Good luck with your request, I am to far away to help but a nice thing for a local person to do.

Hi Eliza,

Depends where you are – Hampshire is a big place! If you're anywhere within travelling range of Guildford you'd be welcome to spend an hour or two learning a few things on my lathe.

Steve

Blondihacks on YouTube is probably a good place to start as she covers some of the beginner's questions in a good, clear way.

Metal Lathe Tutorial 1

Absolute Beginners Start Here

Absolute Beginners – Day 2

Martin C

Not quite if you are quick. The part one course got delayed by a week and will now start next Saturday (the 19th).

You may also be interested in the part two (Polly) course which starts on May 14th

sometimes our model engineering society runs courses based on demand (we are in West Wiltshire, Westbury), however there is always someone around happy to give hints and tips.

Best of luck

You buy a lathe

You buy a good book

You give it a try

Works every time !

You make a cock-up ?

Welcome to the club !

There are no short cuts, you just get stuck in and when you run into a problem, just ask here !

Be assured, someone will come to your aid ! How do I know ? Ask me !

Another vote here for the Blondihacks videos on youtube, She is upfront when she makes mistakes which is refreshing, is quite mindful of safety and has an approachable style.

Welcome to the Forum.

Am sure that you will find help.

I would, but am in East Midlands so too far away.

It might be worth buying L H Sparey's "The Amateurs Lathe" to get an insight.

Later, other books will enlarge your knowledge.

If you decide to buy a lathe, your choice will be modified / determined by

What you want use it for. What do you envisage making? A 6" scale traction engine is different from 00 gauge railways or lace bobbins.

Budget There are arguments in favour of new and second hand. New you have come back mif there is a problem, but used may be cheaper to buy. But you definitely need first hand advice on bying a used machine. If you do, shiny paint may not be a better machine than one some chips in the paint!

Space and location. A mini lathe will weigh about 35 – 40 Ks which can be carried upstairs by two ,people, if that is where you choose to have your workshop. The same cannot be said of a machine weighing 300Kg!

Buying a lathe is the start of things. But din't be frightened, you don't have to equip a workshop in the first week. You acquire things as and when you need them.

(Like buying a car, where you need to budget for fuel and servicing ) You will need to buy cutting tools, if only a couple.

Measuring instrument A cheap digital calliper will ,cost you about £10 An high quality none, possibly £80.

Before too long, not necessarily, but you may feel the need for some accessories (A four jaw chuck springs to mind, which is likely to lead to a Dial Test Indicator and a Magnetic Base )

FWIW, it is likely that as you gain experience, you will want /need a larger lathe. So buy one that is a little larger than you think you will,need. It might turn out to be cheaper and less fraught in the longer term.

Above all, do not rush either in the purchase (Try to get face to face advice if possible )

HTH

Howard

.

Some random thoughts…I am retired and decided to do somthing completely different for a change, now I regret not starting many years ago. By doing a course you be off in a more structural way more quickly & books etc, but in the mean time you may think about a few random things….

When I started with a lathe, I looked to videos to see the work atmosphere, how they talk about the lathe sections etc you use to make a part, how you sharpen HSS tools basic, cutting fluid use, lathe safety. I did this for about 3 years. I have seen different approuches, braveries, systematic approuches etc.

Then the big problem, which lathe to buy-? Can I move & handle it alone, or dependant on others-?
-How large is the hole through the spindle for long stock, are you limited to which dimentions-?
-Cutting treads and changed gears-?

-What happens to the accuracy of the lathe bed if I bolt it down to anything-?

-Which toolpost-?

-After I bought the lathe, for sfety reasons I made a place for my lathe chuck key with a switch, if not in position the lathe is tripped and cannot run. I never regretted this move.

-Have respect for spacial awareness, meaning can something run accidently into something else if moved where, this can catch you out. Be carefull when using auto feed, you may have changed something within you original vision of whats coming,……can it accidently catch you out-? was the tailstock locked and in the way-? Has a toolbit or topslide position changed, and catch you out…..?

-Never rush into a job, take time too understand your moves, slow in the beginning then faster later on.

-How heavy cut should you take for your lathe-?

-Rough cuts…
-Final cuts..To get to your final dimention.

-Positioning of the tool height-?

-Backlash….? DRO's & measurements

-Parting off……? Speed type pf tools.

-Lathe height, not to strain your back. (I got advice about this, and not regretted it)

-Lathe lighting to see better-?

-You keep on learning in circles as time goes on.

-What is the smallest part you can make-? The smallest part I had to make was an oiler insert for the lathe I bought.
-What is the largest part you can make-? THe largest part I made was a steering wheel to crank the lathe manually if I need to do that, I have seen other do this .

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Would be happy to show you the basics of a lathe, but I think I am a bit too far away (Near Milton Keynes). In case you are interested write a PM.

Online tutorials are fine, but I think one or two hours spent under supervision would help as a start. After that you can follow what has been suggested. Actually I look into Blondihacks videos myself from time to time, as there are some ideas which are helpful. By the way I learned working with a lathe at a technical high school in the 70th in Vienna.

The choice of a lathe – depends on what you want to make. I have a Chinese 8inch lathe and I am very happy with it. But it may be too big for some jobs, and you need a dedicated place for it. With 125kg it is not so easy to move the beast out of the way…

And of course welcome to the forum.

Hi Eliza, Andover is your nearest club ! I often travel down the A34 To N Dorset and would be quite happy to stop and run through many of the basics of operating a lathe for a couple of hours if that would help, though I'm hardly local. Best wishes Noel.