Thread: Who owns a hobby lathe?

My lathe is an ancient half-ton mini-monster and quite worn, so probably not what you had in mind.

But this might be...

Clock Watch Jewellry Hobby Metal Work Mini Lathe (eBay item 330488753009 end time 04-Nov-10 12:30:44 AEDST) : Jewellery

Depending on what you define as 'hobby' , the 6x9" mini-lathes are actually pretty good.

My small hobby lathe is also half a ton of UK cast iron. 12" swing Colchester.

Originally Posted by PAT303

I'd like to get one but would like some advice from an owner before I take the plunge.The work I want it for is small,hence I only want a small lathe but it has to be accurate for the work I want to do so does anyone have one and do you recommend the one you have.Thanks in advance. Pat

Hi Pat.
We bought Lindsay a Hafco Metalmaster around 18months ago.Handles 330mm x 1100mm.We got the more expensive version with the foot brake,coolant pump and light.
Cost around $4500 including extra tooling that Lindsay wanted.
Its a great machine,Lindsay uses it most days.
They do smaller machines,google Hafco Machinery Wharehouse.If you are looking at ordering something from them,I will get the sales reps name Lindsay deals with.Great,helpfull and gave some pretty good discounts.They are in Belmont.
PS,Lindsays machine weighs almost 700kg,had to get a mini excavator in to lift it up onto its stand!!!!
Andrew

Depending on what you consider small, I have the second smallest Hafco, the AL50 and find it good for a lot of jobs. However, I find that I often have jobs that are just a little too big, although that would probably happen with most lathes. The other problem was the lathe was quite cheap, but I needed to spend a lot more to get started, not as bad as the milling machine I bought at the same time, but between the lathe and mill I spent the same amount on tools etc as the lathe itself. To get the next size up was a large jump in price too.

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Bench-Lathes

I see they don't have mine anymore, the AL50 used to come in two models, one with quick change gearbox and one without.

Jeff

Yeh thats what I'm after. Pat

Buy length. Sooner or later you are going to have a shaft or similar too long for your machine.Get a machine with a broad speed range. Maximum over 2000rpm to allow efficient use of tungsten carbide on small diameters, minimum preferably down to 40 or thereabouts so amateurs can screw cut nice and slow and wind the tool out before you run it into the chuck or the shoulder. Hopefully you can find one that does not need to change belt pulleys and/or gears to use the full range of speed and thread pitches.

I have been very happy with my Hafco - make sure you budget for tooling as well,

Cheers Charlie

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

minimum preferably down to 40 or thereabouts so amateurs can screw cut nice and slow and wind the tool out before you run it into the chuck or the shoulder.

Hey Brian,,
you must have a few stories(and pics??) about that type of incident,,

(apologies to Pat)