Small, Good Quality Lathe - Buying Advice Please?

First off, I apologize if this question has been done to death.

It's my first post here, so a little background first. I am a time served mechanical maintenance fitter, but soon after my apprenticeship I got transferred to desk duties and never managed to get myself away from it. Now in my 40's I am living in Japan, I am into R/C Planes and Helicopters and I often need a lathe and or milling machine for making small parts so I am looking to buy a lathe and maybe a mill. My criteria are as follows;

1) The main problem is space, I live in a rented house in Japan and my hobby room is upstairs and not so big. Even if I had the space, I need to limit the weight to less than about 30~35kg per part to get it upstairs. I only intend to make small parts so lathe capacity is not really an issue.
2) Main work would be aluminium, carbon, brass, copper maybe even titanium. Very little steel or stainless (too heavy for flying models)
3) I would only need metric, no inches required even for thread cutting.
4) I have read quite a lot about the SIEG lathes in all their varieties and to be honest I am not so interested. I would prefer something of better quality without being too over the top on price.
5) The type of thing I am tending towards is the Proxxon PD230E, although ideally it is just a little too small. The Proxxon PD400 is a little too big. The Cowells 90ME looks lovely but really is out of my budget.
6) I have read enough to know that the combination lathe / mills are a compromise but for small lightweight work I think they might be enough. Again, because of space limitations I may choose to add a milling attachment later. Any comments?

Your buying advice please!!!

Due to your small space work shop. You should think about a lathe/mill. You will want a mill for your rc work. You can take a lathe/mill apart to get it upstairs. Less weight?
I have a Shurline mill & rotory table for 4th axis. Used it for small parts for over 10 years now. Not to happy with the Aluminium milling table. But its light and ok for small parts.
Shurline lathe & mills are made with inch or metric.
You my not need CNC.
Japan must have some good mill/lathes?

Thanks for the reply,

Yes Japan has many good lathes but they tend to be made by companies like Okuma and Mazak :eek:

In the lower end, it is possible to buy various badged versions of the SIEG's but as I said, I am not too keen on one.

Doing a search of home hobbyist websites here, Proxxon seem to be fairly popular since they are licensed and built here in Japan by a company called Kiso Power Tools. http://www.kiso-proxxon.co.jp/ I have a couple of their rotary tools and I like the quality - even if they are a little more expensive than some competitors.

I'll take a look at the Sherline's - thanks

Hi there,

Have you considered the Emco Compact 5?

From memory I think it's size would fit between the 2 Proxxon's.

Also, if you're looking at Sherline, you'll want to check out Taig too - http://www.taigtools.com/mlathe.html - but I think both will be too small if the PD230E is a bit small for you.

Best regards,

Jason

Quote:

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Originally Posted by archiebald

First off, I apologize if this question has been done to death.

It's my first post here, so a little background first. I am a time served mechanical maintenance fitter, but soon after my apprenticeship I got transferred to desk duties and never managed to get myself away from it. Now in my 40's I am living in Japan, I am into R/C Planes and Helicopters and I often need a lathe and or milling machine for making small parts so I am looking to buy a lathe and maybe a mill. My criteria are as follows;

1) The main problem is space, I live in a rented house in Japan and my hobby room is upstairs and not so big. Even if I had the space, I need to limit the weight to less than about 30~35kg per part to get it upstairs. I only intend to make small parts so lathe capacity is not really an issue.
2) Main work would be aluminium, carbon, brass, copper maybe even titanium. Very little steel or stainless (too heavy for flying models)
3) I would only need metric, no inches required even for thread cutting.
4) I have read quite a lot about the SIEG lathes in all their varieties and to be honest I am not so interested. I would prefer something of better quality without being too over the top on price.
5) The type of thing I am tending towards is the Proxxon PD230E, although ideally it is just a little too small. The Proxxon PD400 is a little too big. The Cowells 90ME looks lovely but really is out of my budget.
6) I have read enough to know that the combination lathe / mills are a compromise but for small lightweight work I think they might be enough. Again, because of space limitations I may choose to add a milling attachment later. Any comments?

Your buying advice please!!!

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I think you are refering to the size of the work envelope when discussing the proxxons as being too big or small.
If the larger of the 2 proxxons is able to fit into your room go for it. You will find that no matter what you want to cut today, there is always a bigger piece on the horizon. If you are looking for quality in a small lathe, I don't think you will be happy with much else.

With the larger of the 2, you will be able to some small milling jobs on the lathe untill you buy a dedicated mill.

Mike

I can't believe I posted this 7 years ago!! It was my first post and I just made my second post in another section - I must be the least prolific poster in the history of this board!!

But, I just wanted to say that shortly after this was posted, a really good friend of mine in the UK donated a 1980's Unimat 3 lathe together with milling attachment. I have had many hours of successful turning, and a little milling. A wonderful little machine but the mill attachment is very limited.

So, finally I bought a BF20L mill recently which I have managed to install in my upstairs bedroom by breaking it down into as many parts as possible and taking it upstairs one piece at a time.