Help me choose a lathe to suit my hobby

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

At the risk of raining in anyone’s parade, no matter what machine you buy, the intial work that you get off it is unlikely to be as good as you had hoped.

You will need to become familiar with the machine, and acquire skill in using it.

Working to 1/6th scale means that the fits and tolerances that need to be applied will be smaller.

A two thou clearance on full scalle woiuld a loose fit at 1/6th, so you will need to become skilled at tool, grinding and honing, and how to set up the machine, to enable you to remove metal at MINUTE depths of cut.

Remember that as the size of the material that you are working decreases, so does the strength.

A 3mm rod is only 1/8 as stiff as a 3mm rod.  Hence the need for tools that are REALY sharp and accurately mounted.

Maybe you will find that you need to set the gibs more tightly for your work, even if it makes the machine a little stiiffer to operate than most folk would normally prefer.

The comments about beginners over expecting what the machine and operator can produce in the early days is valid.

You didn’t get the best of economy, performance, or ease of parking out of your new car until you became familiar with it.  The same will apply here.

As you become more familiar with the machine, your results will improve.

You will find the feeds and speeds that yield the best results for whatever material you are cutting.

This is all part of climbing the learning curve.

Practice makes perfect and nothing succeeds like suceess.

Just keep quietly working away

Howard

[Howard Lewis]

On Howard Lewis Said:

… A 3mm rod is only 1/8 as stiff as a 3mm rod.  …

That’s a bit too philosophical for me, Howard

MichaelG.

[Dave WoottonParticipant @davewootton]

Don’t know if it’s any help in your quest but theres a Warco lathe for sale on the Homeworkshop site that looks like a good machine at a reasonable price. I have no experience of these machines so can’t comment on it’s suitability, but have used a Warco GH lathe at work and found it quite ok. Just thought I would draw attention to it.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Michael,

I am sure that you know the formula for stiffness of a beam being (BD^3) / 3

So a 6mm rod will have stiffness be 8 x of a 3mm

(Or did I make yet another typo?)

Howard

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

I think that this is your first reference to 6mm

Also does ‘8 x of a 3mm‘ incorporate typo (or even two)?

Ian P

[Howard Lewis]

On Howard Lewis Said:

Michael,

I am sure that you know the formula for stiffness of a beam being (BD^3) / 3

So a 6mm rod will have stiffness be 8 x of a 3mm

(Or did I make yet another typo?)

Howard

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply, Howard

I see that Ian has described the dimensional error whilst I was still seeking enlightenment by meditating upon “the sound of one hand”

🙂

MichaelG.

.

On 9 April 2024 at 18:32 Howard Lewis Said:
… A 3mm rod is only 1/8 as stiff as a 3mm rod.  …

[Microbike]

On Microbike Said:

Hello Michael

Do you have a Sherline mill? How do you like it? The UK supplier for Sherline is Millhill in Essex and the basic mill is the Sherline 5000 for £707.00 while the SIEG SX1LP is £600.00 A so not much in it when it comes to price

The Sherline is smaller but I think will be better suited because of its smaller size. I will try and see both before I buy. I am bound to see the SIEG products at the Midlands model show and take a bike ride out to Essex to see the Sherline mill. For the bike model parts which apart from rims are very small the Sherline motor should be okay?

I would be pleased to hear of your experiences with the Sherline mill – would you recommend it?

Cheers

Andrew

hello Andrew,

on your way to Essex it could be worthwhile dropping in to see us at Amadeal (machine tools). We’re in East London.

Hugh                                                                                                                                                                  Amadeal Ltd

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

May be a long journey as he was asking in 2017

Who said it was good that an old thread had been resurected?

But it was nice to at least get the feedback that the OP was happy with his Shereline even if a bit of a while later.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

…

Who said it was good that an old thread had been resurected?

…

please Sir … it was me Sir

MichaelG.

.

Edit: __ and no, I do not have a Sherline Mill

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

As we are on about Sherlines, if anyone has an afternoon to waste, Chris over on MEM is making good progress with his latest project all on Sherline machines.

[MicrobikeParticipant @microbike]

Hi Hugh

i bought my Sherline mill in late 2022 and it was delivered in early 2023, so I have had it for about a little over a year.

iThe Sherline is well suited for my hobby and I am satisfied with my purchase. It’s a nice size, far more accurate than I will be or need and the best part is that I can now make  custom parts for my bike models that I had always dreamed about making 😀

This forum was very helpful in my quest and I just wanted to feedback and thank everyone for their input which was really helpful

Andrew

[Hugh Stewart-Smith 1Participant @hughstewart-smith1]

Hello Andrew,

I’m really pleased to hear that you’ve acquired the mill suitable for your model bike hobby.

It was seeing the name Sherline in your post that prompted me to send a message to you without noticing the date of your original post!

By coincidence, I had to clear out a flat after evicting the non-paying tenant from one of my properties. Amongst the huge pile of mostly junk in all three rooms I came across a Sherline Model 5410 CNC which has become my property! It’s partly dismantled but appears unused and with all paperwork and manuals.

Kind regards

Hugh

Amadeal Ltd

ps there was also 1000 pairs of sunglasses left in the flat. Any offers?

H

[Author]

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