Advice on Choosing A Mini Lathe

I should clarify, my original post was aimed at people trying to unpick the confusing abundance of 3 1/2" centre height Min Lathes all variants on the one design, rather then the various other slightly smaller lathes that are available.

Neil

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Hello All,

I'm not clear quite how you define a "mini lathe", but next week I shall be visiting the Warco showroom in Chiddingfold, with the intention of buying a WM240 lathe (nothing like inspecting the hardware before you buy).

I have a list of questions to ask, but Is there anything I should pay particular attention to?

Thank you

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I bought mine, a 7 x 12 Warco about 10 years ago in almost unused condition. Included was the milling slide which has one shortcoming. It attaches to the cross slide where the compound sits. So it is too far from the centreline of the lathe without a modification before you start.

There is a wealth of useful information and useful modifications and improvements on www.minilathe.com

Just because a lathe is under 20inch bed length does NOT automatically denote it as a 'mini-lathe'... Neil went to considerable trouble to detail the type in his earlier posts but the message did not appear to get thru....

To reiterate; a 'Mini-lathe' is a particular type of Chinese lathe made in two (formerly three) factories to more or less the same design (which may have originally been of Russian origin) and are described (in /American parlance) as the 7x12 series which is currently up to 7x14 now.... With a bit of study one can quickly identify the mini-lathe in the products of all the usual importers.

Thus, Warco offer Chinese 'Mini-lathes' in their smaller lathe types and also offer the 'WM xxx' types which are mainly larger...although the smallest of these, WM180 overlaps the mini-lathes in size BUT SHARES THE LARGER FEATURES of the WM250 and series... I had a 'mini-lathe' and now use a WM180 which is not remotely like a mini-lathe being much better designed and engineered etc. Also Wm180 comes with chucks, rests, tools etc

This is a 'mini-lathe';  https://www.warco.co.uk/metal-lathes/302922-mini-hobby-lathe.html    The 'Conquest' from Chester is very similar as it's also a 'mini-lathe'.     The drawbacks of the type include the top slide being a touch too thick and the bed a touch too narrow..the usual rubber feet don't help but can be removed/replaced.

.....Hope this helps!

Edited By Bob Stevenson on 16/02/2020 20:00:00

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Just to bump what Neil has already said. I watch Quin from Blondihacks on yoube. She did a piece on Chinese / Asian lathes. The point she made & Neil has described, was mostly they all look the same but.

The companies that assemble & distribute them all use there own parts , like the bearings for instance. Some cheap Chinese bearings, you can file the outer cage they are so soft. I agree some are pretty good for the money & should last a long time . While others that look identical, will need much work & maintenance to keep them running accurately. I have watched many revues of out of the box models & some require a huge amount of work just to get them up to scratch. YouTube is full of revue's for anyone considering buying a new Lathe. No matter what it is a cheap way to get into small engineering work.

Steve.

Edited By Steviegtr on 17/02/2020 00:54:45

Edited By Steviegtr on 17/02/2020 00:55:44

Is a unimat3 a mini lathe?

eric

I have a Taig/Peatol lathe (I was told that the Taig lathe is called Peatol in United Kingdom because Taig is rude in Irish)

I would be delighted to talk about it to anybody who sends me a message OFF LIST with his/her telephone number. (Offer applied only in mainland UK)

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Whilst a unimat 3 may be a good lathe, it sits in the broad category of a micro lathe, lathes which are usually smaller than a mini-lathe.

If you look at Warcos website, you will see that a mini-lathe is significantly larger. Link here which also refers to their statement that 'Warco invented the term Mini Lathe' under the section headed 'Buying a hobby lathe'.

Mini-lathe is a popular 'keyword' - in search engines. So many people/sellers in marketing use this key word to draw attention to anything they want to promote/sell, even though the product sits in the micro lathe category.

There is also a term baby lathe, which is used for lathes smaller than a micro lathe. Still, certain marketing people use the popular keyword 'mini-lathe' to describe such machines in search engines too.

Ketan at ARC.

And don't confuse the Unimat 1 / Unimat 6 in 1 with either...

Neil

I have watched 'Blondie Hacks' also, and always thought Quinn was a 'he' . . . . oh well , little did I know.

Anyway ' Quinn ' is a very good source of skill set videos on all types of lathe operations and more for those starting out in metal machine work

The Sherline set is very accurate and rigid for its size. Highly recommend the mill with the adjustable angle plate and rotary table. The best part is I can grab either and set them on the kitchen island and go to town.

As long as one is patient making light cuts it works great on larger items. There's a good article of a gentleman turning an Ø8 1/2" flywheel on the mill. The reason I mention the mill, is that I can turn reasonably sized items on the lathe, then move the chuck+part directly on the zeroed mill and back with no issue. The chucks can mount on the rotary table, the mill spindle, and lathe tailstock too. If Z clearance is an issue, they make an extension and/or a horizontal milling setup using the same machine.

Downside is the machines can get corroded quickly. If you're an oddball like me and like cleaning after use, I clean, grease all contact surfaces, and WD40 the rest with a paper towel. If you don't have a heated garage, they can be set in a cabinet or closet during the winter. Because of the light cuts and cheap HSS, I hardly use coolant, so a vacuum zips up the swarf in quick fashion.

I also have Sherline but thought here we were defining mini-lathe as the Chinese manufactured family.

i think most readers will be considering a mini- lathe for one of 3 factors; small footprint and light to set up, affordability and 'big enough for what I need.

Reading these blogs eliminates the 'big enough' argument - it invariably applies that the biggest machine you can get will likely be needed at some stage so it really comes down to the first 2.

So the question that I would like to see explored is; are the Chinese mini-lathes the way to go, or the non Chinese variants like Sherline.

I have no experience of the Chinese lathes so cant make the comparison but chose the Sherline lathe and Mill for their size, I have an 8ft by 4 ft shed for all my hobby work.

Thoughts - or am I drifting too far from this blogs remit?

Stuart

I re-read the post, and I guess I see the emphasis being towards the Chinese stuff. I know for certain the runout is much higher and the plastic gears on a lot of them wear out prematurely and are noisier.

Making smaller parts usually means tighter tolerances. If the work wobbles, you could get away with turning work close enough. You would be far less likely to successfully do the same cutting without chatter by hand (Cris/Clickspring style). If it were me turning small diameters under magnification, I'd buy a high quality headstock ($107.25) and leather band it to my antique treadle.

Do the Chinese lathes have provisions for W-W collets?

WW Collets would be too limited on size for most Minilathe ( 7 x ** ) users, they are more likely to go the ER collet route and could in theory use 2 micron runout collets if they really had the need for that sort of accuracy.

Jason, On my Sherline I find Weldon bits held in a tool holder with screw work very well. I particularly like that the holder tightens onto the outside of the shaft rather than a drawbolt pulling the collet into the morse taper. Both feel secure and accurate but the tool holder is easier to remove.

Personal preference I guess.

WW collets tend to be used for workholding as would ER collets on a Minilathe but ER do have the advantage of being far more universal which is another reason many will opt for them.

Sidelock are OK provided the holder is well made as that side screw will throw the tool shank off to one side if there is any slop in the fit.