I saw that a local hobby shop has got some small lathes in stock. Just what would an ameteur be capale of doing with a barrel spaner, barrel vice and the lathe?

I would mostly be interested in recrowning and threading barrels for brakes and the like.

Would reaming out a chamber be out of the reaches of someone like me?(I have an inate "unfriendlyness" with steel)

Howdy..
(assuming a smallish lightweight lathe would be suitable)

the problem with most (all?) IMPORT small lathes and the work you desribed is the hole through the headstock (spinglebore. Most 7xX and9xX imports are SMALL, .75 being fairly large, which tremendously limits what you can handle in the way of barrels.

start here http://www.mini-lathe.com/ for some good reviews, mods, and capacities of this type of machine.

The small lathes can make great parts... I jsut believe them to be a bad fit for gunsmithing, expecialy barrels

jeffe

Think South bend Heavy 10... If your interested in a small lathe, I can ask a buddy who's a machinery dealer what he's got and what he wants for it. Be prepared to spend at least a G on the machine plus shipping. If your willing to go up in size a little, you'll get more machine for less money - I could of had a heavy ten for 1500 or a Clausing 5900 for 900 (13" x36", Variable spd.)... Which do you think I picked? Every hobbyist in the country is after them, and the pricing is outrageous for what you get...

Toolmaker

I think the bare minimum for gunsmith work would be a 9 X 20. If you are intersted in this invest in a newspaper ad looking for a "small or medium size lathe", you might be able to get someone who has something sitting in their basement and wants it out of there. I got one for $20 with some tooling included, but mine is 6 X 20 and too small. I am making my tactical 20 reloading dies on it, mainly because I want to do it on an old manual feed lathe like the old-timers but it is neither fun nor easy like it would be on a bigger lathe.

Google groups search of rec.crafts.metalworking for "Lathe" sorted by date


The guy not the best to talk to is the guy with his first lathe.
The guy who knows is the one who has traded up a few times, and can see his hard knocks for what they are.
Rec.crafts.metalworking has lots of posters always shopping for their next lathe.

Like my mini lathe from Grizzly outlet:
1) Never buy a "mini" anything.
2) Never buy anything from any "outlet". It means it is the junk that cannot be sold with the rest of the crap imported from China, or it will tarnish the name.

Like my 1967 Cluasing 5914:
1) Look for original paint in good condition.
2) Four layers of paint means "beware".


My brother got a Jet 13x40 GHL for $2k instead of $4k, because it got the handles broken off in shipment. He used the lathe to make it's own handles, and that lathe produces jewelry like work.

Used lathes are like used motorcyles, keep an eye on where the you can get parts.

Used lathes on Ebay may look great, but watch out for:
1) fresh paint
2) Whole sale shipping is $.50/ pound and retail is $1/ pound to ship across the country. A $500 lathe that weighs 2000 pounds in the rust belt could be much more expensive when it gets to Seattle.
3) Uninsured shipping on used equiptment made of cast iron that is top heavy is a serious risk. The shipper that destroys it will offer you $.10/ pound as remidy. Got a lawyer?

I agree with Clark, and I'll throw another thought out - Look at auctions especially of stuff that comes out of schools, That's where my lathe came from. If your gonna do the ebay route, here's something else to consider: while you can't actually see how much slop is in the compound and crossslide you can see the ways... get the seller to email you a couple of pix so you can determine whether the machine is wiped or not. BTW this applies to all machines not just lathes...

Toolmaker

P.S. Clark, I hope that crack about first lathes wasn't aimed at me

...or me!

Mark White, certified Master Engine Machinist....

Mark, just curious, what kind of lathe you got? I'm currently stuck with the afor mentioned clausing, but I secretly been try to con my buddy, the dealer out of personal machine: a 15 by 54 inch lagun - it even has dials on the tailstock!

Toolmaker

I just talked to my buddy and he has three south bend in stock at the moment, one kinda beat($650.00 USD) and two nice ones ($3800.00 and up) this does not include crating charge and shipping has to be arranged by the buyer.

Toolmaker

What ever you do, don't buy a Smithy. Then again, you could buy my Smithy and I could get something else.

Toolmaker,

The lathe is an old turn of the century or so belt drive bench top lathe. The lathe itself has some numbers but no name on it that I can find. The 3 jaw chuck is a Cushman with a most recent patent date of 1904. The chuck is really just a little too small to use, as the bore is smaller than 7/8" so it is a pain to make the dies with but there is a stubborn/nostalgic streak in me that wants to do it anyway, I have bigger and newer machines I can use but that is not the point either.

The heavier the lathe the less it vibrates, but you have to get it off the truck and in place without
damage. Many big lathes are wired for three phase power. converters are another bother.
The import machines are lighter, the new ones have a large hole through the spindle.
The problem with many is that they wont run slow enough. Threading a barrel at 10/ in with a speed
of 100 rpm gives you six seconds to engage, turn, and disengage the halfnut.
There are several sites for hobby machines check these out.
Good Luck!

Converting my lathe from 440 V 3 phase to 220 V single phase was not a big deal. I just swapped some winding taps around on the motor and ran the cable over to the $100 static phase converter that is bolted to the side of my vertical mill.

But...the guy I hired for $50 [Eric The Madman} with the flatbed truck slid my 1200 pound lathe down planks onto my driveway in the rain

The professionals wanted $450 to haul it 20 miles, but they come with a fork lift on the back of the truck.

When I bought that lathe at auction in the industrial section of Seattle, I had no idea of how I was going to get it home.
Then this big guy standing around at the auction named Eric comes up to me and says, "I can help you get it home."

I don't know how, but it all worked.

Mark, I know the feeling - I learned on a 40's vintage South bend 40" with a leather belt drive. And Clark, don't you know ya use fork lifts to move lathes - I learned this the hard way

Toolmaker

The best deals I have come acroos on large lathes are at farm auctions. The problem still comes if you have to ship it.