584,833 active members*
5,649 visitors online*
Register for free
Login
Page 1 of 2 12
Results 1 to 20 of 25
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    454

    Mini Metal Lathe

    Hey G'day people,

    I am in the market for a used benchtop lathe, there's lot of choices as far as brands are concerned. And they all look copies of copies of copies.

    Any words of advice? Are these units good for conversion to CnC?

    Is there a second hand dealer about that deals in this type of unit?

    Or if anyone has one that they don't want pull me up and say G'day.

    I'm in Victoria Melb area.

    Cheers,
    Steve

  2. #2

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    I cnc'd a vevor 7x14 a couple weeks ago and I have another I still have to convert . Amazon was the best deal for them plus can't beat the free shipping . At least thats the best I could do here in Canada .price-wise
    They don't come perfect and they need a bit of sand paper on the edges of the slides . Once cleaned up they slide smoothly . The gibs are sloppy and need adjusting etc . If your going to cnc it then you'll be tearing it down anyhow

    I was just running the converted lathe and I have to say I'm impressed . I didn't have high expectations but the repeatability is almost spot on . I ran 20 parts with an od of .5" +0 , -.0005 , most stayed to size while a few were closer to the bottom tolerance but still well within .

    the thing with these cheap lathes is to have spare parts , belts , fuses , brushes , spindle motor , control board or a kb electric unit which are cheap on ebay . The latter 2 are if you plan to be constantly running it as I will

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    454

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    I was actually looking at one of the vevors as well.. VEVOR Mini Lathe Machine 8x14" 210x350mm Metalworking Processing Lathe 650W they are about $1000 AU.

    I won't be doing much work with it, more to make the odd occasional angry brass/aluminium bit for various toys I make.
    Converting it to CnC only because I have all the bits I would need to do so. Rather than see them go to waste may as well use them.

    Would love to see a video or some pics of the one you CnC'd if your willing to show off some pics that is..

    Cheers,
    Steve

  4. #4

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    I posted it here https://www.cnczone.com/forums/bench...nversions.html

    I didn't do anything fancy and hacked it together as I went along , but it's solid . I had everything on hand from other conversions so that helped .
    If your going to make a lot of chips then I'd advise moving the control away from the lathe , swarf will easily work it's way into the electronics .
    If your planning on doing brass and aluminum then these have plenty enough power to take decent cuts ( obviously within reason )

    I bought mine to run production and they are going to get run hard . The little spares that I mentioned are a necessity but I go overbord because I know I will cook a motor eventually and anything else that could fry lol

    I'm waiting on some threaded rod so I can modify the x axis and get a bit more travel out of it . As it is it will do what I bought it for but sometimes it's nice to have the option of pushing it to the max size it can cut , just in case

    One thing with them is they are toys , expensive toys that can do the job , but they don't compare to heavy iron

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    454

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    Just had a look and read at what you've done.. Very nice mate!!! Love it.

    So your looking at production runs of particular parts that lend themselves to CnC quick in and out jobs..

    Your tool changes are still manual? I didn't notice an auto tool changer.

    Now that your computer controlled, how much easier is it for you to cut threads?

  6. #6

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    I don't have encoders hooked up yet so threading is a no go at this point .
    Tool changes are manual and I requalify when I swap tools . I've got a set of production parts I need to turn to mate with other products I sell . Most of the machining is done with one tool and the last op is a groove . I'll run x amount of parts then toss in the groove tool to finish them off . Each op has a different stickout , so I need to do some requalifying anyhow .

    A decent tool post will give good repeatability if and when a guy needs that . The toolpost I have on the vevor isn't the stock one that came with it and it's pretty good ,my emco compact 5 is decent for repeatability to but I still requalify both lathes when changing over .

    I bought one of those cheap wedge type posts last week for the other lathe , it's pretty tragic

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    454

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    So your pretty much all in with your toy..

    I hope it works out well for you. Would be nice to be able to auto some threads.

    I was trolling eBay and found some vertical slides/jaws you can use to do some basic milling on the lathe as well. I thought that was a pretty good idea nice piece to add to the kit basket of things to use.

    Cheers,
    Steve

  8. #8

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    them little slides are handy if a guy needs to do some milling . The ones on ebay are pretty fair priced , it would be interesting to see them in action .
    As far as threading goes , it's not too difficult to add an encoder and have it communicate with the software . The first lathe didn't come with a digital readout for the rpm bu the other does so I'm thinking it shouldn't be too difficult to get it reading in linuxcnc . Speaking of which , I recommend linuxcnc over mach by a mile . Mach 3 lathe is terrible . I don't know how mach 4 is but 3 is junk for lathe . Linuxcnc sets up easy , runs great and it's easy to use

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    454

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    I don't use mach haven't used it for a number of years now. I use UCCnC... much better..

    Speaking of coding.. have you had a look at ChatGpt? Its an AI bot that Ms/OpenAi have released to the public. Dam scary stuff, you ask it questions and it replys or tell it what you want and it does it.

    I have got it to code a digital indexer for an Arduino for cutting gears lol.. crazy scary stuff..

    #include

    // Define stepper motor configuration
    #define STEPS_PER_REVOLUTION 200 // number of steps per motor revolution
    #define DIR_PIN 8 // direction pin
    #define STEP_PIN 9 // step pin

    // Define gear configuration
    #define GEAR_PITCH 0.5 // gear pitch in mm
    #define NUM_TEETH 20 // number of teeth on the gear
    #define TOTAL_ROTATION (NUM_TEETH * GEAR_PITCH) // total rotation in mm

    // Define indexer configuration
    int num_steps = int(TOTAL_ROTATION * STEPS_PER_REVOLUTION); // number of steps required for full rotation

    // Define stepper motor object
    AccelStepper stepper(1, STEP_PIN, DIR_PIN); // 1 = driver type

    void setup() {
    // Set up serial communication
    Serial.begin(9600);

    // Set up stepper motor
    stepper.setMaxSpeed(1000); // adjust as needed
    stepper.setAcceleration(500); // adjust as needed
    }

    void loop() {
    // Move forward one full rotation
    stepper.setDirection(1); // 1 = CW
    stepper.move(num_steps);
    stepper.runToPosition();
    delay(1000); // pause for one second before moving back

    // Move back one full rotation
    stepper.setDirection(-1); // -1 = CCW
    stepper.move(num_steps);
    stepper.runToPosition();
    delay(1000); // pause for one second before repeating
    }

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    474
    Quote Originally Posted by curiosity22 View Post
    Hey G'day people,

    I am in the market for a used benchtop lathe, there's lot of choices as far as brands are concerned. And they all look copies of copies of copies.

    Any words of advice? Are these units good for conversion to CnC?

    Is there a second hand dealer about that deals in this type of unit?

    Or if anyone has one that they don't want pull me up and say G'day.

    I'm in Victoria Melb area.

    Cheers,
    Steve
    Denford are a good solution, used worldwide for many years in schools and training colleges.

  11. #11

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    Quote Originally Posted by curiosity22 View Post
    I don't use mach haven't used it for a number of years now. I use UCCnC... much better..

    Speaking of coding.. have you had a look at ChatGpt? Its an AI bot that Ms/OpenAi have released to the public. Dam scary stuff, you ask it questions and it replys or tell it what you want and it does it.

    I have got it to code a digital indexer for an Arduino for cutting gears lol.. crazy scary stuff..


    }
    never seen it before now but it looks pretty interesting

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    454

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    Theres a lot of information on UCCnC in this forum. A lot of people here use it.

    Best thing price wise its cheap!

  13. #13

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    I meant the chatgpt is what I've never seen , I did a bit of reading and it sounds pretty cool . I've used uccnc on my mills , from what I understand is they are working on a lathe module but I don't think it is complete yet

    You woke my curiosity and I spent half my day pissing around with hooking up a proximity sensor to do some threading . Getting that hooked up and communicating with linuxcnc was easy but the sensor is a turd . It runs in sync well then it'll have a hiccup and then cut off the threads it made . I need to hook up an encoder . The prox sensor reads to 1200 rpm then gets lost at anything above that

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    454

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    LOL ok I'm on the same path now. I've been playing with chatgpt for a couple of days now and like I said before its scary stuff. It seems to do a good job on coding.

    How does a proximity sensor work, stops the machine at a particular point?

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    454

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    This may be of value to you, someone using UcCnC with their mini lathe turning a thread. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnDHt4IQdpo

  16. #16

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    it was set up to pick up the spindle speed , that way the spindle is in sync to do the threading . It sorta kinda worked but not . It can't generate a signal fast enough so it errors . I'll replace it with an encoder and all will be fine .I didn't have high expectations but I had to try it just because I could

    I looked at that chat site earlier today but couldn't log on because there were too many users at the time and they reached their limit . I'm going to check it out when I have some free time , it sounds interesting

  17. #17

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    thats funny you post that . I've got the same emco lathe in my shop . Mine runs on linuxcnc and it's all setup for threading and whatnot . They are great little machines if a guy can find them . I've been working it hard and thats why I bought the other ones

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    454

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    LOL well there ya go and I'm still looking to buy a mini lathe, now I know who's got them all......

  19. #19

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    lol , ya , I'm going to wake up one night with a pillow on my face and the wife on top of it
    I look at it as I can have 2 expensive machines or a whole lot of smaller machines . I like the idea of more spindles running , plus they are much easier on the power bill

    If you can find one of those emcos then they are worth having . I got mine on ebay for 1100us after shipping , I think it was anyhow

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    454

    Re: Mini Metal Lathe

    I'll reply to myself lol.. Guess what I just bought home. Lucky find on Facebook Market place. I don't think its ever fired an angry chip.

    Attachment 489408

    Attachment 489410

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	1676628433288.jpg 
Views:	0 
Size:	96.8 KB 
ID:	489412

Page 1 of 2 12

Similar Threads

  1. Mini Metal Lathe wanted
    By curiosity22 in forum Want To Buy...Need help!
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 04-27-2023, 11:40 AM
  2. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-29-2016, 12:54 PM
  3. Mini Metal CNC lathe suggestion
    By Athaya in forum Want To Buy...Need help!
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 02-08-2011, 07:44 AM
  4. Mini Lathe (7Xx) metal gears lubrication
    By wildwestpat in forum Mini Lathe
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-13-2009, 09:18 PM
  5. Cnc Turning wood on a mini metal lathe
    By whiteriver in forum Mini Lathe
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 03-09-2006, 12:42 AM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •