Noob needs advice on a hobby lathe

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Murdoch

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May 24, 2018
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Hi guys, I am rather new to all of this machining stuff lol.
So new in fact that I don't even own a lathe yet, but I'm going to.
I am a hobbyist who is building an exoskeletal armour based on the War-Machine from the Marvel Cinematic Universe made of steel, aluminum and titanium boasting a full range of motion with lights sounds and servo motors.
Learning the skills of machining and it's equipment is essential for my build.
I do live in a small apartment so a hobby lathe is what I am searching for.
I was leaning towards a Craftex or possibly an Emco. Hopefully something that at a later date I can afford to get a milling attachment for it.
Any thoughts or suggestions on this?
 
Most of the 9x20 inch lathes are about the same. Jet is the better of them. Harbor freight is the one I purchased and it isn't too bad but needed a few enhancements to do decent work. HF also has some smaller lathes. If you want real small it's hard to beat a sherline.
 
We don't have Harbour Freight here in Canada. Our equivalent is Princess auto. I am familiar with their lathes. Thanks for the tip on this...
 
My present lathe is a larger one but I started with a n Atlas 10" and would like an Emco SL1000 for the small stuff and the fact that the head swivels.
There are a lot of sites devoted to the 7 x 14 and 9 x 20 lathes which are generic with mods up the wazoo so there is a lot of information and spares available.
Can you import direct? You have to do some work in detailing exactly what you want but I buy a bit of stuff off Alibaba and have been very happy with the goods, the price and the excellent service plus saved a lot of money. Con is that you need to know exactly what you want, ask questions etc. Pro is that through a set-up like Alibaba you have consumer protection.
 
Hello, new to the Forum an I am a "Want To Be" Machinest. Anyhow, I went through the whole "Small" yet not totally Junk Machine, I looked a Sherline, anf the Harbor Freight Models, and happened to "Fall into a Unimat SL DB200 ? with all the attachmentments for lathe and milling change over. I must say, I do not know much about Machining as I am still learning to cut my bits, there is defenatly an part to that. Anyhow I love the Lathe, and there is even a kit out there to convert to CNC which I have been thinking about once I get Fusion 360 "UnderMy Belt". I mainly work with a 6061 Aluminum for my parts. The Unimate can be converted to the Mill position, but I believe I would spend a lot of time re- calibrating, Not Sure. So, for a CNC Mlling machine with the same capabilities of the Umimat or a "Notch Above" My Garage has been slowely converting into special tools and cabinets for Polishing, Powdercoating, anodiving, 2 sand blasting cabinets, and one sand blasting cabinet with by buffer with a 3 wheel converson on one shaft, all on a filtration system, in a 22 "x18" areaI am running out of space so "Size Matters". One more thing, on the Harborfreight lathe, therer are some nice upgrades, that "Looks " like it would help with the common complaints I have seen on Youtube along with a CNC conversion Kit.
Any Suggestions will be highly appreciated
Jim "P"
 

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