Here is a list of all the postings Jonathan Covell has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.
Thread: Hello :) |
23/11/2020 14:52:35 |
Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 22/11/2020 17:11:50:
Dig around enough on the forum and you'll find several posts from me regretting the time I wasted dithering about which lathe to buy. Unless you have an unusual requirement, I suggest just buying one! Tonight. New hobby lathes will be a bit rough. Buy from a British seller and they will back you up if you happen to get an actual lemon. I bought a Warco WM280, which is bigger than a Myford. The WM250 is smallest member of the same family and a considerable improvement on a mini-lathe. Rather similar machines are sold by a number of vendors. You can agonise endlessly about the minor differences between them, but seller support is more important than the kit. Many prefer second-hand western machines but they're second-hand. Condition is everything. As a beginner I was nervous of buying second-hand partly because of a bad experience in my youth, fortunately wasting time and petrol rather than money. After a couple of years mini-latheing I was more competent about what to look for, good and bad. My mini-lathe wasn't ideal but it got me started without breaking the bank and I had a lot of fun and interest with it. Thank you. This is more the advice I need. Thanks for the help |
23/11/2020 14:27:54 |
Posted by Howard Lewis on 22/11/2020 16:59:57:
As already said, what you want to make / repair will have a great influence on which lathe you need. As examples, you can't skim brake discs on a mini lathe, but you would not want to make parts for a watch on a machine capable of swinging something 18" in diameter. Also where do you plan to have your workshop? Hey thanks. Yeah I can see me mainly making smaller items. So far it was thinking bits like chess pieces (brass/alu/steel/bronze?), small engineering items like bushings and threaded engineering pieces and maybe bits like custom kitchen items. As far as "the workshop" I have the back of a double garage. I have another side room with shelving off the side of the garage where I can store tools, leaving the main area left for the existing bench and vise (~ 6ftx3ft). I have quite a lot of basic tools and a few power tools (plane sander/mouse sander/dewalt drill/circular saw/jig saw). |
23/11/2020 13:55:18 |
Posted by Bazyle on 22/11/2020 14:32:37:
Has your software interest steered you towards or away from CNC type thoughts? I know of the grbl opensource project but with it being in C/++ I couldn't really do a meaningful PR unless I really spent some time reading all the wonderful work they've done. I would of course love to maybe one day have enough knowledge of it to maybe try do some PRs to fix simple issues etc. It is on the to-do list and would probably be easier as a first venture (especially after building a 3D printer) and the software is similar I guess (being grbl based). My thought was buying a router off fleabay and simply using that with enough hose clips to secure it (till I made something better). I do have a plunge router but I'd rather keep that separate from any Frankenstine creation I make. I am sure I've seen cheap makita second hand 800W+ working routers on fleabay and marketplace to experiment with and I am sure it would be a better designed
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22/11/2020 10:48:45 |
Hello. Just signed up as I have been generally thinking of getting some form of lathe after doing the whole "If you are still wanting something a year after you initially thought about it". So I have saved up some budget a month for a lathe over the year (well...it is the my big spend hobby money fund I guess) with about a £700 budget to date. |
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