[Jaime128]

I just got my new lathe and have been cleaning it and putting things together all day.
1. Found a bit of rust in a few of the screws
2. One of the wires that connects to the emergency switch was missing a connector. Didn't find it anywhere so I put one on my self. I thought it had just fallen off, but was never put in. It turns on fine and works now.
3. Edges are a bit sharp just like the mill, so I will be getting some fine sand paper and lightly get those off.
4. Don't be fooled, not all the gears are metal. In fact, maybe just a couple of them are and the rest are all still plastic. I wonder if they make the metal ones for these.
5. Controller board says taig.
6. Same machine like everyone one else. Quality control is non existing. And the price, now I'm wondering. For this much, I shouldn't have to be fixing it to use it. I thought that MM might be a little better from what I've been reading with the others. Looks very similar though aside from the lead screw that may be different.
7. Controller box would not fit square on the head stock. Had to play with that a bit.
8. One side of the box came opened. You get two boxes, the lathe and everything else is on the accessories box. Not sure what happened, but the plastic foam did it's job, nothing bent. The board the lathe was attached to seemed to have been banged up on the corner.
9. Gray color only. Although the color it's not perfect just like my new mill, I prefer the red and black. Will just change that someday after I use it. No biggie, but it's just my preference. I know it has nothing to do with it's function. I'll post whatever else comes up later.
10. Spindle speed numbers are hard to read no matter what

Note: If anyone is looking for a 7x14 mini lathe, there are some selling on ebay. They are a I think the first models, but still look pretty good and still new. So there's no speed indicator or handle on the tail stock, you can always changed that stuff I guess. Just trying to help out any newbies that may want to look into the longer mini lathes. Take a look there first. If you're in LA, the guy even lets you pick it up locally. Good thing if you don't want to wait.

[Jaime128]

Well, I just finished greasing up all the gears, sounds better and feels a bit smoother too.
What do you guys use on the chuck to see if the centers are centered? I'm guessing two centers, but I only have the one that came with the lathe. Any other ideas?

Also, how the heck are u supposed to tighten that apron screws under neat if the lead screw is on the way. If you tighten these before, you can't put that whole thing onto the bed because it's too tight...hmmm...well, at least my creativity is coming back...hehe

I just found out that the the gibs will need to be an L shape. If I tighten these when the apron is on, they are not flat. They move to an angle because the mating surface is not long enough. Great...I'll just leave this hand tight until I make some new ones I guess.

[Jaime128]

So now I need some cutting tools, do I go with presharpened or indexable?

[tauntdesigns]

Do you have a bench grinder?
If not, you may want to go with inserts.
Pre-sharpened (brazed carbide tipped) tools will get dull sooner or later. If you have a grinder you can touch up(re-sharpen) the tools or grind your own high speed steel tools.

I have all of the above lathe tools(HSS, brazed, and inserts). I also have a bench grinder with a white wheel for HSS and a green wheel for carbide.

Jack

[Jaime128]

Yes, I have a bench grinder on a nice stand now. That grinder has been moved so much I had to get a stand after so many years, I just couldn't find it on one spot. The grinder is from craftman and the date on it is 1957 I believe. Great little grinder. Okay, enough of the story...I was trying to figure out which way to go, but in the end they seem to cost about the same. I guess the question is, which one will be the least painful to have since I don't own anything right now.

Do the insert type get as dull as the ones you shape or do they last a bit longer from your experience? I also know it depends on how you treat them. I like to be careful with my stuff.

Oh yeah, first lesson to all newbies and why you should never reach over any of the machines. The dead center that came with this thing is SHARP! I was sitting in front of it, cleaning it, and tried to reach for the WD40 behind it. The scratch on the back of my right ring finger still hurts a bit. I got my first injury and I haven't even started, but lets all make this the last too.

[tauntdesigns]

Wow, That thing is older then I am.

Depends on who you talk to, some will say that you need to learn how to sharpen you own tools. That these small lathes don't run fast enough to require carbide. That HSS tools are all you need. Enough of that....

Starting out, you might get the brazed carbide tipped. It will cut most anything that the small lathe can handle and you'll get an idea of the shape of the tools if you ever wanted to sharpen your own.

That said, I mounted an carbide insert tool in the lathe last night and it cut beautifully. The tool I took out was a brazed carbide tool that I had used on some really hard stuff and didn't want to waste my inserts. When the brazed one got dull I just re-sharpened it and continued on.

*NOTE*
If you're new to the lathe, keep your hands clear of the turning object, don't grab at the stringy stuff coming from the spindle, keep all clothes tucked in and buttoned up, and never ( did I mention, NEVER) leave the chuck key in the chuck.
I say this because I have either seen or had done myself, these bad, BAD things.

Jack

[Jaime128]

I like the unbiased information. I will keep this in mind and of course I think eventually I'll end up trying all of them. Yeah, my dad had the grinder for ever, but it runs like it's new.
I'll probably stop by sears and get me a dial indicator. I forgotten how much work you have to put into getting the Chinese stuff to work. It's doable, but you really have to look at everything just to make sure that you cover everything.

I forgot to mention, my lathe came with the spring loaded key...man I dropped that thing more times than I can count. Yeah, it works alright. The deburring will take a long time. Just got them put together so newbies, it will take a day or two or three to get things set up, but do it right, and they should work beautifully. So far my lathe and mill turn on without any major problems, will see how they hold up.

[tauntdesigns]

Most of my stuff is Chinese also. They work well enough as long as you don't expect them to be a Bridgeport or Harniage (misspelled I sure).

I've got an X3 mill, a Lathemaster lathe, and a Lathemaster bandsaw, all of which come from china. All work well, small machines = small cuts

Have fun with your new toys,
Jack

[Jaime128]

Has anyone else experienced allergies or too must dust while cleaning the mini mills and lathes when you first get them? I feel like I've been sanding a lot and my nose is killing me. The only thing I have been doing is cleaning the lathe and well, now I think they might need to be hosed down with water and soap, not the electrical of course and then cleaned and lubed since they will be getting that treatment anyway. I haven't even blown any air on them or anything other than hand cleaning them with WD40, but I'm feeling lousy. I'm not even allergic to anything. I have sanded things before in my life so I know how that feels after a few days. Even with the mask on. Just wondering.

Okay, here are some pictures of my new lathe and my first mess. I'm uploading so I hope this works. I took a piece of broomstick and started turning. Most people blow air on the mess, I used a vacuum instead.

[Jaime128]

If you look at the cutters in the pictures, they are very small. I decided to just get a kit of cutters, but I was told that you need to "shim" these cutters. He was right, I placed them on the tool post that comes with the machine. I don't want to buy anything else right now, and found that the cutters are fairly small in terms of thickness. Sitting on the bare tool post, the cutter is actually sitting under the center line. Newbies, measure the post before buying the cutters, they work, but now I have to play with this in order to get them up higher. Also, I think the longest part of any of the cutter goes up, but I'll let the pros correct me on this one since I was just looking at pictures and well, just tried this one like that. There's nothing like the actual experience of learning by doing sometimes...

[tauntdesigns]

You can use your mill to make the correct size shim or just stack a bunch of smaller ones.

[Jaime128]

I will use the mill to make something like a tool holder, I just need to go the hardware store and find something to mill. I don't have any stock to play with other than my plate, but I'm sure I can dig something in the yard...hehe. Man, this is a weird feeling. I look at metal parts and think differently now...kind of like, hmmm...i wonder what can I make out of that...it's kind of like seeing the city from an airplane for the first time...it looks very different. I knew this, but the feeling is much better when you're really interested like I am now...I'm 35 now, what the hell was I thinking in my 20's??? No need to answer this question for me...hehe

[Jaime128]

Okay, I got lazy on the shims and just went old school. Used the grinder and the calliper to get them a bit thinner. The cutters are now on center. But I did find this little bit of information. I got some pictures here...

1. Look at the way I had first installed the cutters in the first picture...DON"T place them like this in your tool holder. When the cutter is on the low side of your tool post as in the first picture, you can move the cross slide all the way away from you and you can't reach the part.

2. Placing the cutter on the top side of the tool post like in picture 2 allowed me a bit more movement between the center of the chuck. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I also put in all four tools just to make use of the tool post and took out the so called guard, because it just gets in the way when I turn to a different cutter. Was just playing with the set-up so this may or may not change later.

3. The .5" keyboard thumb stick part I'm trying to make. Yup that thing is tiny. My .25" inch thick cutters seem to be too big now. They sure didn't when I first got them. So were do I get tinier cutters for the inside boring I need to do now. The first part is done, but now I need to figure out how to make another smaller hole, then a third for the screw with a slot. Yes, it's getting smaller and smaller, so It's a bit challenging now. Suggestions or any helpful comments are all welcomed. The tail chuck has been ordered to drilled the tiny hole later. YUP, gotta buy one more tool...okay, I ordered three tools total, but I won't say anything else, because spending on this stuff is just too embarrassing for me to admit now. Now I'm really going to be broke, so I need to come up with stuff to sell if I ever want to go out on any dates ever again.

4. I finally got some 600 sand paper and decided to debur all of the lathe. I thought I could do both the lathe and mill, but man, I spent most of the day working just on the mini lathe. WARNING: to newbies, these machines are pre-sharpened at the factory. All the edges were very sharp so I carefully and lightly sanded all of that and well, I took my time and a few things work much better after all this, so it was worth it. Just takes for ever if you want to do it right. The mill is next...I do like the machines better as I make the little improvements and add the tools that make it more useful. Last but not least, I finally put the pan and splash guard and well, the pan did have a tiny ding on the corner where it had been whacked by shipping. It's almost not noticeable, but I thought it had survived the whole trip without any problems. It's hardly noticeable so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

[Jaime128]

Okay I got my keyless MT2 chuck from grizzly yesterday. I looked at the others, but I just wanted a nice key less chuck, and this is the one I like better from the ones I looked at. Unfortunately it does have that flat end piece on the end of it, so if you have a 7 x 10 or smaller, this thing may fit, but it's not small and you will probably not have any room left. It's about the same size as the chuck the mini mill is shipped with, just to give you guys an idea.So it's a little big, at least it feels like it is. I have the longer 7 x 14 bed so I still get a bit of space and it does work with that tab on it. One of the guys I spoke with at grizzly said I may have to cut that tab off in order to make it work, but I found it works without having to cut it. I just turned it by hand, haven't drilled anything yet. If I ever need that little extra space I guess I can always cut it. It would be nicer if I could just change the shank, but I don't think I can unless someone else knows something I don't. It looks like a one piece, but I could be wrong. It comes packed in a bag with lube in it. It's also a bit on the expensive side so will see how it holds up.

Here's thechuck:
http://grizzly.com/products/1-2-x-MT...al-Shank/H8260

The bad side, UPS just left it at the door, which is okay, but I rather they didn't. I don't mind going to pick it up, so make sure you let grizzly know when you order anything.

[Jaime128]

Okay newbies...since this Micro-Marrk 7x14 mini lathe comes with one dead center and I don't have anything else, I decided to buy this 7 piece live center from lathemasters.
http://lathemaster.com/SALE%20PAGE.htm
They were on a conference last week, but you could still order and even though I never got an answer from them, I called and left a message this morning, but still didn't get an answer. Regardless, I got a nice surprise later today, the UPS guy came over and dropped my center set today. It's the MT2 live center set. It comes in the blue cardboard box and all the parts are individually sealed in a bag. I left some in the bags so you can see what you get. That long piece that goes through the middle I assume is a key to take out the individual centers. If I live it in, the centers are lose. Since there are no instructions and this is my first set, it makes sense to me. Once you take the key or removal tool out, the center piece sits in nicely.

[Jaime128]

Okay newbies, as you can see I haven't really used my micro mark mini lathe much because I've been just getting my tooling together to well, make it usable. This is the Phase II QCTP that I returned. I did a quick search to see if anyone had posted any information on this QCTP, but since I didn't find any here you go. You will see why.

1. The tool post feels nice because it's heavy duty.
2. I thought these were made here in the US, but they are Chinese.
3. If you look carefully at the pictures of the tool holders from the top, you can see that the screw holes don't align correctly. This makes it tough to change the tool, even if you don't change it often. This just sucks.
4. The tool post worked fine with all the holders on both sides, but I just didn't like it myself because I had to fight with the holders a bit.

The tool set does come with different bolts for different machines which is nice. I had to take out the bushing in order to install it on the Micro Mark lathe.

I decided to just buy a ready made QCTP to save me some time. I just don't have dovetail cutters or much tooling, so this is just the way I went.

I just received my other QCTP but have the opposite problem on it. Different manufacturer. I'll take pictures of that one tomorrow and will post them when I get this thing squared away. So look out for that other picture review. I also bought the metric lead screw that I will be changing to, so I'll post that when I get to it.

Admin, how do I edit one of my old posts here? It only says quote on it even when I'm logged in? Please help. Thanks.

[Jaime128]

Okay, here's the A2ZCNC QCTP that I ordered straight from them. I wasn't sure if only the tool post was made here and if the holders were Chinese add ons. It turns out, everything is made here, so you'll notice that the holder holes and screws line up so this was good news.This is the one for the 7x mini lathes. Unfortunately, the holders will not go into one side which is the picture with the holder on it. I just spoke to them and ask if I could get an exchange. The person was nice and suggested I turn that longer piston down a bit, if that didn't work that they would send me some replacements. I also wanted the exchange just because the clamping marks look not so nice to me and well, I thought if I got the non Chinese made it may be much better. It is better, but I guess it's just my luck.I'm a perfectionist I guess. They did mention that they had a bad batch and that they were aware of this, so hopefully if you get this it will be better than mine.

I noticed that the pistons have a bit of slack on them. I was told this was done purposely and that the extra groove on one of the pistons is how they can tell what tool they used or something to that effect. This part makes no sense to me, but that's that.

I'm not here to bash anyone, just show you what my observations are and my experience with this. I know this stuff takes a lot of work and care to do, even small parts, but I just hate sloppy anything.

The phase two didn't have that slop on the pistons and worked just fine. The phase two also seemed a bit larger so that felt good too.

I'm not crazy about my quick change tool post at the moment so I'm sticking with computing today. Dad said he would machine it so I'll just let him play with that today. My dad is more of a perfectionist and he just showed me the pistons after he turned them and man I guess he's the perfectionist! Since it's not going back, here are the pictures.

I should mention that after I placed the order I called just to make sure they received the order. Their site was slow, but they were very quick in sending me the tool. So they get some brownie points there. Plus the total was less for me than other places. I hope this helps other newbies. I also hope others will post pictures of others so you get a better idea of what is out there. At least now you got two to compare. I guess I like doing the reviews more than anything at the moment. Just some honest reviews without bashing anyone, so please don't take this the wrong way. I like the tool, but I just had the extra little things I didn't want that's all. For the price, you don't want to have to fix anything though.

My only suggestions might be to drill four holes for that little stop on the bottom of the qctp so that it doesn't move and you don't have to over tighten it. I also forgot to mention that there is a small gap between the bolt bushing if you will and the top of the tool post on this qctp. If you look at the pictures of the Phase II you won't see that. You have to look at this carefully or you will miss it.

[Jaime128]

It was a bit frustrating with the lathe today so I decided to just relax by cleaning it, installing the metric lead screw and well, decided to open the headstock and just take it apart.

I noticed the belt seemed lose so I thought I look at it and adjust it. It turns out it was fine, but there's no adjuster that I can see. The motor seems to sit on those two screws. The top belt pulley doesn't have that edge like the motor pulley so the belt was rubbing on the aluminum plate which I ended sanding by hand until I got it all smooth. Not only that, but the belt is not even cut straight as you'll see in the pictures, What the hell, this is supposed to be a nicer mini lathe...they couldn't even put a straight belt on it!

I didn't take the motor out, but if anyone has a picture of that let me know. I couldn't find any other screws holding the motor on the back or the front, so if it's just those two this would suck. Now I don't know if there's even an option to adjust the belt or you just take out the motor and replace it. I haven't had to do that yet, so if anyone else has, please let me know. Thanks.

The top plate with all those small gears, last two pictures comes off as one unit so you don't need to take the gears apart, just the plate. I think I only removed the two 80 teeth gears and that's pretty much it.

Who else owns the 7x14 mini lathe? Any pictures of mods/updates on these? Just wondering.

[Crevice Reamer]

Nice pics! I like the way you are documenting your trip into latheland.

CR.

[Jaime128]

Nice pics! I like the way you are documenting your trip into latheland.

CR.

Thanks CR. This is the type of information/pictures I was looking for when I wanted to learn more about these so I hope they will help someone else. I'll admit, I'm no machinist, but this I can do well, as long as my tiny digital camera doesn't act up. They also help as reference if something breaks too.