Searching for a mini lathe

[Jon H]

I made a foolish decision and did a google search for a mini lathe to see what was available. This was daft as i now feel i need one just to keep on living and have a list of turning jobs in my head. 

 

I know i will have a million replies all screaming 'myford', but they are too large and way too expensive. im stuck with a budget of about £500 at the absolute most. This limits me to cheapy chinese efforts, but sadly it is all i can afford. Also i do not expect to be turning up a drive shaft for a battle ship in the shed. Light duty work on ali and brass, modifying oleo legs, spinner adaptors....piston rings? That sort of thing is all i need day to day. 

 

So, my question is do any of you guys have one of these cheap chinese lathes? what is it? is it any good?..etc. 

 

And yes, i know i work in a machine shop with a big lathe in the corner but i cant use it for home jobs during work hours and by the end of the day i just want to go home. 

[Engine Doctor]

The cheaper Chinese mini lathes like the bench top Mills use plastic gears . These cab shear if too much load is applied to the work . To the resue ! Sets of replacement metal gears are available; however look further and try to find a newer belt driven version or one that's been converted.

I have the mini mill with plastic gears and it's been brilliant . If I one complaint it would be the noise of the gears and if I see a belt conversion I'd fit it.

Good luck with your search and get in quick before the prices go stratospheric . A wanted ad in RCM&E sister mag Model engineer might find you something ?

Ps my lathe is a bench top Myford, M2  from between the wars , old but usable and doesn't take up too much room.

Good luck with search.

E.D.

[Jon H]

This was the one i had my eye on. Belt driven chuck but metal gears for the lead screw

 

https://www.vevor.co.uk/metal-lathe-c_10121/vevor-7-x14-mini-precision-wood-lathe-550w-metal-bench-lathe-turning-machine-p_010705982511

 

I was looking mostly at new as i can just send it back if its rubbish and i dont have to deal with someone's wiring 'upgrade' which just so happens to make the whole thing live with 240v. 

[Andy Stephenson]

Jon,

 

This is one I bought second-hand from a fellow member of the BMFA at considerably less than your budget. He showed me 2 diesel engines he'd built using it. He was quite down on Myford as a make and he recommended Amadeal, although their products are made in China, they are obviously good enough to produce good quality parts. I'm happy with it for turning up the odd part but I haven't yet explored its full potential. I have seen the cheaper items offered by the catalogue tool suppliers and even used one. The amount of slop in the hand wheels was awful to top it off the main slide control wheel was mounted at the tailstock end.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Andy Stephenson

[Don Fry]

I’ve got a micro lathe. Unknown make but it looks like the one you are looking at, and the C1 lathe from Axminster Power Tools, but mine seems to have a bigger chuck. I think there is a lathe factory in China badging them.

Mine was useless until I fitted some thrust washers to the control wheels. No big deal. You have a big advantage, access to tooling, maintaining tools. 

I like it. It does small occasional jobs.
After we had made a phosphor bronze bearing for his otherwise write off sit on lawn mower, obsolete, my mate remarked, “slow cutter, but €15 euros, I’ve got a lawnmower back.” (And I’ve got a bottle of wine.)

Lot of these things being sold, bought, never used. Mine cost me €140 euros from memory. Just the lathe, no tooling. I looked at it, hasn’t been messed with, cheap tool.

Some, a lot, of folk, reckon that the lathe is everything. You know it’s tooling, measuring tools Wot cost at this end of the market, a cutter does not care what it clamped on. You have access to all that. 

[Jon H]

Andy, that one you have there has the same product code and looks identical to the one i was looking at although mine lacks the gear change option. The Axminster range Don suggests also look the same as others i have found on the vevor website so i suspect there is one place in china spitting out the same range of lathes with different paint to all of these companies. 

 

I will have a nose around the 2nd hand market, but as i said before you dont know who used it, how it was maintained, if it was maintained, did the cat wee in the motor? Did they mash the tool post into the chuck and bend everything up? You just never know.  

[Robin Mosedale 1]

I've had several lathes and milling machines over the decades.

Please don't be seduced by the usual players, they are all the same base chinese stock, with play on the controls. Doing any precision work at the scale you wish will be disappointing.

 

I can recommend Warco range. They are well made, with little backlash, inspected thoroughly and aligned before delivery.

If a little more expensive, you'll save by avoiding having replacing poor cross slides etc. The digital vernier gauges on the travel are a boon.

[Don Fry]

Clues Jon. Paint. Pull a panel off. Spin it flat out. Take a bar of metal to check runout. Gauge who you are speaking to. It’s similar to buying a secondhand Laser.

 

Just be aware, these things are what they are. Not the best a man can get, just good enough to shave with. Andy’s  lathe is a nice unit, mate had one, sold to a bloke using it to recondition carbs for classic cars. When my mate bought it, the casting for the tail stock had been cracked and welded. It soon failed and needed replacement. Common fault, if the operator is cack handed in tightening it up.

Internet told him that when he realized the problem.

[ken anderson.]

hello Jon, there are some canny lathes advertised in this months rcme made by Proxxon..... they may be worth looking at....

 

ken anderson...ne...1..lathe dept.

[Jon H]

Thanks for the additional input guys. 

 

Robin, i just took a look at the Warco range and its the same story as all the others. They appear to be the same chinese manufacture as the other brands but with different hair and makeup. Their cheapest one here seems to be almost identical to this. The overall construction, position of the controls etc is the same. The tail stock looks better, and i cant rule out any quality control advantages of the Warco, but it looks like the same machine painted green instead of blue. Even the price is the same if you ignore the discount on the vevor website. 

 

Still, if we assume they are the same machine that bodes well if you have had a good experience with that brand in the past as, QC asside, the core machine is the same. 

 

Don, yep if i can find a 2nd hand one within inspection/collection distance then its fair enough. I am expecting to do this all remotely without inspection before it lands at my feet. This is why i was favouring new as i can just send it back if the postman busts it or there is some other problem. Again i am not after the best as i simply cant afford it. As long as it is functional for small jobs and i can get a decent finish in ali then its good enough for my purposes. 

 

Ken. Looked at proxxon and they do look lovely. The only problem is i need to spend double my budget to match the performance and features of the lathe i posted earlier. Sure the quality of the proxxon unit will be better, but i cant stretch to that kind of money. To be honest i shouldnt be considering one at all but there we are. 

 

 

[Brian Sweeting 1]

I bought a lathe from Chester Tools about 7 years ago and it has proved pretty good.

 

Research I did at the time showed that yes, most of these ma hints are made in China but ones retailed by the UK virus had been specified by them and quality controlled by them as well.

I would suggest that you buy via a UK tool supplier as you will have access to local backup and extra or improved parts as your usage grows.

 

Of course YouTube is a great source of info on these tools as well.

[Ernie]

Well Jon, I do wish you well, I have a yellow one, You'll see an ad. in the mag.  It's much better at wee round bits than I am, but a word of caution.

Say you need a spinner for that fancy new warbird. So, you need an attachment to do that, and off course one of these fancy diamond cutting tools.

A difficult assymetrical bit..Ah yes, a four jaw chuck. every time I look at the thing, out comes the plastic.

It's like these fancy laser engines, have you seen one? There are always the wee add ons that are totally necessary, Aluminium spinners, sophisticated engine mounts, electrics to get the thing to run, and propellors, have you seen the price of them

 

go for it ernie

 

[Simon Clark]

All,
 I don't think that there is only one manufacturer and that all the lathes are basically the same. There are two well known and respected Chinese manufacturers of small machine tools - SIEG and WEISS, and there are probably many others. Axminster and Arceurotrade actually state that there machines are SIEG but other brands do not say who makes them. I am pretty sure that Warco use WEISS for their 'WM' range but I do no know who makes their 'mini lathe. I have a Warco Super Mini Lathe from about 6 years ago and it is similar to the SIEG products but definitely NOT a SIEG with some subtle but significant internal differences. I am also pretty sure that Warco's current supplier of the mini lathe is different again. 

Whatever brand you finally decide on, to a greater or lesser extent, they all benefit from a bit of work and a few modifications. I would say that 'as supplied' my lathe was very poor performance but after some simple adjustments to the gib strips etc, it got a lot better. Then I added extra adjustment screws to the gib strips, honed the slides  and changed the main bearing to angular contact types. The transformation was dramatic and it is now very good. 

Siimon

[Don Fry]

Lads, might I respectfully remind, what Jon does for a living. Tuning a machine, or making the bits, dare say borrowing specialized tooling over the weekend, is a normality of the day job.

[Jon H]

Thanks again for the input chaps. 

 

On the QC thing, i dont really care too much about that. Even if they are QC'd in the UK its the same core machine and a few inspections are not worth the extra cost vs the cheaper webite i linked to. Why? Because i intend to take the whole thing apart and then put it all back together myself anyway. I might even change the bearings if they feel ropey, take details of the drive belt etc before i snap it (its much easier to measure like that!), polish up the slide ways, check the soldering on the control board (a weakness according to some youtube reviews), make sure all the bolts are tight, zero in the tail stock, upgrade the earth (another problem according to a youtube review) make shims to deal with backlash etc etc. With the greatest respect to the UK importers doing their own QC, i doubt they will go to the same depths as it simply would not be cost effective so i may end up with better QC if i do it myself.  

 

The money i save can also buy some little upgrades. A quick change tool post is top of the list to make it easier to centre tools. A live centre and a chuck for the tail stock, some better quality turning tools and all that. 

 

Perhaps a UK distributed one will be less hassle and i might not have to do that work, but for my purposes and for the fun of tinkering i dont mind it. If i had the money, i would just buy a super fancy one with CNC and a milling head and be done with it. But alas, i cant justify that sort of money. 

 

Overall though the general feeling from you guys seems to be that a mini lathe of chinese origin is not a 40kg lump of scrap metal and serves a useful purpose over a respectable period of time. That was my primary concern. Upgrades and tinkering are no problem, but flogging a dead horse is a problem and its clearly a waste of money. 

 

I am still undecided. I need to work out if i even have enough room. My building shed is tiny and i am so short of space as it is. I need a garage, but houses are even more expensive than lathes...at least, sometimes anyway.  

[Andy Gates]

I have the same unit as Andy S, got mine second hand from a lathe collector with next to no use.

The 4 jaw chuck is synchronus, ie the jaws all move together not independently and mine were not quite true.

 

I bought a replacement Chronos 3 jaw chuck which is much better.

Tail stock was a bit out too but shimming has made it much better.

 

Slides required quite a bit of tweaking to retain precision while not being too tight.

The adjustment to the angle of the cross slide for taper turning is particularly annoying as it is underneath the slide and requires almost removing it to get to the adjustment.

 

The whole lathe also benefits from being mounted securely to a firm bench before tweaking alignments.

 

Mine came with both a live centre and dead centre for the tail stock and a chuck.

 

Mine is for hobby use only but it gives me great fun, not very precise but close enough is good enough for me.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Andy Gates
Added info

[kc]

If you buy a cheap lathe then it's very important to buy all the bits you will ever need at the same time - trying to buy bits to fit after some months or a year may well mean they are no longer available.   All the specialist bits travelling steady, fixed steady, vertical slide, tool posts, gears, even chucks might be difficult.     But buy a Myford 7 and you could buy just a basic lathe and be pretty certain to buy all the above items s/h as you need them or find them.    So maybe the cost of a s/h Myford is not as high as you thought and the cheap lathe costs as much!

Look at Home & Workshop in Sidcup they have ( today!) a couple of Myford 7 for £500 & £600 as basic priced machines.

 

Or look for a s/h Unimat ( cast iron bed type not the old SL with rods ) or an Emco or Hobbymat - bound to be better than chinese.    Accessories might be difficult though.

Get a subscription to Model Engineer mag to get your copy early and look at the ads for bargains.

[kc]

You will find that individuals sell lathes complete with all the tooling while dealers buy complete workshops and strip out the tooling to sell separately!.   Hence individuals don't know the value of the accessories so sell them with the lathe at the dealers lathe only price.   That's where the bargains - small ad sales-  are but you have to get to the adverts early or ask around.   The dealers pounce on small ad as soon as they come out.

The Model Engineering exhibitions ( there's a Midlands one in a few weeks and importers always seem to have tempting deals at the show. ) are useful to browse around and feel how smoothly ( or not )  the cheap lathes operate.   Once you have played with all the cheap lathes then find a Myford and compare.   Even a secondhand and old Myford will feel nicer and probably even a worn one will be as precise as a new cheap lathe.    After a year or more a Myford will always sell for more than you paid for it.

[Gary Manuel]

Jon.

Convince your boss at work that he needs an upgrade and then offer to dispose of the old one 😉

[Tim Hooper]

I'm currently in the same boat as Jon, in that I'm looking for a hobby lathe to fit on the bench top.

 

As I'm only an hour's drive from Chester Hobby Store, I've visited there a couple of times for a mooch and a prod. Currently they're awaiting a new delivery of lathes from China, so the one I'm interested in wasn't available.  (I did drive away with a car full of milling machine, but that's another story....🤭)

 

Having done the rounds of YouTube videos, and seen some of the rusty old tat for sale on FB Marketplace, I'm inclined towards a new, metric, Chinese lathe as opposed to an older 'classic' model.

 

https://www.chesterhobbystore.com/

 

Tim

[Don Fry]

2 hours ago, Gary Manuel said:

Hear for you Jon. My space, the Lathe sits on a Workmate at the end of the work table. The motor casing does as a tray for tea, whiskey, or glue.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Don Fry
I have no idea why I’m quoting Gary, indeed I’m not. Commiserating about lack of space.

[Simon Chaddock]

The only advice I can give is to get the biggest heaviest lathe you can. Also a decent bench grinder and learn how to keep the cutting tools really sharp and at the correct cutting angles.

Forget inserted bit tools, they last but require more force to cut, something that is limited in a mini lathe.

 

I was fortunate to inherit a Drummond M type Lathe from my Dad. It was second hand when he bought it in 1932 and is still going strong!

 

A side note.

In 1941 Myfords were instructed by the Machine Tool Control Board to take over production of the Drummond M type for the duration of the war as the then current Myford lathes were considered too lightly built for use by the military. Not surprising the smaller post war Myfords adopted some of the M type features.

  

 

[Don Fry]

Simon, Jon,  day job, works with machines that have skips at the exit end, via a conveyor belt. I use a toothbrush to shift waste.

with a bit of patience a small machine can get there.

[kc]

Two points that might be worth considering

1.   some lathes have beds that dont easily allow you to make fixtures that fit on the bed - V grooved bed or flat ones like ML10.     ML7 type  is much more versatile.

2.   Digital readouts can make an imperial lathe metric.  If my memory is right - a 127 tooth changewheel allows metric gears to be cut.

[Chris Bates]

https://www.axminstertools.com/machinery/lathes/engineering-lathes