C0 lathe question.

Hi, Annette,

A C0 should be able to handle the size you need, but since it is a very small lathe, you will probably need to take very light cuts, and therefore it will take time.

Assuming the spinners are not a simple cone, but have a curved profile, then these may be awkward to cut. There are several ways to cut the curve, but probably the easiest way is to take several cuts to produce a series of small steps, then clean the shape up with a file held against the spinner while the lathe is running, finishing with various grades of emery or similar.

If you haven't bought one yet, I would recommend getting the slightly bigger 7x10 or 7x12 available from many companies such as ArcEuroTrade, Clarkes, Warco, etc. There is a lot of stuff about the pros and cons of these lathes in this forum and on the internet. They are useful small machines, and have much more capability than the C0, so may be a better option.

If it's the Sieg C0 'Baby' lathe you mean, I bought one about 3 years ago when I needed the cheapest and most compact machine available for a tiny workshop in temporary accommodation.

The machine is practically a clone of the Emco Unimat 3 with a few significant differences - a fully-variable speed, 150W power as against 90 for the Unimat, an integral base and tray and a 3-jaw scroll chuck as standard equipment.

I'd had a Unimat 3 for 20 years too in earlier life, and it's fair to say the Sieg C0 isn't as nicely made, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's less capable. It has the same significant drawback for speed of setting and operation - the saddle is permanently engaged to the leadscrew, leading to time-consuming winding back and forth. Accessories such as the pivoting compound slide and the powered longitudinal feed aren't as unreasonably expensive as they were fro the Emco.

A keyed chuck would also save you time and frustration as compared to the issued tommybar 3-jaw. Concentricity of the issued chuck is probably about average; I can see the runout with good round bar even though I've not measured it.

I'm sure that it's possible to make the components you mention on the C0 - I still use mine for small items occasionally, especially when my Warco is set up for something else.

However, given the positive comments some have made about the quality of some of the mini-lathes about at the moment, I think if I could possibly afford the space and the price, I'd probably investigate those quite seriously before going for the C0.

Worth considering that the C0 doesn't have a compound slide, which could make tapers an issue. The additional cost of this as an extra might make a 7x mini lathe or Warco's WM150 worth considering.

Brian

John Stevenson's guilty secret was a C0 hidden in a cupboard - and he thought it was great!

Neil

Ali is a bit of a different prospect to Delrin, but I've done steel, phosphor-bronze and titanium on my C0 without too much difficulty. I'd think it's largely going to be a matter of secure holding of sharp tools and work, plus maybe a bit of lubrication to prevent the sticky aluminium buildup. That'd more or less be the case whatever machine you use.

Should work fine.

Neil

It shouldn't be too difficult to turn the aluminium spinners by roughing out the taper in steps, then use a hand tool like a wood turning scraper using a bit of bar in the tool post as a tool rest,

.

Ian S C

Remember it's (normally) possible to do small work on a large machine but not the other way round... I'd go a bit bigger.if you are able to, life will be easier and possibilities much wider.

Although the taper drill method will work you are a bit limited to the tapers available, if you choose a lathe where the topslide can be set at any angle you will be able to fine tune your venturi and even have a different taper either side of the spray bar.

A topslide would also allow you to form the spinners in a series of tangental cuts which give a faceted curve that can then easily be blended with a file, have a look at the second photo in this post to see one being done in that way

It'll work, but I've found that technique fatiguing on the fingers with the little compound slide available for the C0. You get a bit over 40 mm travel, and the handknob's only about 20 mm diameter. Because the dovetail engagement is short - only over the width of the toolpost - you need to take up the gib a little tighter than would make for easy movement.

Seriously, if you can, look at a mini- rather than a micro-lathe.

Try a nut driver or hex driver on whatever holds the CO handwheel on, that's what I use to use on my similar sized U3 you can spin it a lot faster and more comfortably that way.

Edited By JasonB on 23/09/2018 18:25:23