Mini Lathe

[Ulrich AlsfasserParticipant @ulrichalsfasser81596]

Hi all

I'm Ulrich, Uli for short and I'm the rawest beginner you probably ever had

I'm into my Airgunning and have decided I want to make my own modifications and custom parts from now on

Making barrel shrouds, moderators, adaptors

Cutting 1/2"UNF threads for fitting moderator

And my ultimate goal to convert all my airguns to .20 calibre which will involve machining the barrel and adding the transfer ports

On top of all that I like tinkering and could spend hours in the shed learning how to use a lathe

So my question is what type of mini lathe would suit my needs?

most parts will be small like adjustable posts and collets for raising cheek pieces and hamsters, baffles upto 32mm in diameter for use in moderators and shrouds, air strippers, moderator adaptors etc etc

The biggest Job will be machining the barrels and they range from 14 to 19 inch. I'm hoping they are going to fit through the spindle. Most airgun barrels are 16mm diameter but some are only 14mm or 12mm like on my Air Arms S410

I hope I haven't confused anyone with some of the terms used

What lathe would suit my needs?

I have been looking at the Amadeal 7×14

http://www.amadeal.co.uk/acatalog/Mini-Lathe-Packages.html

and the Warco Super Mini

http://www.warco.co.uk/metal-lathes-metalworking-lathe-machine/302922-mini–hobby-lathe.html

The Amadeal seems a good package to my inexpert eye

Thank you very much for tasking the time to answer my questions

[Ulrich AlsfasserParticipant @ulrichalsfasser81596]

What to buy

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

>BUMP<

[DuncParticipant @dunc]

Not an airgunner – and no more than an amateur with lathes & such – but I would expect that at least some (many?) barrel operations would require the barrel be held between centers. If yes, then you would require a lathe with a greater bed length than 14 inches. There are some mini-lathes with longer beds (or these are available as an option (Little Machine Shop, in the USA – http://www.littlemachineshop.com) but even the longest bed available would be, at best, marginal by the time spindle & tailstock tooling is in place.While the spindle might accept the diameter, given the length of the longest barrel I expect that it would prove less than ideal

Sorry, on the wrong side of the pond to evaluate your personal favorites.

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

I do a good many airgun repairs and I would say any of the 7×12 – 7×14 -7xwhatever will suit you fine. All the Air Arms, Brocock, Daystate – in fact any of the PCP rifle barrels will fit without problem.

And they are big enough to make almost any accessory you want. Get the longest one (Bed wise) that you can though if you want to make shrouds.

graham.

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Hi Duncan, you don't really need the barrel to be between centres if you are just screwcutting. I have a couple of diffferent supports I have made for the big Colchester to support the barrel sticking out the headstock. The one to watch out for is bore concentric with the outside of the barrel I was caught out with this once.

graham.

[DuncParticipant @dunc]

Thanks Oompa Lumpa. Obviously, gunsmithing is not part of my experience to date.

As an aside, perhaps the op – and many other gunsmiths – would like to see the outboard supports.

[Ulrich AlsfasserParticipant @ulrichalsfasser81596]

Thanks for the replies

I'd love a bigger Lathe but my ceiling will be £600 and that limits me

Any Shrouds will be carbon fibre tube and delrin inserts so no need to machine the actual shroud but to cut it to length which will be done with a grinder and thin cutting disc

It's the inside bits that need to be made on the lathe

The bore being of centre on a barrel sounds like a Chinese barrel. Was is a 78 or 78 CO2? They are well known for it.

BSA, Anschutz and Walther barrels are of much better quality but I can appreciate the difficulty if breech probe and barrel don't line up. Grey hair time

Is the Amadeal a Chinese product?

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

Hi
The Arceurotrade super X3 should be a contender. The brushless motor is a big improvement and it is near your budget.
Regards.
David.

[Ulrich AlsfasserParticipant @ulrichalsfasser81596]

Posted by David Colwill on 18/10/2014 22:29:37:
Hi
The Arceurotrade super X3 should be a contender. The brushless motor is a big improvement and it is near your budget.
Regards.
David.

Hi

Thanks

I googled it and it comes up as a mill not a lathe

[Russ BParticipant @russb]

Uli,

Don't forget to consider the cost of tooling! A 4 jaw chuck for precision work, Dead centres, live centres, steadies (a fixed may be essential for gunsmithing) tool steel (square/round large small) a grinder with appropriate (soft) wheels for grinding HSS (unless your using inserts type tooling, which may or may not actually work effectively it's not like magic, some say it's worse than HSS) shim steel for setting tool height etc. Plus the basic hand tools which you may already have (hand files, honing stone etc) measuring equipment from engineers squares to micrometers, calipers, thread gauges, and don't forget your consumables, lubricating oil, cutting fluid.

So many people will say this online, and until you really know what your doing and will need it may feel like a hollow statement, don't underestimate, I'm sure there might be one or 2 things on that list you don't need, but I bet there are another 10 you do need that I haven't mentioned.

Doom and gloom sorry, it's a great hobby, I'm at the start of the road just like you, and I'll be honest I'm looking at £600 and thinking, that's probably at least a few hundred shy of a what you'll need. It certainly won't buy all the above items unless you land more than a few 2nd hand bargains.

Fortunately it really is extremely rewarding, and the equipment if we'll look after has a tendency to appreciate in value rather than depreciate.

 

Russ

Edited By Russ B on 19/10/2014 00:16:07

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

Doh
should be super ?3
David.

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

Mustn't post with phone.

**LINK**

Regards.

David.

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Duncan, it isjust a bit of 3/4" ply with a hole the size of the barrel drilled in the middle and then pushed into the outboard end of the headstock when required to support the barrel, or indeed, any piece of long bar.

"The bore being of centre on a barrel sounds like a Chinese barrel. Was is a 78 or 78 CO2? They are well known for it."

Crosman actually Uli – another Cheap N Cheerful company
Bloody awful barrels.

graham.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

SUPER C3

Bear in mind the only really big expenditure are things like lathes and mills. Almost all other items can be obtained relatively inexpensively or over time.

Neil

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

Thank you for sorting that mess out Neil

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

Posted by Ulrich Alsfasser on 18/10/2014 14:42:58:

Cutting 1/2"UNF threads for fitting moderator

I am thinking you may be better off with an old Myford for such.

Nick

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Why Nick? I've never had trouble with thread cutting on my mini lathe. did this yesterday:

Neil

[blowlampParticipant @blowlamp]

Some of my best work comes off my Mini-Lathe.

With a Brushless D/C Motor, they're a super little machine.

 

 

Martin.

Edited By blowlamp on 19/10/2014 15:06:49

[Ulrich AlsfasserParticipant @ulrichalsfasser81596]

Posted by Russ B on 19/10/2014 00:03:27:

Uli,

Don't forget to consider the cost of tooling! A 4 jaw chuck for precision work, Dead centres, live centres, steadies (a fixed may be essential for gunsmithing) tool steel (square/round large small) a grinder with appropriate (soft) wheels for grinding HSS (unless your using inserts type tooling, which may or may not actually work effectively it's not like magic, some say it's worse than HSS) shim steel for setting tool height etc. Plus the basic hand tools which you may already have (hand files, honing stone etc) measuring equipment from engineers squares to micrometers, calipers, thread gauges, and don't forget your consumables, lubricating oil, cutting fluid.

So many people will say this online, and until you really know what your doing and will need it may feel like a hollow statement, don't underestimate, I'm sure there might be one or 2 things on that list you don't need, but I bet there are another 10 you do need that I haven't mentioned.

Doom and gloom sorry, it's a great hobby, I'm at the start of the road just like you, and I'll be honest I'm looking at £600 and thinking, that's probably at least a few hundred shy of a what you'll need. It certainly won't buy all the above items unless you land more than a few 2nd hand bargains.

Fortunately it really is extremely rewarding, and the equipment if we'll look after has a tendency to appreciate in value rather than depreciate.

Russ

Edited By Russ B on 19/10/2014 00:16:07

Thats why I was looking at this one

http://www.amadeal.co.uk/acatalog/Mini-Lathe-Packages.html

The £740 deal

[Ulrich AlsfasserParticipant @ulrichalsfasser81596]

Posted by David Colwill on 19/10/2014 08:28:54:

Mustn't post with phone.

**LINK**

Regards.

David.

Thanks

Added it to the list

[Ulrich AlsfasserParticipant @ulrichalsfasser81596]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 19/10/2014 08:58:27:

SUPER C3

Bear in mind the only really big expenditure are things like lathes and mills. Almost all other items can be obtained relatively inexpensively or over time.

Neil

That sound very encouraging

[Ulrich AlsfasserParticipant @ulrichalsfasser81596]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 19/10/2014 13:01:22:

Why Nick? I've never had trouble with thread cutting on my mini lathe. did this yesterday:

Neil

Nice

What is it for?

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

This:

**LINK**

Neil

[Russ BParticipant @russb]

Posted by Ulrich Alsfasser on 19/10/2014 15:41:45:

That sound very encouraging

I think the £740 package is good, I saw that the other day, I just happened to be discussing with Amadeal a few months ago the idea of offering a package for newcomers with all the bits included and low and behind a month or so later the "packages" seem to be appearing thick and fast!!

So fast, that perhaps its getting even more confusing now for beginners!! maybe if they could just offer one package, and then say package B "includes this rather than that" and so on…..

There are a number of luxury items but nothing that won't make your life a lot easier, like the quick change tool post at £38 (+£8 for extra holders) – and a very nice £100 odd 9 piece indexable tool set however that does actually give you a very good range of abilities, turning, facing, parting, and I think internal threading, as well as external threading.

Threading internally will be limited to large holes because of the large size of the tool, and since it's pretty easy to tap small holes, I think this is the normal approach.

Amadeal sell most of their mini lathes with the spindles that have 100mm plate integrated for chuck mounting these allow their larger 100mm chucks to be fitted without an adaptor – making full use of the 20mm spindle bore (unlike with an 80mm chuck which restricts it)

Don't forget, youll also need

A centre drill
A drill suitable for the internal thread size (1/2 UNF, so 29/64 imperial or 11.5mm drill bit)
A 1/2 UNF tap
A drill giving suitable clearance for the exit of the bore (.177/.2/.22/.25 etc)

More important than anything, is the proper stripping, cleaning, and reassembly of the machine before first use. The adjustment gibs on all the slides will need setting up properly at the very least.

It's all good fun!

[Author]

Posts