Member postings for Jan-willem De Bleser

The Sherline factory is an hour's drive from me, so maybe I should go have a look in person. Always more informative than looking at photos online.

I appreciate all the pointers and opinions people are giving me here. Knowing why a given machine is liked will be helpful when I finally decide on one myself.

Yeah, I was just browsing the Cowell site, and they look like really nice machines. Get what you pay for, I guess.

Freight to California would be rough, I expect.

DOC and speed of machining is a good point - "small cuts" seems to be the order of the day with micro lathes. I wish I could put in a larger lathe, but workshop space is at a premium. Alternative is I set up shop in my home office, but I'm not sure how I feel about machining indoors...

But, point taken about size. I'll first work out my space issue, see how large of a space I can scrounge up, and then work out what tooling would fit.

If faced with the choice between a larger lathe only or a smaller lathe plus a mill, I take it most would prefer the latter?

I like and understand the way you phrase the trade-offs involved. It's not a clear-cut A/B choice, as while I definitely enjoy the process I also want to build more than just tools, but this does give me a helpful way to think about these lathes.

I will take another look at other lathes, and more importantly see if I can't make room for a mill as well, rather than trying to buy tools piecemeal. Might still end up with a Taig of some sort, but either way this thread has given me a clearer idea of the use case of these tools, and some more ideas of what to look for.

(Will check out Chris's build photos as soon as MEM forum approves my account 🙂

Noted about a cabinet on wheels: I'll likely have to do something along those lines so that it can be stowed when not in use.

Taig does currently offer a model with lead screw and power feed (L1015 vs L1017), which I've seen used in some youtube videos. Maybe that's a new offering?

I saw John Bentley's site and was impressed - his work is one reason I thought the Taig might be enough machine. Of course, he also has another lathe, mill, bandsaw, etc, which suggests a different question: in the process of building up a small workshop, assuming I'll likely eventually give in and find room for a mill as others have, would a Taig make a suitable first acquisition (more in the sense of "I have no other tools" than of "I've never used a lathe before" )? I define suitability based on how quickly I'll encounter the machine's limits.

Tools that allow one to tinker with them are interesting, but the downside is you end up spending more time building more tooling than building devices, something I've already experienced with electronics hardware 🙃

Edited By Jan-willem De Bleser on 07/03/2022 19:46:28

Thanks, will take another look. I was skimming those yesterday but must have missed that one.

Edit: will look at Cowell and Sieg as well. It's a question of space, but it's good to hear that they may be moveable if required.

Edited By Jan-willem De Bleser on 07/03/2022 16:32:49

Thank you all for the comments and thoughts! Helps me to focus on what the important considerations are.

Fair points about precision vs versatility. I like the idea of collets but I imagine that with irregular work I'll mostly be using the chucks. Makes sense to get the machine set up for that use case.

It sounds like what I'm imagining doing would be possible in a Taig lathe only (or Sherline, which is of a similar scale if I've understood correctly). However, the same argument about versatility applies - with such a small lathe, and without a mill, I'm really limiting myself in what I can do. Figuring out how to do an operation of some sort on such a lathe could be an interesting puzzle, but it might also become a point of frustration...

So, I've got two questions to consider: do I save much space by going with a micro vs a mini lathe, and can I really not fit a mill.

Hi folks,

Lurker here who could use some advice on choice of lathe, on two points: is the Taig Micro Lathe II capable enough for building small stationary steam engines, say bar stock or a kit of the size of PM Research #3; and, is it worth considering the 5C headstock from the get-go?

I last touched a lathe or mill 20 years ago, but recently much enjoyed assembling a machined Chiltern vertical engine. I'd be interested in tinkering with it, making parts and fittings, and eventually maybe a full engine from castings. My workspace is space-constrained, however, and my one workbench is shared with other tasks and hobbies, so I need a small bench-top machine, preferably moveable. Any machine would have to serve as both lathe and mill (I otherwise have only hand tools and a vise), so the adaptability of the Taig is appealing, and I get the impression it's capable despite its small size. Is that accurate, or should I really consider a mini lathe instead of a micro?

Assuming I'm not overestimating the Taig, and setting aside cost for a minute, is there any reason not to invest in a 5C-based model? Seems like it's a general upgrade in terms of precision, with the only downside being cost.