small lathes

hi new here am disabled and making model boats I am looking for a mini or small lathes so I can make my own rigging blocks in plastic or soft metals it will be only small things I only have about £200 to £ 350 for this has anyone got a series co micro lathe or any other ones please

Welcome Matthew.

John Stevenson has a C0 and thinks quite a lot of it.

If you look HERE you can see how it compares to his 10 horsepower TOS. I doubt he would have one if it didn't do the jobs he asks of it.

I think the C0 is very much a machine for people whose main hobby is not engineering, but it would still allow you to tackle small engineering jobs. My dad has a very old Unimat of similar size and power that he uses just for odd parts for model boats.

Neil

If that's your budget max you'll probbly be better using that bay place, watching and waiting and eventually bidding on a small unit with a bunch of extra tooling thrown in. The tooling on small units can be very pricey sometimes.

(Took me a couple of years' watching and waiting to finally get a shaper)

Might be able to get a Unimat SL for the higher end of that budget.

You could buy the often completly over priced Super Adept lathes for £100.

My Super Adept cost 5 NZ pounds 55 years ago, they are a bit fiddly to work with, but quite capable for the little bits you are doing, I think you would be ok with the C0 Sieg lathe, and if you can get one that someone has grown out of, at a good price, all the better, and Arc have a good range of attachments for these wee lathes.

Ian S C Here's a Super Adept chewing into a bit of stainless steel.

E.W Lathes are worth looking out for. There is a long thread about them on this forum and they do appear on ebay from time to time. I'm sure you are aware of it but the "lathes.co.uk" website has lots of useful info on many different types.

Regards.

David.

Hi Matthew,

Drop me a line as I may have just what you are looking for.

Mike

I use a Pultra every day in my work but considering your health condition ,i think something ready to use like the CO you mention would be better for you plus it has a lead screw which is my only complaint about Pultra`s.

Heres some photos of mine it was cheap for a Pultra ,i did it up and power it by a inverter whichi got for  £20 brand new off ebay .

Edited By mark smith 20 on 10/03/2016 10:30:52

Edited By mark smith 20 on 10/03/2016 10:32:41

Matthew

One Sieg unused, in box as delivered, only run to prove motor works, £220, PM if interested. Arrange own courier.

rgds

Bill

It might be possible to find a used Hobbymat in that price range. The thing that would concern me about the CO is the 5" between centres - if that is correct as adding a chuck and a drill chuck wouldn't leave much at all and what ever people are making holes usually have to be drilled.

Of the Unimats I would suggest the 4 not the SL. I feel that the SL is a little like the Super Adept. They fetch far too high a price for what they are. Same applies to many old lathes on ebay.

Having owned both though the Hobbymat is a much better small general use lathe. Extra bits and pieces are expensive on both. Hobbymat's can have an adjustment problem - people sometimes mess them up.

When looking for used lathes don't forget Gumtree and also Preloved.

Shakes and shudders suggesting this but I suspect your budget would stretch to a Peatol. I'd better duck now as people will be throwing bricks at me over the web. However when I could easily use machines at work it was the first machine I bought for home. Here is a photo of me seriously abusing it working on a Boxford spindle. I have done much much worse things on it.

They have their problems but I don't think they need worry you. As they come the can turn very precise components in all respects. Over time especially if way too much is asked of them the headstock distorts and they will turn tapered components that were once dead parallel. In my case that was circa 0.002" over 4" after some serious abuse with the riser blocks on so that I could fit the part I needed to turn.

I often wonder why I sold it. I did buy a lot of the bits and pieces to go with it. In that mode all sorts of things can be made. Looking at the UK price list they still supply it with a 1/4hp motor but that may have changed. It's generally sold as a kit but the instructions that come with it are excellent.

John

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If you are serious about only turning plastic and soft metals, and only small items, you may want to look at the Unimat 1.

It really isn't a model engineering lathe, but if you want something small and light and flexible to make the sort of things that used to be in the W.E.B. catalogue it might be a solution for you.

Neil

The only other one that springs to mind is this one

**LINK**

Never used or handled one but I do know that this seller has sold rather a lot of them and the next size up.

There is also this one which may be found used at times

**LINK**

John

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John's first link is a SIEG C2/C3 type mini-lathe as sold by Uncle Tom Cobbley in a bewildering range of various specs backed up by equally wide-ranging levels of customer service and support. I think it may be abit big for what you want.

The second link is a SIEG C1, It's not hugely popular because although bigger than the C0 it's less flexible than the C2/3 which have more capacity and capability for not a great deal more cash or bench space.by the same token, the C0 can be better if you want something you can easily pick up and put in a cupboard or large draw.

I would suggest you go along to visit one of the suppliers advertising at right and compare these machine first hand before deciding.

Neil

I think Harry's is the only one with 14" centres Neil hence lining to it some are 10 I believe - drilling holes again.

I only noticed because at one point he was selling upgrade beds. I do buy some tooling off him. He's another like Arc who has a pretty good reputation. He has various sizes of cobalt hss and some decent reamers too.

John

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I found a Clarke 300 mm lathe with extras what are thay like its 100 miles from me the price is £225 or would you buy a new one

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http://www.m-p.co.uk/muk/acrobat/clarke/cl300m-instructions.pdf  

and ... **LINK**

[although I wouldn't trust the claimed horsepower ]

£225 might be a good price

MichaelG.

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Our worthy Editor should be able to advise.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 12/03/2016 13:09:10

Very few 10" ones about now - Warco do one, so I think they may now only available from Real Bull (I may be wrong about this).

The 14" machines are getting scarce now, plenty of 16" ones about, the Arc super C3 for example.

Neil

That's the lathe I have. Perfectly usable, mine is 18 years old and still going (but much modified and some parts renewed). To be honest the Clarke models are SIEG and have probably benefited from improved quality control over the years, but mini-lathes from some of the other suppliers have higher specs - longer bed (up to 16", quick release tailstock, brushless motor are the three most useful 'upgrades' IMHO.

Five pages on the CL300M by mike Cox in the latest Model Engineer's Workshop (issue 239).

Available HERE

Rumour is a new book on Mini Lathes is coming out soon with advice on choosing one

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 12/03/2016 15:12:08

Not sure where I but I think I saw the extra 2" on centre distance trick recently some where. Easy chop the tailstock nose off. The problem then is people might find that they can't turn right to the end of work when it has a centre in it. Ask a supplier and they will probably say fit a morse extension or even a jump up sleeve. Great but another source of errors and yet more hissing about.

I would say ask and if it wont don't buy but of course people want a lathe so do and find out about that problem later.

There have been a number about like this over the years. I'm not sure if it's caused by importers wanting an improved spec for nothing or the Chinese but it most definitely happens. Just make the numbers look better - like some other features on them.

LOL If I bough a budget mini lathe it would probably be an Opti - they claim to age the bed casting.

John

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hi what are chester conquest lathe like