between centres it can be useful to have a dead ctr in the tailstock as they are shorter. A solid one will do to start with and then when you feel the need you can get a live one.

You will find just about any lathe offered to the hobby from micro to around 11 x 28 will be supplied with solid ctrs for tail and headstock as standard.