Model Boat Mayhem
Technical, Techniques, Hints, and Tips => Engineering Techniques and Materials. => Topic started by: spike on August 18, 2015, 06:16:19 pm
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hi has anyone got one of those mini lathes on ebay they are a bit like unimat 4 in one I only want something cheap to make small things out of wood and plastic and only have a small room and not much money any help would be helpful.
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http://www.banggood.com/6-In-1-Multi-Metal-Mini-Wood-Lathe-Motorized-Jig-saw-Grinder-Driller-p-934309.html
If this is the one you mean then yes I have one.
Not bad for the money and the precision is so-so
works fine for cutting & turning soft wood and plastics but not so good on ally or brass.
The biggest annoyance is the time it takes to convert from one tool to the next
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yea I've got the unimat all in one. as above it good on soft stuff, i have done brass but heated it first and only turned it a bit at a time but it did the job. but does move a bit if you put pressure on the bit you are turning. still great tool to learn with but not a what a proper lathe :).
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If you have a second hand tool shop near you then it is worth seeing what they have from time to time.
I would suggest you look on Ebay or a simiar site, but the chances are you will have to collect.
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There an awful lot of plastic in the 4in1 perhaps a bit too much. I'm with ballastanksian, try the local second hand places and the weekly inkies for classifieds. There are some half decent all metal lathes out there at reasonable cost. Don't forget that a good lathe won't depreciate in price.
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Just make sure there is not too much play in the slides and bearings. Some of this can be reduced by adjusting the packing in the slides ut the bearings may be more problematic to resolve especially with the very old lathes. My EW has a wee bit of bearing play, but it has not caused any problems and I oil the bearings every time I use it.
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I would look at Taig/ Peatol and some of the Chinese mini/micro lathes.
They can be purchased for not too much money, and tend to be about the size of a sewing machine.
Sturdy enough for light metal working too.
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Re Chinese built machine tools. If built with cast bodies, replace the oil in any of these if the reservoir is within as I have heard there might be casting sand traces left inside that can cause premature wear and tear of the mechaism. Other than that they are good source of new tools.