Still use your minilathe?

[Quake]

Been on here about a week. Really liking this board. (so unusual to find a supportive message board; on so many board, you post a message, then you duck.)

I just got a new Grizzly 10x22 bench lathe - I've had a HF 7x10 mini-lathe for 2-3 years.

So - for those of you who had a mini-lathe and then got a "big" bench lathe ... what happens to your mini-lathe? (I got a 13 year old telling everybody its his now...)

Do you ever find yourself using the little lathe again?

I'm really liking the 10x22 - its a lot of lathe for the money.

 

[black85vette]

I got a 12x48 and kept the 7x10. Found that I could set it up with a milling attachment or other tooling and not have to change the big lathe set up as often. Also there are a lot of smaller items like some flywheels that are better held in the small chuck. Nice thing is that it is small enough and light enough that I could put it under a bench or on a shelf. Right now it is over at my oldest son's house. So I guess mine is not going away anytime soon.

 

[Tin Falcon]

I still use my 7x after purchasing a 9" South Bend.
Let the 13 year old have the mini and tell him you may still borrow it from time to time.
Tin

 

[kd7fhg]

I kept my mini lathe after I acquired my 12X36, only got rid of it after I bought a Taig lathe. there are time I wish that I had kept it. If you have the space and don't need the money I recommend that you keep it. You will need it or at least wish you had it at some point.

Rex

 

[ozzie46]

I too have a 10x 22 and a 7x. I just used them both to make bumpers for my "simplex" loco. Turned stock in the 3 jaw on the 7x and had collet setup in the 10 x 22.
Sure saved a lot of time. I won't be getting rid of my 7x anytime soon.



Ron

 

[cfellows]

Shoot! I was hoping to pick up a 7 x 10 lathe cheap. Now all you guys have convinced Quake to hang on to it! :'(

Chuck

 

[rake60]

I sold my first small lathe to help finance the purchase of my
9 X 20 Grizzly. I do regret that now.

They say you can't do bigger parts on a small lathe, but a big
lathe can do small parts. That is absolutely true.
I would still rather turn a 1/16" diameter on a 7 X 10 lathe.
Wish I had mine back.

Rick

 

[ksouers]

Yes, absolutely I still use it. Just used it yesterday.

I bought the 7x12 about 4 years ago and the 9x20 just a bit over a year ago. I do most work on the 9x20 using collets and a 3-jaw chuck. I keep the 4-jaw ready to go on the 7x12.

For what it's worth I still have my 20 year old Sherline and still use it on occasion.

 

[Deanofid]

I would keep the smaller lathe.
I have a small Atlas as my "big" lathe, but would never think of selling my Taig.
There will be many times when you have a job set up just right in your larger lathe, and have a need for a different part "right now!". Having the second lathe will allow you to take care of unforeseen widgets you didn't even know you would need when you tied up the big lathe with an important turning project.

Besides, it's a good tool for teaching your kids.

Dean

 

[user 1493]

Give the lathe to your son. It is better to have him working alongside you in the shop rather than down the road with some other kid. Just be sure that he learns how to work safely.

Jack

 

[Cedge]

I've used mine a few times since upgrading, but it mostly sits there, in the way, gathering dust. I'm not quite ready to let it go just yet. One of those uses was to do a repair on the other lathe's tool post.

Steve

 

[lee9966]

I was given a South Bend 9" and still use my mini lathe all the time. I leave a 4jaw chuck on the SB, makes it easy to avoid changing chucks

 

[lathe nut]

I first bought a 7X10 Mini Lathe to make parts for the 12 inch Atlas, then later found another 7X10 Mini Lathe that had a bad board, lucky to find one on e bay for cheap so now that have someone to talk the same language, did loan one to my Son for a few days, Never again, a person that don't know. don't care and cannot learn is not a person to loan to, I know being a bad Dad, Lathe Nut

 

[Quake]

Good points all ... last night I set the 10x22 gears up to cut a 16tpi thread ... then realized the drill rod I was cutting was .010" too big ... so I grabbed the minilathe and turned it down. Think I'll keep it on the shelf near the workbench.

 

[Twmaster]

Having more than one lathe in the shop is a bonus.

 

[Artie]

My lathe is massive... I can see me buying a mini at some point, just no urgent need yet, as has been said, you can do small parts on a large machine.... but I would prefer a smaller unit for fiddly delicate work.

I see it as an advantage to have 2 dissimilar sized machines.

Just my .02 8)

 

[cfellows]

The wife had her monthly card game today with a house full of ladies, so I went out and did a bit of browsing. My last stop was Harbor Freight, and, sure enough, a brand spankin' new 7 x 10 minilathe followed me home. Did I need one? No... Did I want one? Oh, Yeah! They had them on sale for $399 and I talked the cashier into giving me a coupon for an additional 20% off. Out the door price with tax and everything was $343.00 and change.

Am I happy? You bet... I love the smell of cosmoline!

Chuck

Oh, Yeah, I've now bookmarked http://www.mini-lathe.com/

 

[cfellows]

Had about 15 minutes of heart palpitations and cold sweats a little while ago. I cleaned up the lathe and checked everything over, then went through the startup procedure, making sure to follow directions. First I set everything to off and plugged it in. Then I put the forward/reverse switch into Forward. Turned on the Off/On switch, light comes on, so far so good. Then I turned on the speed dial and wound it up a quarter turn... nothing. Checked things over and tried again, nothing. So I wrung my hands and ground my teeth and wiped the sweat from my brow for about 10 minutes. Finally went back to the instruction book. Funny how the actual operating instructions start on about page 10. The first 9 pages are warnings and disclaimers... Anyway, to make an already long story short, I discovered that the chip shield arm has an interlock switch. The lathe won't operate unless the chip shield is in the operating position (OK, that's got to go!) Anyway, fiddled with the chip shield arm until the little detent pin popped into place, tried the startup procedure again, and bingo, off it went.

It's all good...

Chuck

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Congratulations Chuck. I hope you enjoy the mini-lathe as much as I do mine.
Funny thing though...having the light turn on on my mini-lathe is a bad thing.
It means the motor stalled. The mini-mill is different though. A light on means the thing is powered.

Variety...the spice of life. Leads to heart-burn sometimes. :big:

Oh yeah...I like that cosmoline smell too.

 

[user 1493]

Have fun Chuck. I hope that the same thing happens to me soon with a mill.

Jack