[balsaman]

I got a new HF 8x12...stay tuned for the review!

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44859

[Stevie]

are you going to CNC it

[DDM]

Even if you arn't going to CNC it's still a nice little lathe. We've got a couple of jet ones at school and they seem to be pretty nice little machines. Plus its half the cost of what we got. Let us know the low down on the machine, I'd like to get a small lathe in the next year or so.

Carl

[balsaman]

Originally posted by Stevie
are you going to CNC it

I hope so. Not right away. I have a lot to learn first.

Eric

[Stevie]

I'll always help if I can

[balsaman]

I am waiting for some tooling so I can see if this thing can cut anything...Maybe Monday.

Eric

[DLMACHINE]

I have that same machine. After some adjusting when I got it, it now runs nice. Mine is currently mounted to the bed of my bridgport and the spindle is hooked to the toolpost.POOF-- instant cnc lathe attachment.

[balsaman]

Made a few quick cuts last night. Seems to do a decent job...

Eric

[IJ.]

DL: Pics please??

[DLMACHINE]

sorry about the picture quality:rainfro:
Working on getting some short video of it working, it's super smooth.

[IJ.]

DL: Thanks can't wait to see the vid of it working !

[balsaman]

Where is the apron?

Here is the review: http://www.cnczone.com/modules.php?s...ticle&artid=18

[acondit]

Eric,

You have had the 8x12 for awhile now. What do you think about the way it cuts?

I want to do a small lathe cnc conversion and I am trying to evaluate some of the small lathes but not getting much response on my thread. <http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14034> So I would like to hear about the 8x12. Have you thought anymore about cnc'ing it? What are the positives? What are the negatives?

I am real interested in the HF 8x12 (44859) and the Lathemaster 8x14. Since they are quite similar (identical??) and the 8x12 is about 300 to 400 dollars cheaper (when you consider freight), I would love to find someone that has actually had hands on experience with them both but I suppose that is not likely. Would you recommend the HF 8x12 over the Lathemaster 8x14? Any reasons other than cost?

Thanks,
Alan

[skmetal7]

bump

i am also interested in the 8x12 HF lathe. I pm'd balsaman but he hasn't got back to me yet. The lathemaster looks nice (the higher price is probably the higher quality and included accessories) but little out of my price range, so ill probably go with the HF. I plan on putting a nice DC motor in it and a speed controller.

i haven't found too much info on this lathe, so it would be nice to hear some experiences

[balsaman]

It's working great here. It's a little lighter than I would like but that's just because it's smallish. I would like a 10x20 lathe with a gearbox. As is it's way heavier than the mini lathe. No complaints really for what it is.

Eric

[fignoggle]

hi all-

balsaman posted one of the original reviews on the 8x12. his review was one of the ones i read before purchasing mine.

i've put on lots of pictures of the harbor freight 8"x12" lathe #44859 and am working on a cnc conversion of it. so far, a phase 2 qctp has been installed.

you can find out more about it here:

http://www.fignoggle.com/themachine/hf8x12/index.htm

[sanddrag]

Finally took a good pic of mine and got the stand built up the way I wanted it. I've been quite pleased with it. The only thing I've noticed is that holes I drill come out maybe .010 bigger than the drill and I can't figure out why. Dead centers match up point to point perfectly. Anyway, it is powerful and it cuts nice. Here's the pic

[skmetal7]

I like that stand, but the legs seem a little wobbly/thin.

when you tighten down your tailstock, do u notice if it rotates about the axis of the nut at all? when i tighten mine, i hold/pull the drill chuck towards me and tighten with the wrench. oh and i found out that the original chuck has way too much runout, so i got a Bison from Enco.com.

[sanddrag]

Haven't noticed the tailstock twisting when tightening, but I haven't really looked for it. Definitely an interesting thought. I'll keep an eye out for it next time. The lathe chuck and tailstock chuch seem great to me.

While the stand looks wobbly/thin, it is actually rock solid. It is made from lightweight 1/8" thickness aluminum C channel bolted together (networking racks I got for free). I put in the proper diagonal bracing, and it's great now. Even made myself a pull out chip tray underneath.