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Wanted: Bench Top Metal Lathe---Used

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URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=195868
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Topic: Wanted: Bench Top Metal Lathe---Used
Posted By: Rick
Subject: Wanted: Bench Top Metal Lathe---Used
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2023 at 7:43am
Would anyone on here have or know of someone that might have a good used bench top metal lathe for sale? It would need to be easy enough to mount on top of my work bench and then I can take it back off when finished with it. Don't want to spend lots on one, since I'll probably only use it once in a while to cut down the O.D. of brake material. Prefer in or around the Missouri area...thanks, Rick



Replies:
Posted By: desertjoe
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2023 at 8:22am
 Hey Rick,,It good to hear from you in such a LONG time,,,ClapClap
  What size "Swing" or OD of the material you're wanting to cut?
 I have a small tabletop ,A Craftsman 109 in great condition that I am going to sell. Not knowing what swing you need makes it hard to tell,,,?


Posted By: Rick
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2023 at 8:31am
Joe...Great to hear from you again! The material will only be 6" on the O.D., so a small swing there. How much does that thing weigh, Joe...I'm definitely not driving to New Mexico to pick it up, but would probably have you ship it, IF that's even an option for you? You have to package anything you ship as though it's going to a war zone, so...wonder how that being shipped through UPS would go? LOL! Oh...how much...better get that out of the way!  Smile



Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2023 at 8:51am
Rick, you normally dont MOVE a lathe on and off a table... The SMALLEST lathe you might use that could be moved would be a 7 inch China unit like this...




couple problems... One is HOW are you going to mount the brake shoe ?  These small lathes have a 3 or 4 inch chuck... so what can you GRAB to turn the shoe ?

Second problem is with a 6 inch shoe in a 7 inch lathe there is no room for the CARRIAGE / TABLE to run under the shoe... It would have to stay to the right and you would use a cutting tool to extend to the shoe face.

If yoy want the carriage to travel UNDER the shoe, then you need a 7 inch swing OVER the carriage, which would make the lathe about 10 inch.... and thats too big to carry around.


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Like them all, but love the "B"s.


Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2023 at 8:55am
Joes 109 lathe would be a good possibility and is very simple to operate... BUT, the same problems exist... Look at this and determine HOW are you going to mount the linings ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6snQq5s4bI" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6snQq5s4bI



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Like them all, but love the "B"s.


Posted By: Rick
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2023 at 9:06am
Steve...I'll mount the material onto the jaws of the chuck itself...just flip them around, if I have to and then snug them up...probably cut about 3 pieces at a time with a good, sharp cutter. It's how I've always done them...nice and simple! LOL! I thought about Harbor Freight and all, but...for all I'll probably ever use it will be for the material I have here now, so no use in spending too much on one. Of course, I can think of many things to use one on, too!


Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2023 at 9:18am
another option is to use a larger wood lathe.. turn a HEAD of wood that you can mount the shoes to it... Problem is how to CUT... dont know if shoes are too hard to cut by hand.. you might be able to make some "screw feed tool" to run across the face.

its cheaper, but limits use on other projects..




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Like them all, but love the "B"s.


Posted By: Rick
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2023 at 9:34am
I'm not cutting material and shoes....I'm only cutting the O.D. of some 6" material down to 5 1/2" on the O.D....nothing more serious like what you're thinking...Smile  I might be better off by taking the material to someone else and let them cut them down a few pieces at a time, but this material I have here has already cost me 25.00 for EACH piece, but might still be cheaper to have the material cut down by someone else, than to buy a lathe for a one time thing! LOL! I've done this many times in my life, so thought I might do it myself, so any other party might not ruin all of what I have in it now!  LOL!


Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2023 at 5:23pm
Originally posted by steve(ill) steve(ill) wrote:

Rick, you normally dont MOVE a lathe on and off a table... The SMALLEST lathe you might use that could be moved would be a 7 inch China unit like this...




couple problems... One is HOW are you going to mount the brake shoe ?  These small lathes have a 3 or 4 inch chuck... so what can you GRAB to turn the shoe ?

Second problem is with a 6 inch shoe in a 7 inch lathe there is no room for the CARRIAGE / TABLE to run under the shoe... It would have to stay to the right and you would use a cutting tool to extend to the shoe face.

If yoy want the carriage to travel UNDER the shoe, then you need a 7 inch swing OVER the carriage, which would make the lathe about 10 inch.... and thats too big to carry around.

You could always weld up a jig to hold the item in the chuck.  Now onto the HF lathe.  I have one, bought it brand new outta the box, atta auction.  Anybody wanna guess what I paid fer it?

Anyway, I've never tried to cut threads, or nuthin fancy, mainly use it to cut bushings, occasionally shaft repair, mainly inventioneering home-made stuff.  Problems: take alla that safety sh!t offa it, just gets in da way. Secondly, 1/4" tooling cuts too low, 5/16" tooling cuts too high, so I use 1/4" and add some busted hacksaw blades, under the bit, to get to center.  Also has 2 switches, on/off, and variable speed, you gotta set the VS switch back to zero, then turn on/off to on, then bring the speed back up. PITA, but you get used to it, specially when you find out what I paid for this thing!Wink


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Posted By: Rick
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2023 at 6:55am
Dave...I figure why make a jig when I already have the chuck that would do the same exact thing, which is hold it, so I can turn the material down? Smile  A 1/4" cutter will do it for me and I can cut one piece at a time, because...now that I'm retired I have plenty time to kill and I've already had the pleasure of taking over all the wife's jobs around the house, too, now, so...if you want to send me a private message we can discuss things a tad further and go from there. I could use that thing for many other little things as well, since I can run about anything machine wise. Thanks, Dave...Rick


Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2023 at 10:17pm
My little lathe swings 13" x 40"... but putting it on a benchtop isn't gonna happen...

The Monarch 10EE weighs about 3300lbs...

If you can lift it by hand... it won't be cutting much, but...
If you know exactly what you'll be doing with it, do this:

Get a common front-wheel drive vehicle hub, remove the studs, mount a chuck.
Mount it to a plate with feet, that you can place on your workbench.
Mount a motor on it, that will belt-drive the hub (chuck).

Mount a block of steel or wood that will support your cutting tool.

Instead of using a fixed cutting tool, mount a support clamp that will hold an inexpensive (Horror Fright) die grinder, fitted with either a rotary rasp, or an abrasive wheel or burr. 

Doing this, removes the physical cutting reaction load significantly, and gives you the light loading that allows a small, lightweight framework to do a clean cut. With it being oriented in a vertical position, lots of the mechanical issues go away. and if you're not cutting brake linings, you can spin pottery...


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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.



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