captinjohn,

Remember that a lathe is also a horizontal milling machine. An end mill can be clamped in the lathe chuck or collet. If the piece part can be clamped to the lathe cross-slide, some limited milling, slotting, and sawing can be done, but it is no substitute for a vertical milling machine.

Bruce

This would by my last choice. Look at the details on it, there is no power feed, which means you can't turn threads on it. The feeds are very limited greatly reducing work area. Imagine trying to set up your engine on top of a table the size of a deck of playing cards and doing any real work on it. I looked long and hard at these before I bought my first lathe and decided they were just not worth the price. Enco, and I'm sure some of the other suppliers, has one that allows threading but the other limitations are still there, and it is $850. The tooling you get with the 9x20 far exceeds what you get with either of the 3 in 1 machines.


Agreeded on the extra uses. It did get you thinking though didn't it. The X-Y drill table is a really nice thing to have. It can really improve accuracy and speed on some jobs.

You are on the right track looking at jobs and how you may do them. How are you going to set them up, how much room do you need to cover the task for that setup. Can you turn it, slide it, how are you going to machine it. When you work through a task in your head, it really gives you an edge when cutting and in your case of deciding what to cut with. About any one or two machines you end up with are going to be compromises. I would love to have a second band saw that I could wet cut with, a shapper, a bigger mill, even a "real" shop. I make due with what I have though.

Keep the search going.

Don

With a 3-in-1 tool, you end up with something that does everything but does nothing very well. Unless all you got is a tiny work space that won't take 2 bench tools, keep the mill & lathe separate. Yes, sooner or later you will want a mill too... and a metal bandsaw... and a tool grinder... and a boat load of lathe/mill tooling. What you pay for the lathe machine itself right now is just a small part of what you'd end up spending (t's just like RC airplanes, isn't it?) - so keep that in mind when you compare prices and think about how much to spend.

I wouldn't recommend a cross slide on a drill press for milling. It'll be like suffering with a jigsaw on jobs that're better suited for a tablesaw. Get the right tool for the right job.

By and large, any of these 7x 8x and 9x will do most everything RC engine wise you'd want to machine. Going larger, though, is never a bad idea.

Making a post to get the post time back in chronological order. Suddenly we were going back to the future?

I kinda did wonder how a person could make that Lathe/Mill combo work. I looked at one at HF and all I can say myself about it is ...it looks sturdy...you may get more cast iron for your money.....but how and the world can you make it work good.[:'(] Looks like you cannot!!! But I had to get a opinion anyway. I am getting this stuff sorted out though. Thanks Capt,n

If anyone has any photos of Lathe set-ups to post....post them here. Please. Capt,n

[link=http://bedair.org/9x20.html]HERE[/link] is a good link for 9x20's. I believe that the 8x12's do not have a guick change for the apron feed. All feed changes are by changing gear sets.

Steve

[link=http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_lathe/Versions/Versions_harbor_freight.htm#HF8x12]HERE[/link] for the 8x12.

Steve

This is my setup, Enco 9x20. The quick change tool post was about $90. The mill is an old HF. The assesories came pretty close to what I paid for both pieces. A friend has a Grizzly 3-n-1 and told me ahead of time to not go that route. Better to get a tool maid for the task. Glad I did.
Edwin

Check out this URL: http://www.thewarfields.com/MTGreatHomeShops.htm Some very nice looking "home" workshops.

I am hoping to have a good size shop build this winter on my backyard. My tools are crammed in the garage and don't make a pretty picture.
My lathe is taken apart right now for a 3phase motor and VFD retrofit project. You know, you buy the tools to make parts, but invariably you end up buying more tools to fix the tools. It's a disease, I say.

I found a photo of a nice looking Lathe made/sold in CANADA doing a search but was unable to get any way of contacting the company. Can anyone shed some lite on Lathes from Canada? The price looked good because of money excange. Thanks Capt,n UPDATE....HERE IS A PHOTO...I THINK! It is a 7x20

I have the Jet lathe (9 by 25),, it look's just like the Grizzly in the link, look's the same as the Enco,, "look's",, the quality may be different,,

anyway, I bought my Jet new about 14 years ago for $1500, it was priced at $2000, it's a nice little lathe but no South Bend as I learned on,, my lathe was sold to me at a reduced price, I was told, 1) it was the last 9" Jet they had, and 2) all the new 9" Jet's were to be made in China (while mine was made in Taiwan), 3) there would be a quality drop in the new China made lathes,,

I have turned drill rod, but I would not do it too often with this lathe !! if you going to do mostly aluminum it will cut it like cheese,,

if your going to be turning many crank ends I would be looking for a larger lathe !! !! for sure !! !!

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G4000/images/3

http://www.use-enco.com/Machinery/110-0820.pdf

Jim

Not going to turn any cranks. May make a grinding attachment to redo a taper on a crankshaft. Shoud be possible. Thanks Capt,n

I believe many of the tools are sourced from the same Chinese factory but with different spec levels.

I bought mine from Grizzly, and Micro Mark.

After looking at the tools in a Harbor Freight show room and turning the lead screws a full turn
to induce table movement i opted to pay a bit more.

Grizzly stuff has a lot of metric lead screws, my english mind forced me to buy conversions.

I drove to Missouri to look at the equipment and tote it home. Stopped at Bass Pro Shop made a nice trip.

What ever you get get a good un, Good tools are a joy, the rest are a PITA.

Does that place in Misssouri have a web-site? Or toll free no? Thanks Capt,n

http://grizzly.com/index.aspx

Grizzly has huge parking lot sales events a couple of times a year. If only I live a bit closer, I would hook up a trailer and go hunt for bargains.

Captinjohn, about Canadian sources for lathes, the only one I read about was some alternate models Busy Bee imported. I think they are more or less just variants of similar Chinese made tools you'll find here in the US. http://www.busybeetools.com/ Not sure about saving any money though. The current exchange rate is about 0.9 to 1. That yellow lathes you showed looks just like the 8-1/2 x 18 Harborfreight used to sell. Again, it's probably just another Chinese lathe you can find somewhere else.

[link=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/9x20Lathe2/files/920%20Lathe%20Rebuild%20Manual/]HERE[/link] is the link to the 9x20 group files that include the repair manual and hopup manual.

Steve

You cannot view the files if you are not a Yahoo member. Doesn't cost anything though

Just sign up. All the Yahoo groups are free of cost, but burdened with agervation. Well worth it though for some groups.

There are a few other groups that a new commer should look into. Tons of very good info, even for an old machinest like my self. Always another way to do something, and new toys to consider. There are also for individual lathe types like th 9x20, but it is a good idea to look through the files areas as there are tidbits of info that applys to all types of machining and general setup.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jobshophomeshop/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taigtools/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Min_Int_Comb_Eng/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/miniature-machine-tools/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mwhints/ Note look also at mwhints2, 3 etc

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hintstips/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Geometer/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beginn...yguid=54329646

There are more but this will get you going. Also look at add on groups to the above, like the mwhints group.

MAKE SURE you look at the files and links areas as well as the photos areas. A lot of the meat is in those areas.

Don


Don

Here are a few more relevant groups FYI:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/7x12minilathe/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lathemaster/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mini-mill/

A quick search with "lathe" or "mill" will net you quite a few more.

Just a reminder that just about all of these machine tools are HEAVY. The smallest 7x lathes might be UPS deliverable, but everything else will arrive on big trucks in crates. If you don't have a commercial loading dock or forklift, you may have to pay extra for a truck with liftgate.

Once you get the crate off the truck, you will need ways to move it around and set it in position. I looked at it as a good excuse to buy a 2ton engine hoist.

I took the cheap way out when unloading mine, 4 buddies and a case of Budweiser

flipflop: Sounds like a good idea. Did you post a photo of a cylinder base being cut back on a lathe? Thanks Capt,n

Yep, that's my Ryobi getting souped up

Looks like a very nice Lathe....what size is it? ....UDDATE... I added a photo of a nice cross feed vise for milling if you have a drill press. It should work very good on soft metals like aluminum and brass...ect. Capt,n