Is this metal lathe worth it for £145?

Hi

I'm looking to get a lathe for my workshop. I am a beginner to model steam engineering and intend to machine brass, copper, aluminium to the tolerances for making valve chests, pistons cylinders etc.

I saw this lathe on amazon at the bargain price of £145. It's not suitable for iron or steel and operates at 2000rpm.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Miniature-Multifunction-Machine-machine-20000rev/dp/B0135PYM6Y/ref=pd_sim_sbs_201_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=5129AgaEdFL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=MPKXNCP0BAV0CR0VKRPG

has anyone used this lathe? What are your opinions on it?

thanks

Edited By Simon Robinson 4 on 16/06/2016 22:42:29

I would say it's a waste of money. There are plenty of second hand older lathes that even if badly worn will still outperform that for about the same money. If you want small and cheap look at Taig / Peatol.

David

Totally unsuitable for your application; I suspect it would struggle with plastic or wood, let alone any sort of metal.

Andrew

Did you look at the comments :-

"Chuck opens to 15mm" "Have turned 8mm brass but only at 0.2 mm cut"

No use at all for what you envisage

It kinda looks like a unimat-come-china type, why not save up for one of the cheaper sieg machines instead? It's at least a tried and tested favorite and with the right skill will turn alot of things. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 17/06/2016 04:11:19

Looks horrible. Any lathe that can not turn steel is not much use for model work, it simply lacks the required rigidity for accurate work. And 2,000 rpm minimum is way too high for metal work.

Pay the extra and get a more popular choice, the Sieg C1 mini lathe or similar.

It looks like a Unimat 1, or more likely a copy as the finish doesn't appear to be very good and the don't use the name.

**LINK**

The U1 is a reasonable choice for people who make things like small gauge railway models or model boats, and there are always people who achieve more than they should with such things.

I wouldn't however, recommend it for any more demanding metalworking. If you need a very small lathe because of space or portability issues then look at the SEIG C1 or a second-hand Unimat SL or similar.

Neil

Curious to look at this end of the market I see you can get a genuine Unimat 1 for not much more, but this cauight my eye, a lot of lathe for £21, but a bit small between centres..

**LINK**

This might be a better bet.

Russell

In life you get what you pay for. If you only want to pay £145 for a "lathe" then that is exactly what you will get, £145 worth of something. Remember that somebody is expecting to make a profit from that £145. then as you now know it is entirely unsuitable for any sort of work. Now having said that if you look at ArcEuro Trades advert they have a small Sieg lathe for around £280. Twice the price but in reality probably 5 times the lathe, and it will cut metal. They also have a great supply of accessories to fit the machine as well as great customer service. I would suggest that Ketan at ArcEuro would be a great guy to talk to, and to help you getting your first, of many I am sure, lathe. Normal disclaimers etc apply. I am just a very happy and impressed customer. If you are in the Midlands remember that Arc are open to customers and you can view their machinery.

Worth every penny and more than capable if you are into model trains, boats, AVF models etc where you will only be turning small bits of plastic, wood and the odd bit of Ali or brass which is the market where these types of lathe are aimed.

But not upto the job of making steam engines.

When I wasa kid there was an organisation used to sell stuff in the Sundays called ' Shoportunities'. They had a 'primus' ( perhaps I should write paraffin) stove for about £1.50 plus postage ( pre decimal actually, but you get the point) . I got my father to write a cheque for the amount and to send it off. " You won't get a primus stove for £1.50" he said , I showed him the advert with the picture over and over. Eventually the ' stove ' arrived and it was a piece of tinplate crap with a wick up the middle, it did look a bit like a primus though, especially from the angle 'shoportunities' had photographed it from. Whatever, it was a completely unusable piece of rubbish. It was an expensive lesson for an eleven year old that I have never forgotten. Please don't fall for the same trick that I did. It is without a doubt a piece of crap that looks like a unimat lathe.

Edited By stevetee on 17/06/2016 19:42:41

Edited By stevetee on 17/06/2016 19:43:57

I would recommend that you have a look at some machines in the flesh if at all possible, the various shows have a selection if you are not in too much of a hurry and the various dealers between them have most of the country covered with machines on display. It is hard to buy from a catalog or web site without being sure of what you are buying. YouTube has many machines shown being used if a personal visit to a dealer is not possible. Buying the wrong machine can be more expensive than buying the right machine in the first place.

Mike

Simon, you are would benefit from a direct meeting with a few model engineers so they can answer a lot of your questions more quickly. Where abouts are you? Even if you don't have a local club it would be worth while to make a 50 mile trip to get some information that could easily save you hundreds of pounds.

One thing is for sure. Whatever you envisage using this lathe for, the very first job you need to do will be a big lump of steel .

David.

Simon, I see you are asking about a lathe and a mill at the same time.

The Cowells and Perris are a bit on the small side for most 3 1/2" or 5" gauge locos.

I will probably be accused of bias, but if you are looking at making locos than you might consider just buying a mini-lathe to get started. That's what I did and a vertical slide (taig/peatol type) allowed me to do plenty of milling until I was able to get an X2 mill.

Better to have a decent capacity lathe than a too-small lathe and mill.

Neil

Simon,

You have mentioned steam engine parts but you haven't said what scale you will be working to (unless I missed it). If you let us know the size of what you intend to make we could offer better advice.

In general, unless you are going to be into watchmaking or similar, you really ought to buy the biggest lathe you can afford and accommodate. There will always be something that is too big for your lathe. At least get one that is one size up from what is needed to handle your current project.

Russell.

The answer to the question is pretty simple really - NO - almost what ever some one wants to make with it.

Peatol was mentioned. Way more capable especially with the none variable speed motor option which might not be available outside of the UK. I mounted mine on top of a wooden breadbin and used that to keep all of the bits and pieces in it. That was 3 jaw, 4 jaw, collets, blank collets, vertical slide, head and tail stock riser blocks, tool grinding wheel, fixed steady and the compound slide if not fitted but it generally was. Forgot the face plate. I had that too.

The riser blocks are sized to enable a certain scale of loco wheels to be made on them. It's probably best to restrict their use to that sort of thing and fit when needed. I managed to distort the head on mine by taking a near 3/4" deep cut with a form cutter in mild steel with them on using an extremely fine feed. Following this it turned a couple of thou taper over 4". It needed the risers on to swing the part I was working on. The rigidity of the lathe in some respects is excellent as the swarf came of in nice shiny curly pieces.

The machine is easily capable of feeding a sharp 3/8 dia directly through 3/8 thick mild steel and also a 1" woodruff cutter around 1/8"+ thick into the same to it's full diameter. I was making a finely adjustable router fence. The vertical slide they provide is very useful. Very simple work holding method but works really well in practice and is very rigid.

Downsides. It's easy to cover them in swarf and it can get on the rack feed so best keep and eye out for that. The tailstock is a bit naff but works ok. I would be inclined to make revolving steady for it but the spring loaded one that comes with it is usable but might cause a beginner some grief via over tightening.

The headstocks are known to loose alignment over time but it's worth bearing in mind that it's extremely precise as they come. Useful feature as the 3 jaw has soft jaws available for it which can be machined dead true. So true in fact if done the correct way that they are a good as collets. If I had one again I would want 2 sets of complete jaws to take full advantage of that. The usual fix for minor head miss alignment is aluminium foil shims. Use to be silver paper out of packs of cigarettes. Anything along these lines could be used.

I've no idea how it compares with a small Sieg etc and suspect that the variable speed model would be a touch under powered for what the lathe can do.

John

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