Member postings for Hollowpoint

I agree, however DOC is pretty much interlinked with rigidity and big doesn't always mean rigid.

My Chinese mini lathe for example is so badly made there is slop and play all over the place. None of it can be adjusted out because it wasn't made to tight tolerances to start with!

Compare that to my tiny but beautifully made Cowells lathe, which believe it or not is actually more rigid!

I can press on the tool in my mini lathe with my hand and actually see flex in the compound and cross slide. No such problems with my Cowells! And this isn't an exception, I've had enough small Chinese lathes to know a lot of them are crap.

Just last week I had to finish machining a backplate I was making on my Cowells because my mini lathe couldn't cope! Go figure. 🙄

I collect micro lathes. My opinions:

1. Cowells. The best of the bunch. More rigid than the others and has features like power feed, screw cutting, taper turning as standard. Higher quality than the others but much more expensive. The biggest downside is the small spindle bore

2. Sherline. Good rigidity, Good size spindle bore, Good quality. The downside being parts and accessories can be hard to find in the UK. Not a problem if you are in the USA.

3. Taig. Kinda like the Sherline but not quite as nice quality imo. Parts and accessories are cheaper and easier to find. Good spindle bore size for a micro lathe. Inexpensive second hand.

4.Emco 3. Decent quality, decent rigidity, spindle bore is smaller than the Taig and Sherline. Parts and accessories are readily available. Middle of the road pricetag. One to consider.

5 Unimat SL. Nice to look at but less rigid and not as capable as the others. Quality is ok. Parts and accessories are readily available.

Now you also mentioned the mini lathe. They are more capable being much larger but Imo they aren't good quality at all. They usually come new out of the box with a whole range of problems. On top of that the electricals are extremely unreliable. You can negate these issues somewhat by buying from a reputable dealer. But I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you why my experiences and opinions are wrong. 🙄

Other options not yet mentioned is the handful of lathes that sit somewhere between the micro and mini lathes. A few examples being the Emco compact 5, Proxxon pd250, toyo ml210 and at a stretch the hobbymat md65. These have there own quirks both negative and positive but would have more capability than the micro lathes while still being small enough to be easily moveble and are generally better quality than a Chinese mini lathe.

You can almost date Cowells lathes by the paint colour. Late 70's appear to be silver, 80's turquoise and later models blue. The CW model being the exception as it seems to have always been silver.

Don't spend it all at once!

Agreed. Good prices, good service. 👍

That's not what I was suggesting. I am well aware the Chinese can make good stuff and the Germans can make crap stuff. But in general German products have better quality control. I've owned countless tools from both countries and It would be difficult to convince me otherwise.

I've used a few of this type of control board and you usually have to set the input and output voltages. Normally done with a couple of jumper plugs. Obviously you want 240v in and 180vdc out. Have you done this?

Also some boards need specific value resistor's fitting to match your motor.

Lastly you may need to adjust the various potentiometers to get the motor running nicely

There's plenty of options from warco, Chester, axminster, arc euro etc but imo the quality can be hit and miss.

Since the work you are doing is small scale a Sherline mill might be suitable. You should have plenty of budget for both the mill and tooling.

Hobbymat make a decent little mill, and the quality is better than most of the Chinese stuff being of German manufacture. They are relatively inexpensive if you can find one. The only bad point is the round column.

Thanks guys. I think it is indeed for a Harrison L5. Great teamwork! 😃

I haven't used the proxxon bfw40 but have played around with a display model. (Not running). IMO the construction of the machine is way too light for milling. It's more like an accurate drill.

The Emco 3 which is better and of slightly heavier construction is only just rigid enough for light milling. So you can see the problem.

The FF230 is about the same quality of construction as the Emco 3 but has a few small tweaks that the Emco lacks. The column although still round is slightly larger diameter and the head has a proper vertical adjustment aiding alignment.

Both of the above are less rigid than either the Cowells or Sherline and so both of the latter make better milling machines. It's true they are not so good for drilling without the quill feed. However a sensitive drilling attachment is available for the Sherline which is good for drilling small holes.

That's a really nice little machine! Not seen one before. 😎

I was hoping someone would recognise it immediately and confirm my own research rather than just take a quick look and agree with me.

But the closest I can find was for an early Raglan little John.

I haven't read the whole thread because frankly I can't be bothered But I might as well throw my opinion into the mix since I collect these small machines.

Ok so first the Emco 3 mill is a nice little machine (I own one) but they are quite rare and rather collectable and therefore expensive. Parts and accessories are readily available second hand. However there are better alternatives.

Probably the best of the lot (other than the mega expensive watchmakers machines) is the Cowells mill. Unfortunately they rarely come up for sale and prices are high. Parts and accessories are available both new and second hand but expect to pay up!

The Sherline mill is the next best, they aren't particularly cheap new and can be difficult to find in the UK second hand. Parts and accessories are available new and second hand but they aren't so common in the UK. Lots available in the US if you are willing to import them.

One not mentioned is the Proxxon FF230. It is very similar in a lot of ways to the Emco 3 mill and is of at least equal quality if not better. It's worth knowing that not all proxxon tools are created equally. Some are dire while others are quite good. The FF230 and PF230 are two of there better products. Again they aren't particularly cheap but parts and accessories are fairly common within the UK and Europe.

Forget the rest. Those 4 are the pick of the bunch if you absolutely must have a micro mill.

Was this through ebay per chance? Hermes labels purchased on ebay go through packlink which might explain some of the confusion.

Dimensions are approx. 92mm from the bottom to the centre and the widest part of the dovetail is also approx. 92mm

I have an idea of what it fits but I don't want to influence anyones thinking.

Edited By Hollowpoint on 05/10/2021 16:27:38

I think you'll struggle unfortunately. I needed something similar recently and couldn't find any. I ended up using regular machine screws.

Hi guys

My brother has asked me to help identify this lathe steady for him, as it is surplus to requirements he might as well sell it. I found a few similar, but no exact matches. Anyone know what it fits?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Yes and no. I believe most of the parts are interchangeable but IIRC some AUD models are 5" inch centre height while the BUD, CUD etc is 4.5" inch.

The Hemingway kit is based on the Marlco knurler which is the best of the lot imo. They aren't cheap but worth looking at.

Probably your best option is to purchase one of the er collet chucks as sold by arc, chronos, rdg etc and a separate back plate. You then machine the register while fitted on the lathe ensuring minimal runout. 🙂