Thread: Loving Learning my Lathe

Originally Posted by irish19

I've got an old M-Power lathe I got at Rockler for turning pens. It does do a nice job on brushes and such I think.Attachment 112934Attachment 112935

That looks great,whats the wood? how was it finished?

Very nice work,I gotta get back to my wood lathe stuff.Wood lathe is cake to set up but my Southbend is taking weeks to make right(( metal lathe on a wood bench is not a good thing,getting real close tho

Got her done finally,she be runnin dead nuts true

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Got her done finally,she be runnin dead nuts true

Sweet! I wish I had the time and space and money to add a machinist's lathe to my arsenal.

Originally Posted by irish19

Sweet! I wish I had the time and space and money to add a machinist's lathe to my arsenal.

Keep your eyes open,I haunt tool auctions,you can get a nice lathe for next to nothing,the tooling is what gets pricey tho.
A few yrs back San Jose state shut down the metal shop,they had an online auction.
I snagged a never used in the crate Rivett 918 first op lathe (made in 1953)
With a steel cabinant inside of which was a brand new Buck adjust 3-jaw (an $800.00 chuck today) collet closer and 50 brand new Hardinge 5-c collets,all for 300 bucks.

I'm not sure how many people will follow the hardinge comment, but a friend of mine swears by the HLVH. He'd probably have killed to get just those collets for $300.

I don't have a metal lathe or know much about them, but I do know that he considers the tolerances or the setups of most other lathes unacceptable for precision work.

Originally Posted by DaveW

I'm not sure how many people will follow the hardinge comment, but a friend of mine swears by the HLVH. He'd probably have killed to get just those collets for $300.

I don't have a metal lathe or know much about them, but I do know that he considers the tolerances or the setups of most other lathes unacceptable for precision work.

Are many lathes that equal or surpass any hardinge,but they are the gold standard for sure,all depends on how they are setup

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Got her done finally,she be runnin dead nuts true
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Mine is not that nice but I have to work on finding a local mentor to hep getting it running "dead nuts true". lol

Originally Posted by mcjacob71990

I also found this craftsman on CL for just $75. It cost more for the tools than it did for the actual lathe, but I'm happy as can be with the lathe and the results.

Attachment 111853

Here is a shot of the old lady, she runs like a dream!

I love that tiny lathe! OMG!

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Got her done finally,she be runnin dead nuts true

And THAT one looks expensive...drool...