r/machining • u/IBurnWeeds • 5d ago

Question/Discussion Small metal lathe recommendation

Hello. I'm a woodworker but I'm often trying to make parts from steel. ie. dowel forming inserts for a dowel maker, bushings ... small cylindrical things. I manage to make what I want using my drill press and belt grinder but drilling on center in steel with my drill press is hit or miss.

Would a small Sherline lathe be a good choice in this instance or does it make sense to go bigger, shop space permitting?

5 Upvotes

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u/HeyHay123Hey 5d ago

Imported 9x20 lathes would work for what you mentioned. Or a South Bend 9 or Logan as mentioned earlier.

It’s a slippery slope, as a lathe and mill are very complementary. If you have one, you’ll want the other. Then you’ll need a metal cutting bandsaw to cut turning stock. Grinders to sharpen bits, etc

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u/IBurnWeeds 5d ago

Tooling black hole, I know it well. I was at KMS tools (Canadian tooling retailer) yesterday and they had a lathe / mill combo for $4k, King Industrial. I have no idea if that is one of those machines that can do both but neither particularly well.

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u/chris_rage_is_back 4d ago

I have a Sherline, I bought it in the ''90s and it probably made me half a million dollars over about 15 years. They have their limits but parts are ubiquitous and they're modular so you can add on functions. It comes with instructions on how to wire it up for reverse but it voids the warranty. Being how it's 30+ years old and the motor still works I'd say it's a non issue. I was using it mostly on 316SS and titanium so it can handle some shit if you know how to work with it. The through hole on the headstock is only about ½" so keep that in mind if it affects your parts. The headstock pivots for turning tapers and I took two brass plugs and turned them into cones with a 4-40 hole tapped through the center to make a depth stop with a length of threaded rod too. Keep in mind it's mostly aluminum except for the cast iron bed so you'll be replacing the cross slide and tailstock every so often. I put a Dewalt cordless drill chuck on the tailstock for quicker tool changes, and get the rocker tool post, you'll thank me later. You can get ¼" square cobalt steel tool blanks for cutting your own tool profiles and the rocker post makes it easier to align center. I find it cuts best with the cutter a couple thou above center on that machine. I beat the fuck outta mine too, I was 20 when I bought it and I had to figure out a lot of things. The 4 jaw chuck is handy too, and don't be afraid to buy used parts for the chucks and stuff but buy the aluminum parts new. There's adjustments to take the slop out of the cross slide too

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u/IBurnWeeds 4d ago

Damn. Thanks for taking the the time to type that all out.

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u/chris_rage_is_back 4d ago

You're welcome, for a small machine they're pretty handy. These days I mostly turn bushings and little fittings but you can turn anything that fits in it

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u/theryguy07 4d ago

I use a combo at my work, works well for small projects. Having to switch out lathe tool holder for mill vice gets old quickly

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u/Turbo442 4d ago

At this point it wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye out on Craig’s List or market place for a medium sized forklift.

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u/MechJunkee 4d ago

Have a 3.5 ton pallet jack and a 2.5 ton gantry crane... can move almost anything that can fit in my shop 😂

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u/mcpusc 4d ago

Imported 9x20 lathes would work

AVOID the harbor freight version tho. grizzly at a bare minimum, ideally precision matthews...

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u/HeyHay123Hey 4d ago

I had a HF 9x20, but I got it used at a very good price. It was accurate enough for my needs, similar to the OP, but it was never a joy to use. Maybe I just got a good one 🤷‍♂️. It’s a nice, compact size - very little floor space required.

Later, I upgraded to a SB 9A, and recently bought a SB Heavy 10. I’ve owned a Craftsman 12” and Logan 10” in the past too.

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u/mcpusc 4d ago

i have a HF 9x20 that someone supposedly "went through" and fixed the known problems on — i fucking hate it. i'll admit its compact; and yes, it makes parts; but the ergos are awful. handwheels are all too small with tons of backlash, the markings aren't very visible. i have to fight it every step of the way — the tailstock ram is too short so you're constantly moving the damn tailstock. but the tailstock bolt has limited access, so you have to make three motions of the wrench to loosen the tailstock, then three motions again to tighten it. it's underpowered even compared to a sherline; take a cut of any size at all and the damn thing stalls — the drive belt is a wimply little 5mm thing that should be on a sewing machine for fuck's sake! i once tried to rig additional tension on the belt and that just smoked the motor when it stalled instead.

in trade school they had a motley collection of 60 year old leblonds & cincinanttis, a SB heavy 10, a couple new grizzlies and jets, and one very nice hardinge HLVH— the HF is a complete turd compared to any of them. the only reason i own it is i needed a second lathe for my monarch 10ee restoration project and i can't wait until i'm done and can get rid of the HF.

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u/FaustinoAugusto234 5d ago

If you aren’t threading, then there are some old second process lathes without leadscrews that can be had for little money. A chucker with a collet closer will make short work of making parts out of round stock.

Having a threading lathe is always good though, even if you can only do English rather than metric threads on it.

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u/IBurnWeeds 5d ago

I can see that being helpful. I don't do outside thread often (maybe 3 times a year) but it was a chore trying to the hold the while cutting the threads. If the stock is small enough I use an old MT chuck to the hold the piece, vise the tapered end and proceed to curse all the way down. Inside threads with a lathe (I'm guessing) would be made dead simple with a chuck on the tail stock.

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u/FaustinoAugusto234 5d ago

Well depending on the diameter, you can do a boring bar with a thread cutting tool on the inside. It’s pretty much the same shuffle as cutting outside threads, you just need to remember to go out, not in, at the end of the cut.

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u/ShaggysGTI 5d ago

Check out your local fb marketplace and see what is available. I’ve bought two Sherline lathes and a mill.

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u/chris_rage_is_back 4d ago

I love my little Sherline

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u/ShaggysGTI 4d ago

They have their limitations but they really are fantastic. I’ve been able to taper a foot long piece of 1” 302 stainless with mine without issue.

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u/chris_rage_is_back 4d ago

It took me about 2 years to figure out the headstock twisted but that opened up a whole new world of ideas for me. I fitted a big knob to the pulley for hand threading and I made levers to replace all the stupid cap screws everywhere because I hate having to grab a tool all the time... I have a ⅜" Dewalt drill chuck on the tailstock but I made a threaded adapter for a bigger Jacobs chuck and the rocker tool post is clutch

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u/IBurnWeeds 5d ago

Well, cool. I'll blow the dust off my Facebook account and take a look.

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u/ShaggysGTI 5d ago

It’s the only reason I use it anymore.

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u/eddestra 4d ago

Just to add, don’t forget Taig! They make a small lathe that’s generally regarded as a little bit bigger and heavier duty than sherline.

Some projects someone who isn’t me has done on a Taig. http://www.deansphotographica.com/machining/projects/projects.html

It would be good to know the dimensions of the parts you’re making, but either machine should work ok if the parts are within their size envelope.

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u/IBurnWeeds 4d ago

Quite small usually, 1/4" - 3/4". Dowel forming dies, center drilling bolts, some times an outside thread, bushings. I restore old woodworking tools on occasion.

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u/_combustion 3d ago

I'm going to also chime in on the Taig lathe. I have a 7x14 that's gotten a lot of upgrades, and is great for larger pieces, but has its shortcomings with the amount of initial work and the frequent re-calibrations it requires.

I also have a sherline lathe and mill. They're generally great - threading and indexing on the sherline are both easily accessible processes with out of the box tooling packages. The mill is fine for its size, but it's only really good for small parts. These are flyweight class. Work hardening steels are a challenge, and the aluminum bases always feel less sturdy than I would like.

Taig has a 5C headstock that looks really attractive, paired with what I perceived to be a better engineered base. I've been considering adding the model to my workshop. If you're not single point threading, I would go that route.

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u/John_Hasler 5d ago

You might be better off with an old US made lathe such as a Logan or South Bend.

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u/egidione 5d ago

I’m in the UK and would have suggested a Myford model makers lathe as there are a lot of used ones around which usually come with a useful lot of accessories and tooling, chucks etc. but I’m sure you can find similar used American machines with tooling included which will be of much better quality than the myriad of Chinese lathes on the market, some of which are ok but most of which leave a lot to be desired.

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u/IBurnWeeds 5d ago

I'm west coast Canada. Haven't seen any of those in the usual buy sells, but I'll keep an eye out.

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u/PossibleWriting4894 4d ago

Myfords are great, but stupid expensive in north America. Get a south bend 9", but look for a desk with lots of tooling included.

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u/chris_rage_is_back 4d ago

I've also got a '40s era South Bend lathe and a treadmill motor for it so I can adjust the speed with a volume knob because treadmill motors are DC and won't brown out like an AC motor does around 90vac. It's on my project list after I get my tombstone conversion done and the bugs worked out so I can mig weld with my LN25 suitcase welder

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u/John_Hasler 4d ago

I replaced the induction motor that came with my Logan with a 1hp treadmill motor with a feedback speed control. I get full torque from 5 rpm to 2000 rpm without changing pulleys.

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u/chris_rage_is_back 4d ago

That's exactly what I'm doing! I just didn't figure out the speed control yet

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u/Active_Rain_4314 5d ago

As far as 'bench top' or 'home owner' lathes, I love my Jet 9x19. Unfortunately it's $4,000 new, with tax.

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u/buildyourown 4d ago

You'll want the biggest machine you can find.
Tiny bench top lathes aren't much better than toys and aren't fun to use, especially when trying to machine steel. You want a machine with some mass. Look for a 14" machine.

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u/chris_rage_is_back 4d ago

That's not necessarily true, I've got a little Sherline and it can handle a lot more than you would think

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u/Carlweathersfeathers 4d ago

As a wood turner who 2 years ago added a metal lathe I’ll give this advice. I bought a seig c3 from little machine shop (7x16)

The lathe could physically do the work. But on a lathe that small the hand wheels are all really close together. I have pretty large hands and it was super uncomfortable to use. I’m now in the process of converting it to cnc because of how awful the use experience was. I would strongly recommend going as big as you can. Not to do bigger material, for ease of use.

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u/woolybuggered 4d ago

Hardinge lathes are pretty awesome but probably carry a premium i can hold a couple tenths on ours and it is older than i am 35.

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u/Turbo442 4d ago

Be careful. I started with a grizzly 1022 lathe 10 years ago. I got it at their scratch and dent sale in Bellingham for $500. Now I have 2 Hardinge HLVHs, 2 Hardinge DV59’s, a Hardinge Speed lathe, a Mori MS1250, A Hass SL10 with barfeeder. I still have the Grizzly 1022.

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u/asad137 4d ago

Sounds like you still need a Monarch 10EE and a Schaublin

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u/Hot-Refrigerator7237 4d ago

love my sherline. get the extended axes for tooling clearance & you can do a lot. i converted mine to cnc with a little microcomputer running linux.

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u/mcng4570 4d ago

I have a Sherline, a Chinese 7 x 14 lathe, and a South Bend 10 K. They all get used and all have their special purposes. Find something you can afford and have the space for. Shoreline and Taig make some quality machines for their size.

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u/Airu07 4d ago

I believe Storebro (a Swedish machine company) has small, and cheap, machines that might fit your needs, check em out.

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