What am I getting myself into?!!

Hi - Martin Evans, aged 71, living in the Swansea Valley.

After a lifetime of work, retired and starting to get interested in a bit of woodwork..Woodwork? What am I doing here you ask?

Well, my father in law was a toolmaker and I have inherited all his odds and ends from his garage...lots of small metalwork-related bits and pieces..so naturally I've got to buy a metalworking lathe now, haven't I?

No idea what I'm going to use it for - I've fantasy visions of nice shiny brass bits stuck onto nice shiny Rosewood bits...

I've got a nasty feeling I'm falling down the hole...

Martin.

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Welcome aboard, Martin

To fire-up your fantasy ... have a browse around here: **LINK**

http://www.the-sot.com/

Ornamental Turning is a nice balance between woodworking and metalworking technique.

MichaelG.

Before getting a metalworking lathe have a bit of a think about what you want to do as suggested above. It is a big expense and actually is only needed for the round bits of metal projects, maybe only 10% so a bit of an overhead. If you are more interested in wood think about a wood lathe, or perhaps making a rose engine - out of wood.

Thanks for the welcome, Michael.

As for the SoT, well, if I live to be about 120....

I think I'll start with something easier - like buyng my first lathe!

There's a CJ18A in an auction locally at the moment that I'm watching.

Are we allowed to mention the (in)famous auction site in this forum by the way?

Martin.

Bazyle -

All good advice, and all appreciated.

But the fact is that I want a metalworking lathe, and I've reached that time in life when I no longer need to justify my wants!

I've not the faintest idea what I'm going to do or make, and common sense says that I should get a woodworking one.

But I want a metalworking one.

I've been thinking about this, reading all the various forums, collecting catalogues, watching auctions, I've read every word of Lathes,co.uk (boy, what a site that is!), I've spent several months humming and ahhing.

Time to act.

Think of it as a fool rushing in.

Martin.

If you are getting a modern lathe second hand have a look at what it comes with and make sure you get all the bits, like travelling and fixed steady, both chucks, second set of jaws for the 3 jaw etc.

Problem is Bazyle that I live in Swansea - there's not much choice of second hand lathes within reasonable travelling distance so I've pretty much got to settle for what I can find.

Fortunately I inherited quite a bit of useful stuff - Jacobs chucks,, lathe tools, centres. etc but yes, I certainly have to keep this in mind.

It all boils down to what you pay of course - if the price is right, one can afford to have to buy the odds and ends on top.

Martin.

There's no reason not to mix wood- and metal-turning techniques.

For example, you can make mixed stuff from scratch:

...or you can buy kits of internal components and make the rest, such as for salt/pepper grinders:

If you go for secondhand, try a good Myford with nice clean bedrails and a chuck that doesn't look as if it's been played wtih by a steel dog with carbide teeth.

If you go for new, machines by Warco, Chester, Axminster all have their enthusiasts and detractors, but seem to do the job. What comes out of the workshop, and the capability of the worker, is far more important than what machinery's in there.

Ooh, that's nice Mick!

Don't want a Myford or anything similar - access to my workshop is tricky and I've got to be able to move the lathe by myself (only male help is my son in law and he works in Toronto!)

So it's going to be a second hand Chinese mini lathe of some sort, decided by whatever I can buy at a reasonable price within driving distance.

I'm in no rush, I sit and watch and sooner or later I'll catch a deal that, if I find I don't get on with it, I can put back up for sale and get my money back.

Martin

Hello Martin,

Want a lathe?

Any excuse is a good excuse

Neil

Welcome to the learning curve, I've just joined it! Not had nearly enough time to do stuff on it, but I've bought an old Myford ML4 lathe, it came with a lot of bits and pieces for £350 from ebay. Though I did have to drive to Glastonbury from Darlington to collect it, (did it in a day). So just over a tank of diesel too (£60). It has more scope than some of the Chinese lathes, in that it can turn longer bar stock but has it's drawbacks too, (been from the 40's), it has wear and tear. I've just seen a nice portass lathe pop up on eBay which looks nice and is cheap at the minute but doesn't come with any drive motor. Similarly I watched a Myford ML3 sell for less than £100, but it didn't have a motor and was covered in surface rust, though very nearly bit the bullet on another one.

Here's mine and what I got with my lathe, the basics you'll need is a 3jaw, and/or a four jaw. Some turning tools, though with a bench grinder, HSS blanks are cheap, and can be touched up when required.

As others have said with the tooling you already have, is it worth buying a lathe?? If your anything like me the answer will be yes. There are several forums where I'm recieving help from members, so I can vouch that the hobby machinist is in good company. Only today I've been to meet a member down the road from me who's helped me out with sorting some tooling, it was all blunt so got a lesson in sharpening lathe tools.

I agree with Neil, a man got to have a metal lathe! Just dome advice on the suggestion that you will be looking for a Chinese lathe: you will be selling it soon and eill be looking for a well made precise lathe such as a Myford.

I agree with Neil, a man got to have a metal lathe! Just some advice on the suggestion that you will be looking for a Chinese lathe: you will be selling it soon and will be looking for a well made precise lathe such as a Myford.

Morning Gents.

Neil - you clearly understand me - a man's gotta have what a man's gotta have!

Jon - that's a nice haul. I've seen similar old lathes around, and they are often light enough for one man to move with a struggle. What's concerned me about them is that as a complete nooby I wouldn't be able to tell if a particular lathe was too far worn to be of any use.

CorRad - I know, I know, for the past three months people have been telling me that I have to get a Myford or I'll be sorry. Just put me down as being an obstinate bloody-minded old fool who has to learn the hard way!

Martin.

Currently bidding on a CJ18A.

Starting from that end of your life you really do need stuff that just works out of the box or you will spend the rest of your days restoring old worn out machinery. I started 30 years ago on a make do and mend basis and I find I seem to have spent most of my activity on making or repairing workshop machines and tooling. It's OK and I do like it but I get the niggly feeling it's cost me a lot in unmade clocks and engines. Still retirement is near and I get to catch up hopefully. At 71 money is cheap time is expensive. Get the tools you need and get on with it. You are a long time dead.

The CJ18A looks just the ticket and if you miss it they are not that much new.

regards Martin

I think the CJ18A is a great idea. Provided you bid a sensible amount you are unlikely to loose much if any money on it. Yes a good Myford will be better but there are plenty of people who believe that a worn out lathe can be fixed with a coat of paint and you are unlikely to be able to spot that. If you end up with a mini lathe it may very well have its problems, learning what they are and how to fix them is very valuable information. Should you ever decide you want to get something more expensive this will stand you in very good stead. As for what you are going to make that is fairly obvious...... Tools to fix the tools to fix the lathe etc There are a good many people on here (myself included) who spend a significant amount of time doing just that.

Good luck.

David..

No, you don't have to get Myford or be sorry. I ran a Myford Speed 10 for 15 years - it was solidly made and finished, but I disposed of it in favour of a Warco WM250V 2 1/2 years ago. No regrets. The Warco has several significant features the Myford didn't, and I use them all the time.

That would have been excellent advice in 1967 but surely it's jaded now.

Simple opinion is not a good recommendation. A much better test is this. First, you don't get to see the lathes in action or talk to their owners. Instead you are given a 50/50 mixture of items made on Chinese and Myford lathes, about a 1000 of them. Can you tell which lathe produced each item? If you can tell the difference, decide which set was better made. Only then do you get told which was which. (I wish someone could organise such a test, it would be very revealing!)

Of course there are good reasons why someone might prefer Myford to Chinese, but those good reasons aren't generalisations. And there are equally good reasons why someone might prefer Chinese to Myford.

I wonder sometimes if 'must buy Myford' advice damages the hobby. It makes life difficult because you have to find one, and they are often over-priced. I feel most newcomers would do better buying an affordable new lathe rather than wasting time and effort waiting for something second-hand to turn up, and then coping with any problems inflicted on the poor thing by previous owners.

Dave

When I first retired I took up wood turning, and for metal parts, such as stainless steel tops for candle sticks I used the only engineering lathe I had (some laugh), A "Super Adept" that I bought in 1963, but until then had not used. Since then I'v bought a proper lathe, and given up the wood turning>

Ian S C

Gentlemen all - thank you.

I have to say that this is my first foray into the MEW forum and I have been overwhelmed by the obvious niceness and wish to be helpful of everyone - it's such a pleasant change from some forums to which I belong where the main aim seems to be scoring points off others!

Martin - you say

"At 71 money is cheap time is expensive. Get the tools you need and get on with it. You are a long time dead.

The CJ18A looks just the ticket and if you miss it they are not that much new."

Exactly my thoughts. I could afford to buy a nice new Warco WM180 or whatever, but half the fun is hunting down a bargain and finding out what you've got. After all, odds are that *whatever* I buy I'll find faults with, and if it's a Chinese lathe then if I'm unhappy I can move it on without much loss anyway. And I should imagine that it's far easier to sell a Chinese mini lathe than a Myford, judging by the offers I see.

David - you said

"As for what you are going to make that is fairly obvious...... Tools to fix the tools to fix the lathe etc There are a good many people on here (myself included) who spend a significant amount of time doing just that."

- and I can see the pleasure in that. My feeling is that it is the journey that gives the pleasure, not the destination - if I spend all my time just fiddling with the lathe and never actually make anything, so what as long as I've enjoyed myself?

Mick & Dave - I fully understand this, and I do agree that the emphasis on "you have to have a Myford" probably does discourage a lot of oldies like myself getting involved. I surely can't be the only one who wants a lathe that can be handed by myself alone, moved about when I fancy. Myfords and their ilk are fine if you're a strapping youngster in their prime but when you can see over the hill it all gets a bit too much of a struggle.

I'm still winning the CJ18A at the moment.....though I've just seen a nice ML10 come up for sale....

Martin.