# mini lathe or mini mill



## doogs (May 29, 2007)

Im ready to take the plunge and purchase one of these to give me some more flexibility in terms of housings. What would you recommend out of a lathe or milling machine. Im fairly limited in budget so will probably be looking at the mini variants in each, namely a x2 mini mill or c2 mini lathe, both around the $1000 aud mark.

The only other factor to take into consideration is that i have a some experience on a lathe but zero experience on a mill, but obviously willing to learn. The real attraction with the mill is being able to do low profile helmet mount housings for multiple 10mm xpe optics.

Anyway please let me know your opinions.


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## zen bicycle (Mar 23, 2007)

Personally I use my mill way more than my lathe. I have a mill attachment for my lathe, but it is basically worthless even if I didn't have the mill. So what I am saying in short is I think the mill probably works better for our applications. Plus if you did want to do a round object you can always get a rotary table later on. I started with zero experience on either, and am probably doing itall wrong, but any machining experience will transfer over to the mill very quickly.

HTH


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## piesoup (Feb 9, 2009)

Hi
I have a lathe with a vertical slide. Basically a big vice that goes inplace of your compound slide. I have seen some really dinky ones so I'm sure you can get one for a C2. The milling cutter goes in the jaws of the chuck or in a collet in the spindle. Nice and easy to use horizontal milling machine. And you still have your lathe!
Only thing is you will be limited to what you can hold in the vert slide as the jaws dont open a great deal. But then with a bit of noggin, I'm sure you can hold pretty much anything in them  
Dont forget to budget for tooling in your price too. I didnt :madman: 
Andrew


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## piesoup (Feb 9, 2009)

Here is a pic of my vertical slide for ya!


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## .40AET (Jun 7, 2007)

I've been thinking about this as well. For a little bit more money you can make a jump in either features or horsepower. Which one is better to go after? I looked into tooling and it looks like you need $300-400 for a vise and misc bits and pieces. What is a good basic starter kit?


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## tobymack (Nov 12, 2008)

It's funny, I have heard lots of people saying they get on fine with vertical slides, and lots of others that say they are useless and not worth having!
I suspect the real truth is that they are fine as long as you don't expect too much from them and are prepared to be patient and work around their problems.

I don't have the experience to comment lathe vs mill except that, as pointed out you can turn a lathe into a mill with a vertical slide but a mill with a rotary table does not really equal a lathe (I am not sure how you would do threads etc).

If you do go with a lathe then I have a couple of comments based on my recent learning experience.
1) Get the biggest you can afford or find space for. It is not about physical size so much as rigidity and power. It is very frustrating and slow spending hours doing something you know could be done in minutes on a bigger machine!
2) don't underestimate the cost of tooling and accessories. A mate told me I should budget about the same for tooling as I spend on the lathe. I don't think he was far wrong. 4 jaw chucks, faceplates, QR tool post, steadies etc etc. You can work without most of that lot (I have so far) but again it is very frustrating knowing there is an easier, quicker way.

Also consider second hand. I don't know about Oz but in the UK I can probably get something like a 9" southbend or Boxford with chucks, steadies etc for about the price of a new C3/4.
My lathe is more like C1 size and power I think but it is really not up to making lights - it can be made to work but 2 hours to cut a thread because I can only take 0.05mm cuts at a time requires a lot of patience.......

I am sure similar comments apply to mills.

On the other hand, don't let that put you off - even with my undersized, underpowered lathe I still find it very satisfying when I finally get the results I want! So get what you can afford and have fun :thumbsup:


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## crux (Jan 10, 2004)

Pie,

How does your vert slide work on the lathe? I have the same version (at least from the pics) and it has only really done a decent job of milling out straight ling holes. I think the maine slider is to corse a movement to produce fine work (at least in my hands.) 

I picked up a sherline mill with rotary table and it has done most everything I have needed. If I am looking to turn down a rod then I would chose a lathe. Otherwise pick up a mill.


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

I just use my imagination.

If it goes round...it's a lathe.


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## Itess (Feb 22, 2009)

yetibetty said:


> I just use my imagination.
> 
> If it goes round...it's a lathe.


How would you do threads?


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## PCC (Sep 5, 2005)

My brother and I have a Sherline miniature mill and have used it for a few years making small parts for our RC addiction. Recently, my brother bought a four-jaw self-centering chuck and we've used it to convert our mill into a makeshift lathe. It's not a bad setup but we cannot cut threads with it, though.

My recommendation: don't get a Sherline. It's an expensive mill/lathe and a lot of the tools that you need to get to use with it are proprietary and expensive compared to other, larger setups.


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

Depends on what you plan on doing more of.

I have a CNC machine and a small lathe here.

I have been using the lathe quite a bit for making LED lights because my designs are all cylinders.

I use the cnc machine to cut non cylindrical shapes, circuit boards, plastic mounts.

Both are real nice to have but I would say that my CNC machine is more versatile.


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

if you want a real mill, I am selling this for my employer.

http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/tls/1138643297.html

Would sell to a MTBR person for $6k. Think of the housings you could make!!!! I'll even load it on your truck for free! Of course it better be a pretty big truck as it weighs 6 tons.


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## moto367 (Nov 20, 2006)

Personally, I would say a lathe. If you want to think of it another way, a lathe is (or was before cnc) the only machine capable of re-producing itself. A lathe would also be cheaper in terms of tooling. One bit can do many many things where in a mill you may need several different sized cutters to get the size of hole you want...


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

Hi doogs, I am in a similar situation. I am also looking for an X2 based mill (probably a Grizzly or the Harbor Freight mill) to convert to CNC, these sell for $5-600 USD. I was thinking about a lathe too, but with CNC I think threads are possible with a mill (threads are about the only thing I can think of needing to use a lathe for). Making circles on a CNC'ed X2 appears to require some dialing in so as not get get flat spots due to slop in the drive screws, so I am planning for some extra expense to get that under control. 

I'm sure there are better mills than the X2 out there, but there seems to be a great deal of info and kits for converting an X2 to CNC, so getting it running should be quicker.


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## doogs (May 29, 2007)

there seems to be quite a difference in opinion, 

vancbiker - as nice as that sounds its a little out of my price range not to mention it would have to be a special truck to get it over to AUS.

huffypuffy - sounds interesting, perhaps something to aim for one i get the basics down. BTW how do you cut say a 35mm hole on a manual mill.

At this stage the mill looks the way to go, i was dead keen on a lathe until i saw the troutlite!!


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## PCC (Sep 5, 2005)

doogs said:


> BTW how do you cut say a 35mm hole on a manual mill.


For me, I use a rotary table. I just start a cut that is obviously smaller than 35mm ID, measure the hole, calculate the difference then halve it. I then minus .5mm and move it in the appropriate direction and take another pass. I measure again and adjust accordingly. This is all done with a shallow cut until I am cutting a hole that is about 34mm in diameter. When I get to my depth I open it up slowly until I get to my desired ID. It takes some time to do this but it avoids some problems that can happen.


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

I used smaller and smaller bi-metal hole saws (32mm largest first) Then milled it nice and tidy at the end.


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

I have built two CNC machines from scratch. The first one was made of OAK and eventually the Oak machine built the 6061 aluminum machine.

You can build your own CNC for under 1K, unless you need a monster machine capable of cutting large chunks of steel.

Here's my CNC page. Look for the two different machines further down the page.
https://www.el34world.com/Misc/Cnc/CNC0.htm

As far as a lathe goes, I actually use a Taig mico lathe with a bigger motor on it and it does a great job. I think it's $400+ now a days https://www.taigtools.com/index.html

I looked into getting a bigger lathe a while back because I thought my Taig would not be able to handle the job of making stuff similar to what Betty's picture looks like. I added a 1/4 horse motor to mine and it was no problem. Harbor feight and several other vendors all seems to have the same lathes. If you look close, they all look alike except for the name tags. You can get these small lathes for under $600

This one at Enco is a real deal and is on sale for $425. The catalog says $644, but if you put it in your shopping cart, it's $425
https://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=538&PARTPG=INLMK3&PMITEM=110-0800


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

I just made the jump and ordered a Harbor Freight Sieg X2 clone today, ended up costing under $400 with a 20% off email coupon that expires today. I plan to give it the CNC treatment, should be a learning experience 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44991


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

Good luck with the new mill, CNC stuff is a blast but a huge learing curve.
You need CAD software, CAM software and CNC Machine control software.
I highly reccomend CAMBAM for Cam software and MACH3 for machine software.
I use some extinct CAD software, so I can't give you a reccomendation for that.
CamBam has some built in CAD drawing stuff, so you may just be able to work with that.

CAM software prices will make your jaw drop to the floor if you look a Rhino and other pricey software.

The cylinder shaped stuff is a breeze with a lathe.
You use a boring bar for the inside and a regular cutting bit for the outside.

For the main bodies, I use 6061 pipe. It's way easier, you don't have to bore out a ton of material. 
For my P7 mount capsules and main body end caps I use solid 6061 billet, which works great.


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## il2mb (Jan 27, 2005)

HuffyPuffy said:


> I just made the jump and ordered a Harbor Freight Sieg X2 clone today, ended up costing under $400 with a 20% off email coupon that expires today. I plan to give it the CNC treatment, should be a learning experience
> 
> http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44991


Huffy,

How do I get that 20% off coupon? I've been wanting to order one of these mills for some time.

Bob


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

Hi il2mb,

I just signed up for their spam and they sent it to me:

http://www.harborfreight22.com/MailPreferences/

I was told that I could use the coupon since the store was able to order the mill and have it shipped to them, but there is some fine print which I did not read (didn't need to).

Thanks for the suggestions on CAM and MACH3 software, El34. I was already planning to use MACH3 (seems like it is the most popular choice), and will check out the CAM software you suggested. Those are some spiffy lights too, have you posted them before? The red one reminds me of some of the cool Maglight conversions I had seen around various forums.

I also saw a lathe that looked similar to the Eno 110-0800 at Harbor Freight, I think it was this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93212

And it was on sale in the store for under $400 I believe.

Here is a couple great review webpages for mini mills/lathes:

Lathe reviews:
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_lathe/Versions/Versions.htm

Mill reviews:
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_mill/Reviews/Reviews.htm


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

Yeah, that same exact lathe I posted a picture of appears all over the web at different stores. That one says Enco on it, but apparently the manufactuer will put your own label on it and you can get it in several different colors. I have found the same lathe with at least 5 different store names on them. $425 is a real deal for that much iron.

Just think, you could have the "HuffyPuffy Lathe in Lime Green or Rasta"

Here's a link to the CamBam forum if you want to check it out.
https://www.cambam.co.uk/forum/

Thanks on the lights, it's a project I am working on trying to develop a "do it yourself" type deal for people who want high end LED lights, but don't have the machines, experience or time to build them from scratch.

If the machine shop can get me the bodies cheap enough, I can sell them on my web store along with all the other goodies and people can assemble them themselves.
It may or may not work out, I am still nailing down the designs of the outside and the interior electronics.

I have a bunch of info here if you want to check it out.
https://www.el34world.com/Misc/bike/BikesLights1.htm

here's a small shot of all the guts inside one of my lights.
There's bigger photo's and info on the link I gave above.


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

El34 said:


> Just think, you could have the "HuffyPuffy Lathe in Lime Green or Rasta"


 How did you know Lime Green and Rasta are my favorite colors?

Speaking of lime green, that CamBam forums looks like something I will need to check out, but I will either need to wear my blue blockers or take it in small doses. Thanks for the links!

I think your DIY project is cool, and the DX 1735 drivers make sense for an inexpensive build. It seems like the options for building a DIY light are growing, which is a good thing for everyone.


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

Good luck with your machine


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

> As far as a lathe goes, I actually use a Taig mico lathe with a bigger motor on it and it does a great job. I think it's $400+ now a days http://www.taigtools.com/index.html


EI34, love that little Taig micro lathe so much I'm going to make one.(or something like it) I orderd a few parts as soon as I saw it.

First bit arived in the post this morning...a nice little 4 jaw chuck. I think I can use a few washing machine parts too.

Thanks for posting the link.


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

I have had my Taig lathe since maybe about 1985??

I recently put a much bigger motor on it and it has way more power now.
I have the 3 jaw chuck that came with the lathe.

Does the 4 jaw chuck -self center when- you tighten it down?


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## harty (Apr 16, 2008)

El34 said:


> Does the 4 jaw chuck -self center when- you tighten it down?


Hi El34

you can get both but if you want to do acurate work you need a 4 indipendent jaws and a dial indicator

cheers
Harty


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

Harty, Thanks, I know that.

I was asking Betty about the exact 4 jaw chuck for the Taig, which is the lathe I have.

I have the Taig 3 jaw version that centers automatically.
I was eyeballing the Taig 4 jaw version

BYW, here's another source for Taig stuff.
I purchased a spare belt and a new pully set from these guys.
http://www.peck-polymers.com/store/SearchDisplay.asp?Cguid={16FF6EA9-A561-4C77-9182-6F88702F4774}

kind of cool that you can buy every piece of a Taig lathe and build your own.
Although it is a micro lathe and not made for anything heavy duty, it still does small parts in aluminum very nicely.


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## mtbAndy (Jun 7, 2004)

yetibetty said:


> I just use my imagination.
> 
> If it goes round...it's a lathe.


What did you use for an internal clamp here?


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

EI34, I bought an independent jaw chuck, not so much so that I can hold strange shapes but more to get things centered if I don't manage to get a perfect spindle. The chuck is only 70mm but will hold my usual 41mm bar easy and I tried it on 50mm bar with no probs.
This is where I bought the chuck, it's UK based so no use to you but it might be of use to someone http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/LATHE_CHUCKS_BACKPLATES_SOFT_JAWS.html
If anyone knows of better or cheaper for lathe type thingy's then please let me Know.

I've just got in after riding around the shops and managed to get some nice new washing machine bearings so will try and sort out a spindle based on these.

I have an old powerfull 1950's bench grinder that will probably be used as the motor,
it has a nice feature in the form of a centrifugal switch which means it starts nice and slow and as it spead up the switch activates and gives full power, it's 750 watts so maybe too much, if it is then I'll use a washing machine motor.

Be nice to give the drill press a rest If this thing works out.

Edit: should have said that I didn't buy a Taig specific chuck.


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

hillbilly hank, what did I use for internal clamping? 

Nothing.


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

RDGtools is just 15 miles from me and I have been there today and splashed my proceeds from the troutlight, plus a bit on a new milling machine . to play with .

So the clark minimil is available cheap Yeti . first refusal before it goes on ebay.

Just cleaning the new one up and installing it in the garage . ready to make chips .
will post some pics later.

got this wee beasty
http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/info_1273.html


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

Oh no not more tools, thanks troute but I simlply have no more space.

Good to know that you use RDG tools, I have have bought quite a few bits from them in the past and they do seem very good.

That's a nice machine you've just bought, you was quick though they've only just got them in stock along with the nice new lathes.


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Yeti yep rdg are pretty good and the lathes look real good also .
Made in China of course but to the spec of the owner at rdg who is an old school machinist. so they do seem well thought out bits of kit.

I love going in there its like alladins cave with all the tools around.
and got a real good deal too.

edit -- Ops for got the piccy


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## piesoup (Feb 9, 2009)

Looking good Troutie! Wish I had the $$$ for one! Best sell some lights then :idea:


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

piesoup said:


> Looking good Troutie! Wish I had the $$$ for one! Best sell some lights then :idea:


It has been hard work but fun and might do some better lights soon .
or just convert solid ali to chips faster 
now I need to learn how to use the computer to draw the buggers .


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

troutie-mtb said:


> now I need to learn how to use the computer to draw the buggers .


Yep me too, I can get the computer do draw circles but as soon as I try anything more it all goes bonkers.


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## piesoup (Feb 9, 2009)

troutie-mtb said:


> now I need to learn how to use the computer to draw the buggers .


And Yeti...
I use Solid Works 3D 2008. After a few hours of playing around on it, it is pretty straight forward. There are tutorials with the program too. If your computer is man enough, it lets you do photo realistic rendering too. Mine isnt!
PM sent


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

Wow, Troutie, that's a really good looking mill, I wish they were available here in the US. The table is huge too. Are you planning to convert it to CNC?


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

HuffyPuffy said:


> Wow, Troutie, that's a really good looking mill, I wish they were available here in the US. The table is huge too. Are you planning to convert it to CNC?


It is already CNC ( Chris Numpty Controled ) 

I am impressed with it and the quality of build is great and when I checked it with a gauge
it was spot on to .002 as it said on the certificate .

2 things put me off converting it money and the learning curve for cnc. 
I will leave that for the young ones I still struggle setting up a video recorder


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## tobymack (Nov 12, 2008)

That does look nice!
At least you had the proceeds from your Troutlight to soften the blow. My wife wasn't best pleased last week when I told here I had bought this to make lights on.........


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Wow Toby that is a cool little lathe you got there now you can get rid of that huge one on ebay. 








Looks good Wifey cant see the beauty in an old lathe then .:arf:
is it working or in need of some TLC


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## tobymack (Nov 12, 2008)

LOL!

that isn't huge, a mate has one and it looks tiny next to his Colchester 
it also came with some old tools - some of which have 1" square shafts and 1/2" square insert tips!!! Now the lathe they were used with must have been really huge!  

It is working (or it was when I picked it up!) but I have already started to strip it to clean it. 40 years of abuse and lack of cleaning by school kids means it needs a bit of TLC. But so far I have not found anything that a good clean and lube will not fix so I am quite pleased with it


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## Hack On Wheels (Apr 29, 2006)

HuffyPuffy said:


> I just made the jump and ordered a Harbor Freight Sieg X2 clone today, ended up costing under $400 with a 20% off email coupon that expires today. I plan to give it the CNC treatment, should be a learning experience
> 
> http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44991


HuffyPuffy, that should be a really fun project. Keep us updated with your CNC conversion. I'm aiming to invest in an X2 as soon as I can afford it, and with the long term goal to also do a CNC conversion.


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

Thanks, my CNC plans have been slowed down due to finding new and exciting uses for the money (i.e. paying bills and building my new Hei Hei 2-9 frame)  After doing much research though, I think the cncfusion kit #4 with the ballscrews pre-loaded with oversized bearings at $40 a pop, is the best bet. But the cncfusion kit is also one of the most expensive options. There are diy kits as well for several hundred less, but it seems like there are many more variables with those.

I think my new plan (for now) is to upgrade to a belt drive kit and then see what I can do with the mill as-is, then go from there. I am also watching for the littlemachineshop r8 spindle starter kit to get back in stock.

If you decide to jump in and get a Harbor Freight mill, I suggest signing up for their spam since they send out 20% off coupons now and then. Then you can use those coupons in the store, if the store can get the machine from the warehouse (shipped to the store).


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

Regarding CNC screws. If you can afford it, definately go for Ball Screws and not a ACME screws with Delrin nuts.

I went with ACME screws and ended up upgrading to ball screws a year later because the ACME/Delrin stuff is way sloppier than a Ball screw. The Ball screws I got are so smooth and accurate that I was able to crank up the motor speeds to faster cutting rates.

Could have saved myself a few hundres bucks just biting the bullet and going with ball screws the first time.

Not sure if any of that applies to your lathe, I was talking about my CNC router.
just throwing out info.


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

Yo Yet-Bet,
Here's a shot of my Taig doing some boring. 
Hope you have fun with yours

Got some bigger pics on this page
https://www.el34world.com/Misc/bike/BikesLights32.htm

here's a short movie clip of the ole beast running
https://www.el34world.com/Misc/Movies/CNC2.wmv


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## unterhausen (Sep 28, 2008)

the problem with either a lathe or a mill is that you will want to spend lots of money on tooling. I'm trying to figure out where the money is going to come from for the $500 of tooling I want to buy for my lathe. I think I'm nearly caught up with tooling if I get my mill running.


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

Littlemachineshop.com has some tooling packages which seem to be a good buy, and have more stuff than I needed. I think basic tooling to get started should be a lot less than $500.


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## unterhausen (Sep 28, 2008)

sure, I can butcher things now, but it's frustrating. I'd like to be able to bore, knurl and cut off parts without so much pain. I'd like a quick change toolpost and a decent set of boring bars. That gets expensive in a hurry for a 13" lathe.


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

I had never heard of Taig until EI34 posted a link, so looked into it and found that they go under the name of peatol here in the UK, no wonder I had never heard of Taig.

Anyway as I am struggling for space I had to get one, so I did 

Cuts through(turns down?) 41mm alu bar like it's made of cheese.


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

Wow, that looks way nicer than my ole ratty taig.

Did yours come with that live center?
Your motor looks huge, what the HP rating on it?

I may have to spring for that 4 jaw chuck, now that I have seen yours, it looks great!!

Thanks for the pics

Edit: Something I am not clear on with that 4 jaw chuck.
When you put a part in it and spin it, do all 4 jaws close down at the same time and clamp down on the part?


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

EI34, the motor only looks huge 'cause we have real electricity over here, 240 whole volts 
It's only a quarter HP.

All standard spec but they have made little changes over the years, they just don't bother to tell anyone. The head stock is now all one piece but the website still shows a tech drawing of the old two piece.

The independant four jaw chuck is great. EDIT: You have to do up each jaw one at a time, it takes a bit longer to center things but it does mean that you can hold odd shaped things or even hold things off center, for example when turning a cam.

They also do a self centering four jaw.


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

Old timer machinists refer to a 3 jaw chuck as an "apprentice chuck". A real machinist would always use a 4 jaw independent chuck. A bygone era in most cases.


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

When I bought the lathe by mail order in the 1980's, they must have known I was an apprentice.


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## tobymack (Nov 12, 2008)

Vancbiker said:


> Old timer machinists refer to a 3 jaw chuck as an "apprentice chuck". A real machinist would always use a 4 jaw independent chuck. A bygone era in most cases.


I reckon that is only because the old timers liked to see the apprentice struggle to centre a independent 4 jaw! 

Toby


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

I have this dial indictor, that should work ok for setting up the chuck?.










might need a couple pointers to get the job done.


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## tamen00 (Mar 10, 2004)

I have one of the Taig lathes that I received from a friend, and it was missing a bunch of parts. I went to the website and saw the company is located just a few miles from where I work... So I gave them a call and set up a time to go pick up the parts....

Well, it was super cool!! I was met by the owner of the company... who is about 80 years old. He gave me a complete tour of his facility (which is a couple of old ratty buildings STUFFED full of mills, CNC machines, lathes, and other huge metalworking tools.... He gave me some of the history behind some of the tools they had (some were from late 1800's!!) and I got to see how the manual and CNC machines were cranking out parts. He spent about an hour and a half with me, went through my lathe and adjusted everything, gave me a few pointers, a box full of aluminum to play with, and even threw in a couple of upgrades... All the while his wife was running around completing parts orders for internet and phone orders.

Needless to say... it was an awesome experience and super fun. The owner was really really cool and it was hard to get away from him!!! Watching all of the machines work and crank out each of the little parts was super eye opening. After that experience, I would TOTALLY recommend one of the Taig lathes just from a customer service standpoint... and my little lathe is working pretty well! I am getting one of the vertical mill attachments for it.. so I will let everyone know how it goes!


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

Wow, that is pretty cool


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

tamen00, The vertical mill attachment is the first thing on my list for my next order apart from some drive belts. There are so many bits and bobs for the Taig you end up wanting to collect the lot.

EI34, could you tell me how tight or loose to tension the tiny drive belt, I'm doing something wrong as this new belt is shredding its self up.
Also how long does a belt last you.


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

My motor sits on a pivot with two bolts.
The motor tilts back and put it's own weight on the belt.

Hard to say how many hours on the belt, but the first one lasted me 10 years.

I just bought a super long one because I upgraded my motor and it had to sit farther away from the lathe.

I'll go take a pic of how the motor sits and be right back


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

See how the belt tension is controlled by the weight of the motor?
The motor is free to pivot in an arc so you can change the belt to the other pulley settings
Is that not how yours is set up?

Edit: BTW, I remove the belt when I am not using the lathe to keep it from stretching too much while just sitting there.
The new motor is pretty heavy


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

Thanks for that, that really helps as that must be quite a lot of tension as those motors are very heavy. I had mine way to loose then.
I don't have one of those pivots so that's another job for tomorrow.


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## El34 (Jan 11, 2009)

That bracket under the motor and the motor came from a drill press.
The bracket worked out to be quite easy to make a pivot.

I used a long length of cheapo threaded rod, couple nuts and washers and a couple L brackets.


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## unterhausen (Sep 28, 2008)

Vancbiker said:


> Old timer machinists refer to a 3 jaw chuck as an "apprentice chuck". A real machinist would always use a 4 jaw independent chuck. A bygone era in most cases.


that's why I have a 6 jaw chuck, you can adjust it like either one


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

Good reason for a 4 jaw, but pointless if everything you make is going to be round.


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