Hamma Slamma Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Professional gunsmiths, what are your thoughts on this lathe for gunsmithing? http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-x-10-inch-precision-mini-lathe-93212.html What features should a good gunsmithing lathe posess? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 Hmmm seems the through chuck capacity may be a problem for rifle barrels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Hello: Get a lathe with a big hole through the headstock. Grizzly make some that look pretty good but I have not tried one yet. I am not a gunsmith just a Tool and Die maker in a past life Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Those lathes are pretty worthless for much of anything. The SMALLEST lathe you want for gunsmithing is a 12 x 36. A 14 X 40 would be even better. If you are doing pistol only you might get by with a 10 X 24, but you would soon be wishing for something bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 Damn, big difference in cost. In one of the American Gunsmithing Institute DVD's they are talking about "all you need is a $250 lathe from habor freight". While probably dated, no lathe is $250 anymore, it got me thinking. $4k for a lathe is just too far out of my budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 You could maybe do some pistol barrel work on that... but it would be painful and without a whole lot of effort, the end product wouldn't be as nice as could be whipped out on a larger lathe with a lot less effort. For amateur pistol work, a 9x is about as small as you want to go, and as the previous posters said, 12x / 14x /16x sizes are where you end up if you get at all serious about it. I have one of the Grizzly 12x36 gunsmith lathes and it's pretty nice for the price point, but not near as nice as the good 14" at my local pro gunsmith's shop or the 10EE another friend won't sell me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunCat Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 FWIW: 3-4 years ago I sold off an old Atlas/Craftsman 10 x 24 for not much more the price of that Harbor Freight model. Its 3/4” spindle bore limited what I could with barrels, but it would still handle jobs that little HF machine can't even think of. Call up every machine shop or related business in your area and ask if they have any manual lathes in the size your are looking at. CNC machines have made manual machine much less desirable in production settings, the price may surprise you. I happened upon a very nice 11 x 32 Summit for less the price of the Grizzly Gunsmith lathe - and the owner delivered it to my shop as part of the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowrider Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Toolguy speaks the truth. While you can get by with the miniature mills and lathes, there's a lot to be said for being able to take more than a .015" depth of cut. You will be far happier with something that won't chatter if you even look at it. This is coming from someone who has ran lathes from toolroom size all the way up to hollow spindles with 300mm through holes (yes that's through the spindle). I will admit though, I have been tempted just to be able to cut something when I need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 Thanks guys fo the info. I really like Guncat's advice about calling local shops. One is bound to have something laying around collecting dust. I definetly don't want to make the wrong purchase and a month later be looking for an upgrade. It did seem too good to be true when AGI was saying you could buy a $250 lathe. I've got some (not much) lathe experience and was thinking WTF lathe can I pick up for $250. Saw the lathes at harbor freight (as AGI suggested) and still wasn't convinced. But now that I have some specs to go on, at least now I know what to look for. Thanks guys and any other advice is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Do you plan on doing a lot of lathe work? What type of things do you want to do and how many do you plan on doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 (edited) Scott, right now I have been doing some basic gunsmithing, nothing requiring machinery like a lathe or bridgeport. However I'd like to have a lathe to be able to do some barrel threading, crowning, etc... I also had a plan to turn down a stainless barrel to remove some weight for a 3gun AR build. Do I intend to do alot? Heck, that'd be nice. I began getting serious about getting a FFL, I would have ahd it already but due to zoning I need a commercial location for the license address. I am also planning on purchasing the AGI practical gunsmithing course next week. Edited September 5, 2011 by Hamma Slamma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Unless you have a lot of spare cash, I would try to find someone local that might let you watch while they do the work. I wouldn't want to turn a barrel down or do threading without a good lathe, DRO, and good tooling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powder Finger Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Google 'used lathes' you live in the middle of the used american machine equipment universe. a bunch of Logan, Southbend's etc... around there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 Scott, spare cash is an oxy-moron these days. I could go without turning down the barrel but would like to do some muzzle threading work. Yes powder, I am constantly watching ebay and craigs list. Alot is over priced for what you get but there is the occasional deal that gets snatched up rather quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Craig's List? The catch though is that a lot of lathes on Craig's List tend to take 3 phase power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 Craig's List? The catch though is that a lot of lathes on Craig's List tend to take 3 phase power. http://chicago.craigslist.org/search/?areaID=11&subAreaID=&query=metal+lathe&catAbb=sss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z40acp Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Don't pass up that 3 phase lathe if you can get it for a good price. You can buy a 1 hp AC freq. drive for $133 plus shipping from Automation Direct. Put single phase in, get three phase out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfred Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 That was a really nice lathe = http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-x-10-inch-precision-mini-lathe-93212.html?hftref=cj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Craig's List? The catch though is that a lot of lathes on Craig's List tend to take 3 phase power. http://chicago.craigslist.org/search/?areaID=11&subAreaID=&query=metal+lathe&catAbb=sss the other thing you can do instead of just punching in "metal lathe" in the search window is type in specific manufacturers's names like Southbend, Atlas, Powermatic, etc. I do that all the time with woodworking equipment (Rockwell, Delta, Milwaukee, Powermatic, Crescent, Yates, etc.), and with welders and plasma cutters (Lincoln, Miller, Hobart, Esab). Or if you want something more specific, you can always type in stuff like "CNC" or "DRO". At one point, I was thinking I could get a CNC lathe for cheap and start cranking out .416 or .408 bullets out of solid bronze or brass round stock. I think locally there was something like a 10 year Okuzuna (some oriental/Asian sounding name) CNC lathe available. However, little did I know that having an automatic bar feeder was key also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_Seehawer Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 You could also have the motor re-wound for single phase instead of 3 phase. Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Hello: I would ask around some of the machine shops in your area to see if they would rent some time on there machines using your tooling. My dad used to do that with some old friends he had and most times it only cost the guys lunch. Having a good lathe is a joy but having a crappy lathe is no fun at all. Good machines cost money but the skill to run them costs more. Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 I'm going to take a look at this one Thursday... http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/tls/2574366108.html I think single phase is a must so I don't have to mess with anything and can just literally plug it into my existing grid. Aircooled, I think that's a great idea but having old friends will come a long way. I worked tool and die for about a year and have very little friends left in that industry. Hell I have very little freinds period. But my tool and die "Career" was about 15 years ago. I have one "friend" who still works as a mold maker but he works for a big corp and no way I am renting any time. My next door neighbor says he runs a machine shop out of his basement but I can't even get the guy to say hello. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Even though I only have 1-phase, I prefer 3-phase machines. With a ~$100 VFD you have infinite speed control, braking and other cool features. They're not quite plug-n-play, but not too bad to get going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamma Slamma Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 I'll speak to an electrician friend of mine and see how easy it'd be to get phase 3 in mi casa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 I'll speak to an electrician friend of mine and see how easy it'd be to get phase 3 in mi casa. Unless you live in a converted warehouse, getting real 3-phase in will be $$$. There are a variety of 1P-to-3P converters from static to rotary to VFD that work for all but the big motors, at varying cost levels. IMO a VFD feeding off household one-phase is the way to go for home machines-- they're pretty cheap and have speed and direction control the others don't. For lathes & mills, infinitely-variable speed is very nice to have to avoid a lot of faffing around with belts, gears and pulleys. They have some that even convert 110v to 220v 3P, but they're limited to 1HP or less. The ones that convert 220 to 220 3P can run bigger motors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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