Lathe/milling machine Inputs

[John S]

Jim,
The only material that I have worked with so far is aluminum, brass and UHMW. I primarily bought my machine to machine gun parts and have made 8 AR-15 lower assemblies so far as well as some brackets and mounts. Unfortunately The only things that I have pictures of are the AR-15 parts. Here is a link to a website that I have been getting a lot of info from as well as where I have bought some equipment. http://littlemachineshop.com/ in addition to the main site you can visit their information page here http://littlemachineshop.com/Info/links.php which has links to a lot of different user information.
Another great source of information for me was the forum at cncgunsmithing.com. Here is a link to their machine shop forum http://www.cncguns.com/forum/index.php?board=9.0
I should let you know that prior to purchasing my mini mill I had no machining experience but the information I got from online resources was enough to get me going and now I am very confident in my abilities to machine to tolerance.

The three main upgrades I performed on my machine was to replace the gear drive with a belt drive, this allows for smoother running and forgiveness should you take too large of a bite and lock the bit up. I replaced the torsion bar support with an air strut support which allowed for additional working height and smoothness. And the most costly addition (more then the mill) was to install a three axis DRO. The DRO is great for being able to get the precision I needed for machining the gun parts.

I believe that as long as you work within the size and power limitations of the machine there is nothing that you can not do with it. You may need to take smaller cuts but I do not see why you could not machine most metals including stainless steel. The largest bit that I have used is a 1/2" end mill and on aluminum I have taken up to .125" roughing cuts and the largest fly cutter I have used to date cut 2.5" with a perfect finish.

Another thing to keep in mind is that tooling is transferable. My mill uses standard R8 collets and everything else I have could easily be used on a larger machine.

[Garage Dog 65]

Thx very much for the honest info and all the links !!

Very much appreciated.

[mikespeed95]

Hey guys, just wanted to bump this thread. Looking for a lathe to make suspension parts, was trying to keep it under $1k. Been hunting craigslist but just haven't seen any deals that are spectacular enough for me to jump on. Just curious if yall'd have any advice, thanks!

[GregWeld]

Have you tried looking at Grizzly tool? They have lathes from mini (size of a sewing machine!) to big commercial models.

Not sure what you can get for a grand though... and tooling alone will cost that much... but worth a look.

[mikespeed95]

yeah, been hunting on CL didn't think thered be anything but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask

[JRouche]

I have alot of hobby type lathes and mills. And some other lathes and mills that are small but not hobby type. Like the bridgeport and monarch 10ee. Like the monarch, it doesnt have a very large working envelope, but it has tons of power and more importantly, its super accurate, one of the most accurate small lathes out there.

But it is limited on the length of a shaft that can be turned. Thats when I go to my southbend 10" lathe. And it was only 900 bucks. It has a 48" bed so I can put a 36" bar between centers. The extra length helps alot. And its a small lathe still. Easily moved by one person.

The 900 dollar southbend lathe gets most of the work. It has the power that a hobby lathe doesnt. I can take heavy cuts in all the steels. And it still holds to a decent .001" within a 12" length of cut. And for shorter pieces I can cut a parallel shaft to within .0005" with some careful adjustments.

Id hold my very old southbend lathe up to any of the new chinese lathes in a second. Oh, and it cuts threads that are spot on. In any material.

If you want to cut steel get a heavier lathe thats not a bench lathe. And yes, Id buy a chinese jet, birmingham or grizzly lathe before Id buy a bench top hobby lathe for car work.

But Id buy an old southbend before buying any of the chinese lathes. Only for the cost. Those three lathes are the same lathe, and they are good lathes. But it would be hard to find a decent one for under a 1000 bucks. You can get an old SB lathe for under a 1000 bucks. And if yer lucky, its all tooled up. 5C collet closer, taper attachment and the works.

If you want to cut steel, remove some metal from a three inch dia bar. Or cut some threads on the OD of a 2" bar then the bench lathes wont do it. The 900 dollar SB will make a bench lathe. The bench lathe cant make a SB 10" lathe. JR