This will be the first of many questions

Hi,

I am new to this site, and I will need to pick your brains the last time I touched a lathe was 45 years ago at school (shame they still don't actually teach them things that are useful) and I am thinking of buying a lathe around the £600 - 800 mark suggestions please.

Martin

Hi Martin,

Newbie myself - but to get an idea of what's available try this site: **LINK**

Many Thanks very interesting.

Martin

"shame they still don't actually teach them things that are useful". I agree: you can't beat a solid grounding in Latin when pretty much everything is designed on a computer these days!

Seriously though, what sort of work do you intend using your lathe for? There's a big difference between clock making and restoring old cars. Also, are you thinking second-hand, new or don't care? Do you think in metric or Imperial? You'll get better advice if you can be a little more specific, even if the answer is 'Dunno - I just want to learn by cutting some metal' - it's allowed!

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 26/09/2017 17:11:58

Hi Dave,

I was thinking of making bits for my air guns so it will be mainly ali or brass nothing to technical I was looking at warco/chester as I don't need anything to heavy, hope that helps a bit.

Martin

Hi Martin,

A mini-lathe might do what you want: they'll do steel so aluminium and brass are no problem. I see Warco's latest version of the mini-lathe comes with a brushless motor which is a useful improvement.

A mini-lathe is an easy two person lift, and you might be fit enough to lift one on your own. They don't take up much room. On the downside the maximum size you can turn is about 100mm wide by 300mm long. The hole in the spindle is 20mm, if for example, you wanted to put a thread on the end of a barrel.

Next up and nearly within your budget is the WM180: the main advantage is that it's bigger. One of the best bits of advice I've had off the forum is that bigger is better when it comes to lathes. Partly because people tend to gravitate to towards turning bigger objects, partly because the extra space makes it easier to work on stuff.

The WM150 is new to me.

I've had nothing but positive experiences buying from Warco. I've not tried Chester and can't comment from personal experience. You might like to search the forum to see what others say though.

If you get the chance to look at one before spending hard earned cash it's well worth it. I happened on a mini-lathe on display in my local MachineMart. I didn't buy one off them but seeing it in the flesh confirmed that the type would do most of what I wanted.

Dave

I think your right about Warco they get good reviews and I was looking at the super mini (the new one) because I can't think of anything bigger than that I would need to turn so with the £200 odd I would save buy some bits or ideally buy second hand with all the bits so if you know of a good second hand one give me a shout please.

Cheers

Martin