It is very important that Americans vote in the upcoming election. If you’ve voted, tag your post #IVoted!
MLTSHP
  • Popular
  • Join us! Sign up to post images and create your own shake.
    Sign Up!
  • sign in

I bought a metal lathe

a small and grimy red-painted metal lathe sitting on top of a drafting table that's not a stable as it looks when there's almost 300lbs of metal on it.
alt text
a small and grimy red-painted metal lathe sitting on top of a drafting table that's not a stable as it looks when there's almost 300lbs of metal on it.
I've wanted one for a while, and it seems like many projects I do have at least one part where I think "man, this would be a lot easier with a lathe", so I've been keeping my eye out at estate sales lately and last week it paid off.

This is a 8x12 lathe from Harbor Freight - they don't sell this model any more, and at 250lbs it's more than twice as heavy as the more typical 7x models around. I got the lathe and a whole box of tooling, tailstock centers, etc., for $300, which seems like a steal. When new this machine alone was about $1000 before it was discontinued.

Aside from weighing a lot (which is good in lathe terms), it has a nice setup for threading, and came with a quick-change tool post, which is a nice bonus. It's a good fit in the small space I have, and should be more machine than I need for a good while.

It's complete and works, but is pretty grungy, so I'm taking some time to clean, lube, and adjust everything. The table area will definitely be cleaned up and some kind of chip containment in place before I start actually making anything.

I'm very excited to learn this over the winter (well, re-learn if you count metal shop in the '80s).
1 year ago

wjcstp pro

  • 726 Views
  • 2 Saves
  • 39 Likes

Post URL

https://mltshp.com/p/1PIMJ

In These Shakes

  • wjcstp
  • Post to Facebook
  • Post to Tumblr
samh pro 1 year ago
You got a total STEEL on this!
bencmeissner pro 1 year ago
@samh ba-dum-tshh!
dapete 1 year ago
Nice but Harbor Freight? Aren't their tools single use?
samh pro 1 year ago
You have to be very careful what you buy at Harbor Freight, @dapete. If anyone walks in there and thinks they're getting a good deal when they pick up that $7 multimeter they're fooling themselves. However, they do in fact have good stuff but it isn't any less expensive than other mid-level competition. A professional machine shop may not choose to rely on an $800 lathe (they still sell this lathe currently) but a hobbyist who is going to carefully use it three times a month will probably have it around for a generation or two.

https://www.harborfreight.com/brands...
0y3ahSansAcut3 1 year ago
To get an MRI you have to answer a question about metal fragments in your eye. Goggles not glasses, every time!
machaus 1 year ago
lol, I have the same one but rusted to shit
wjcstp pro 1 year ago
@machaus well that's what happens when you drive your lathe around here in the winter
wjcstp pro 1 year ago
@dapete Like most places, HF has a wide range of quality, but their average is definitely lower than most. Their mid- to upper-range hand tools are as good as Craftsman in my experience.

In this case, it's a surprisingly decent lathe for what I paid - in some ways better than the smaller, newer lathe that @samh linked, in some ways not as nice. I expect this will easily scratch the itch to learn this stuff and I'm sure I can get some nice parts out of it eventually.
samh pro 1 year ago
I suspect yours will be nicer than that new one. Especially once you've pulled some of it apart and gotten it oiled and greased appropriately.
dapete 1 year ago
Glad you found a diamond in the freight

Follow @best_of_mltshp on Mastodon

Are you a developer? Check out our API.

© MLTSHP, a Massachusetts Mutual Aid Society venture All Rights Reserved

  Terms of Use   Code of Conduct   Contact Us

Follow The MLTSHP User!