Harbor Freight Lathes and Mills?

[cfellows]

Let me add a few more comments. I have a Logan 11" lathe that is a really good lathe, but I also love my Harbor Freight 7x10. I made my own quick change tool post system and a tangential tool holder that uses 1/4" HSS bits. This tool will really cut the metal and it's easy to keep sharp. I also modified the the 3 Jaw chuck so I could adjust it to take out any run out. The smaller lathe is now my goto lathe where I want accuracy and repeatability.

Take a look at this thread and you can see some of the mods I made to my lathe.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=9016.0

With a little modification, you can have a lathe that you'll really appreciate.

Chuck

 

[Novian]

Thanks everyone, you've really convinced me on getting the lathe first.

I now understand how to make the valves on a lathe. pretty much, its mill that has been rotated 90 degrees about the y-axis.

Now i'm just worried about the travel size of the lathe. i've read that the 7x10 is really a 7x8 and that harbor freight had some different ruler when measuring the distance, and that the 7x12 is really a 7x14, weird. Is the 7x10 long enough to fit a drill chuck and regular HSS drill bits in, still keeping enough room for a piece of bar stock? doesn't seem possible on that size travel.

Chuck, would it be possible for you to supply some more measurements of the machine? Stores like stretching the true on measurements. Measurements such as the distance between the chuck and tailstock, and what size chuck it comes with and what size 4jaw chuck i should get ...etc.

I have to drive down to Bellingham, Washington State, since they dont have Harbor Freights in Canada, but it's only a 30min drive. A Grizzly store is only 10 blocks away from Harbor Freight, so i can get more chucks there too.

Thanks,

Ian

EDIT: Would love to be able to make one of these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC1_RxI1b9c

 

[tylernt]

I love the sound of that 5-cyl radial!

I've drilled a 1/2" hole on my 7x10 and you're right, it is a real tight fit with a standard "jobber" length drill bit. The piece you're drilling definitely can't be very long. And to even get that far, I had to chop off the back end of my drill chuck's Morse taper (though that is a pretty standard modification for 7x lathe owners).

If you ever need to drill large holes in longer stock, you're going to need either a "screw machine" length (shorter) drill bit, or cut down one of your drill bits to make it stubby. You can start the hole with one of these, and if you need to go deeper, slide the tailstock off the end of the ways and chuck up your standard drill -- then feed it into the partially drilled hole as you put the tailstock back on the ways.

Also, that 7x10 being a 7x8 can be improved a bit. Removing the threading dial (which is not needed on an electrically reversible lathe like the 7x) gets you at least half an inch (doesn't help for drilling, but still useful for cutting). Using a faceplate, collet, or other work holding device instead of a chuck gives you more space. Notching the corner of the motor guard lets you get the carriage closer to the headstock. Turning the compound parallel with the ways gives you another few inches to play with. Being creative with work support can let you deal with longer pieces too, for example by using a steady rest you can dispense with the live center and gain several more inches of capacity. Really it's hard to imagine what model engine part you would need to turn that just wouldn't fit on a 7x10... some head-scratching may be required though.

I seem to recall that Canada's Princess Auto is the equivalent of HF, so they might stock the 7x lathe?

 

[Novian]

I seem to recall that Canada's Princess Auto is the equivalent of HF, so they might stock the 7x lathe?

I heard that too, but that store is more of an Overstock-found-here store on some things, i'll check their website again. Also, the nearist one is 40min away (in cloverdale) so i might aswell just go to HF since the Canadian dollar is up .

EDIT: They do have the 7x12 there for $599 CDN, same as the HF on sale. Interesting.

On their website it says they're sold out, just like how HF is on backorder... nearist store might have one, but i doubt it.

 

[steamer]

Ah for you 7X10 owners....a tip for drills

When you buy your drills , get the screw machine drills instead of the jobbers

They are much shorter. That will give you more room.

Dave

 

[Tin Falcon]

When you buy your drills , get the screw machine drills instead of the jobbers

They are much shorter. That will give you more room.

Something I have thought of often but have not done yet helps with limited Z travel indeed on the mini mill as well as the mini lathe.
Tin

 

[steamer]

My home brew mill ( My first) was short in that department...

That mill is gone, but I still have my screw machine drills which now come in handy on my Aciera F1....

Dave

 

[cfellows]

Hey, steamer, that's a pretty nifty mill. What's the column assembly made from?

Chuck

 

[cfellows]

I no longer have the original bed. I swapped it out for the 14" bed. As folks have said, the 7 x 10 doesn't leave a lot of room for drilling and reaming with the tailstock.

Chuck

 

[steamer]

Hey, steamer, that's a pretty nifty mill. What's the column assembly made from?

Chuck

The column was 4" steel tube with a 4, 5/8" threaded rods with a bunch of nuts on the rods at even intervals.

The tube was welded to a 1" thick base plate. I then ( in my apartment kitchen at the time) wiped the inside of the tube with axle grease and then filled the tube with hydraulic cement and tensioned the rods prior to the cement setting. This combined with the think layer (1/32 thick approximately) of grease and the pretensioned rods, it was stiffer than a )(*)(*#$*(*&@(8....you get the picture The grease was to prevent rust and to add to the vibration attenuation.



The spindle was from a discarded Sherline lathe (brass bed vintage) which I still have. It had an Atlas cross slide as shown.

The vertical slide came from a Warner Swazey #5 turret lathe that had a crash on the boring bar attachment and broke the foot off. I had the Trade School machine it to my sketch.

I mounted the slide on a plate that was held down with 3/8 bolts with nuts set into the concrete. The plate was set up on 3 screws and trammed in. Then the gap between the plate and the column was filled with Marine-Tex structural adhesive ( Poor mans moglice).

The frame weighed about 100 pounds all by itself.

It NEVER chattered.....EVER!....it just ran out of power

Made a bunch of parts for my launch engine on that mill....then I stepped up to a mill/drill....which was junk and I sent back....then I got a Burke #4...which was way too small...then I got Norm and the Aciera...which is where I am today.

Dave

 

[gmac]

Ian;
Don't forget BusyBee, I'd like to have the 10x18 lathe, second choice the 9x20.

http://www.busybeetools.com/categories/Metalworking/Metal-Lathes/

There's an outlet in Vancouver. Wish I was 30 minutes from Bellingham (take a look at the Grizzly products). I'm in Penticton. Just a comment - if you watch CraigsList for Vancouver there are regular ads for used lathes - I've picked up a used (barely) Taig Lathe and X2 mill for forty cents on the dollar - with lots of extra tooling and mods thrown in.

I agree with the previous comments - lathe first, and I'm still spending money on tooling!

Cheers
Garry

 

[Novian]

Ian;
Don't forget BusyBee, I'd like to have the 10x18 lathe, second choice the 9x20.

http://www.busybeetools.com/categories/Metalworking/Metal-Lathes/

There's an outlet in Vancouver. Wish I was 30 minutes from Bellingham (take a look at the Grizzly products). I'm in Penticton. Just a comment - if you watch CraigsList for Vancouver there are regular ads for used lathes - I've picked up a used (barely) Taig Lathe and X2 mill for forty cents on the dollar - with lots of extra tooling and mods thrown in.

I agree with the previous comments - lathe first, and I'm still spending money on tooling!

Cheers
Garry

EH, penticton, we own a condo there and we used to visit atleast once a year in the summer; good times, good times.

I've been checking out craigslist, and stopped being picky for things only in Richmond, but i still only get search results of really old, dusty, rusty machines that to me, dont look up to regulation. I may be wrong, and i mostlikely will be, that those machines are worn out? And the prices are insane for the state that they're in, askin $2000+ for an old machine that you could get new at HF for $2500.

Here's some searches i got:

Searched Taig, and got : http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/pml/tls/2378769966.html ,not a far drive, 2hrs i think to get to Coquitlam

Searched Metal Lathe: http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/tls/2421101656.html

:fan:

I checked out busybee website when i saw link in another thread, when people were asking for lathes in canada.... their prices are kinda up there, but they could be better quality than the HF Central Machinery chinese... hmm.

Still can't beat the $200 off coupon for both the 7x10 lathe and Mill at HF.

 

[phlegmatic]

I disagree, lathe first is not the obvious choice! It depends on what u want to do; a gunsmith uses the mill far more than the lathe for example, and small things can be turned on a mill. A small lathe is a pig to do any milling in also. Only experience can make a good choice, a Catch 22...

Perhaps a mill and a much cheaper (smaller?) lathe for convenience?

 

[Tin Falcon]

My first machine tool was a 7 x 10 mini lathe. I started making pen pencil sets. I soon found I needed a band saw to cut stock and a sander to true up the ends of the blanks. The band saw is a humble grizzly geared down bench model. It will cut through 2" aluminum.
the sander is a grizzly Z series 9" disk and a 6 x 48 belt. may be overkill for P&P sets but it serves me well. I use it regularly. I then got a x-2 mill. and later other tools.
You will find there are lathe guys and mill guys some guys would rather use the lathe if thy can others a mill.
I am finally pushing forward making some small Quick change tool posts. similar to the A2Zcnc ones. the dovetails were done on my shaper a while back. Yesterday I cut the blocks to length on the band saw. then cleaned up squared up on the lathe with a 4 jaw. I could have used the x-2 and a fly cutter would have worked fine . An my shaper would have done a fine job as well. but chose the lathe . Personal preference. When the shop is yous and well equipped you can choose what tool to use for certain things. sometimes the choice is open other times the choice is obvious and limited.
You need to find your path. But having someone who has walked a similar path before can be a good guide. The folks here are eager to help and give good advise. but ultimately you dime your decision.
Tin

 

[bearcar1]

AXCV, I've only spot read this thread that you started and perceive just a bit of frustration building up here. The old adage "you get what you pay for" becomes paramount in this situation. However, my best advice for you is to be extremely patient in your search. You may have to look over or consider a hundred different machines/offers/packages before you will find what you are looking for in terms of price and condition, but, in the end, if you do not hold to your standards and jump the gun, your purchase will more than likely come back to haunt you in the end. It almost becomes a second obsession (first : ). look for machines at estate sales, garage sales, newspaper ads, (personally I would avoid CL but that is just me) even school closings. Contact companies that deal in used machines. They have contacts all over and know better where to look, and if they know that you are serious about buying, can probably locate machines that the guy on the street would have no chance of finding, but you have to stay committed or they will most likely not waste their time looking for such a small machine. They will however be able to possibly find a machine that is a bit larger (a good thing sometimes) in your price range. Like Tin said, it is YOUR decision to make. New is not always better and patience IS a valuable virtue. Tooling availability would be a major player. Say you finally purchase your dream machine for a song and dance, life is good. However you soon find that the spindle is some oddball and tooling is no longer made or is not common and winds up costing the big bucks and is special order. Do your homework and become familiar with what to look for in terms of a machines weaknesses and above all, remain patient, there are a lot of machines out there, you just have to wait until the right one comes along. Best of luck in your quest.

BC1
Jim

 

[gmac]

+1 on Jim's comment about patience, that's what I did to get the better used equipment. I deliberately avoided the old machinery because frankly I wouldn't be able to test/inspect it properly to identify a pig in a poke. You have to watch Craigs list daily in Vancouver since the good stuff moves fast - I missed an almost new 10x18 BusyBee lathe for $500. Don't get in a rush. Also let people around you know you are looking, they'll start watching - surprising what pops up in general conversation!!!
Garry

 

[Tin Falcon]

There seems to be some debate here about new imports vs old Iron. I will say both are good both can need attention . both have idiosyncrasies both can bring joy both frustration. I like the 7x it was my first lathe it is portable I have used it to machine in the back of a station wagon as a portable shop. I have had it for 10 plus years I still use it. I have 5 lathes a 4 1/2 foot bed south bend 9" the 7x
a machinex 5 I turned to CNC and Two old craftman dunlaps. If I was forced to have just one it would be the South bend hands down. the dunlaps I am making tooling for slowly . the cnc is still in development but I hope close to making parts.
Tin

 

[xo18thfa]

The column was 4" steel tube with a 4, 5/8" threaded rods with a bunch of nuts on the rods at even intervals.

The tube was welded to a 1" thick base plate. I then ( in my apartment kitchen at the time) wiped the inside of the tube with axle grease and then filled the tube with hydraulic cement and tensioned the rods prior to the cement setting. This combined with the think layer (1/32 thick approximately) of grease and the pretensioned rods, it was stiffer than a )(*)(*#$*(*&@(8....you get the picture The grease was to prevent rust and to add to the vibration attenuation.



The spindle was from a discarded Sherline lathe (brass bed vintage) which I still have. It had an Atlas cross slide as shown.

The vertical slide came from a Warner Swazey #5 turret lathe that had a crash on the boring bar attachment and broke the foot off. I had the Trade School machine it to my sketch.

I mounted the slide on a plate that was held down with 3/8 bolts with nuts set into the concrete. The plate was set up on 3 screws and trammed in. Then the gap between the plate and the column was filled with Marine-Tex structural adhesive ( Poor mans moglice).

The frame weighed about 100 pounds all by itself.

It NEVER chattered.....EVER!....it just ran out of power

Made a bunch of parts for my launch engine on that mill....then I stepped up to a mill/drill....which was junk and I sent back....then I got a Burke #4...which was way too small...then I got Norm and the Aciera...which is where I am today.

Dave

Hi Dave, yes that is a nifty machine. When you welded the column to the base, did you have any warping problems?

Thanks, Bob

 

[steamer]

No....the base was too heavy to be bothered

Dave

 

[Novian]

I found this one, looks like it's in better shape than some other ones:

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/nvn/tls/2408521410.html