I have a mini mill and mini lathe. Whenever somebody asks me if they should buy these tools, I tell them: they're awesome, but you're not buying a tool, you're buying a project!
You get what you pay for. And after all, you're learning how to use it at the same time. No textbook can replace experience. Besides, one of the great things about these machines is that you can make most of the replacement parts you need on them. The lathe, as a matter of fact, was probably what kickstarted the industrial revolution. Forget about the automatic loom; The manual, unpowered lathe was the first tool that, in essence, can reproduce itself.
I just bought a mini drill press and a cross table to go with it. Both of them had issues out of the box. But since i was setting up my new workshop i had everything at hand to fix most show stoppers. I kinda gotten used to fix stuff that comes broken from the factory. However it is quiet the contrast to how it used to be 20 years ago.
A little tip, if you look for the aluminum cutting version of the insert (generally they are chrome/silver color), they're generally much sharper than their steel cutting version. For mini lathes/mills, we need this extra sharp edge to bite into steel since we don't have the SFM capabilities of industrial machines that uses these carbide inserts. I find it gives a much nicer finish in general and doesn't wear out that much faster than the steel cutting inserts. Considering they're dirt cheap, it's worth it.
@@sjv6598 These lathes really don't have the power for carbide, they need all the help they can get. I use the aluminium ones, they work fine. HSS inserts as well if I want a nicer finish or I'm too lazy to sharpen a HSS bit.
Vevor should sell these as a kit already as nobody uses them without any mod, assemble once without the inconvenience of dissasembling it. And it would make their statement of "we wont make these any better, as they sell even as crappy as they come" even more true. They dont even have to assemble them anymore! Win-win
when you used the lathe to upgrade itself i was reminded of this book series called something like "home metalworking from scrap" where a guy builds up from digging a furnace, casting and melting bronze, to building a lathe and using it to make a milling machine. realistically they probably weren't instruments of extreme precision, but if you're really gonna go for building a metal engine you may find it worthwhile to dig up some scans. been watching since the algorithm randomly fed me that vtec video, probably gonna keep watching until im crusty. your editing just keeps improving. good luck!
Привет, я не умею говорить по-английски, так что буду на своём языке:) подскажи пожалуйста, как называется серия книг, о которой ты говоришь? Я бы очень хотел такое почитать. Спасибо.
Build Your Own Metal Working Shop From Scrap David J. Gingery Серия из 7 книжек, правда стоит задать себе вопрос - мне детали интереснее делать или станки.
@@DomWood Clickspring had a video recently on this exact topic, making a bow powered lathe with sticks and stones, what bothers me is that all this basic machining was way back when and somehow didn't take off universally, but then again bronze age ended and a lot of trade routes collapsed that led to less availability of metals that were easy to machine and slow rediscovery iron processing across europe.
I consider myself a DYI hazard. This video brought me joy as it now has equipped me with additional questionable knowledge on how to do things in a questionable way. No, but in all seriousness, this was an awesome video. I love your humor and content.
Angle grinder to shorten the allen key is totally approved! Wonder why the micro-lathe I got came with tapered bearings, while most others on YT are ball bearings. Anyway, replaced them with high quality SKF taper bearings. To seat the bearing without hammering down, put them on the induction oven and heat them to 110 degree celsium. They'll beautifully slide onto the spindle. Lapping the lockrings and spindle spacers flat will improve run-out.
-- I was going to say... I've yet to hear of 110° Celsium. That must be a part of the new DEI & inclusivity based science they're teaching! 🤔🤭😅😂🤣 Yeah, I busted up laughing at that one even though I understood what the real deal was... - Max Giganteum
Shars Tool Company has the best goodies, imo. The cross slide always needs attention. That was my first cleaning and mod. I replaced the round 2 bolt tool post holder with a 4 bolt square piece I made from .625 plate. There was all kinds of anti rust gunk on the ways which allowed for massive deflection. Cleaned off the crud, no more deflection and a much cleaner result while turning. Forge On!!!
I bought myself a 1978 Sears Craftsman Commercial belt drive lathe, model 101.28990 12" x 36" for 700$. The seller was asking 1000$ for it but talked him down in price lol. I even still use the old lantern styled tool post holder. Love that thing. And your right about the used lathe market, it is really expensive, I've seen an average from 3k - 10k for Clausing, SouthBend, and Logan lathes. Even though this is a beginner lathe, you will find that this will open a ton of doors for you to make those hard parts you can't find or just any custom part you need. Next comes the milling machine haha. Anyway, welcome to the lathe life friend!
I’ve been actually looking at buying this lathe for a while now! This was a fantastic video, and I’d love a part two for all your other fixes you have in mind for this machine.
A useful and simple mod I made to mine was to replace the socket-cap screws that attach the feed handles on the compound and cross feed with button head versions, these don't keep catching your fingers when turning the handles anywhere near as much.
This will be awesome! I’m super excited to see what you do with the lathe! The mini lathe I got is a grizzly g0765 mini lathe, and I am really liking it! My “3d printed engine” is not really “3d printed” any more, besides the crank case, but a lathe is such a versatile piece of equipment! Good luck with your lathe!
Inner races of bearings heated in oil make it way easier to fit on a close tolerance shaft. Similar outer races in chilled in dry ice help alot. You need fairly large temperature differential to take advantage of thermal expansion. If you try to pound out a bearing race from some old motorcycle wheel hubs its game over. There was a book written by a guy in the UK that covers tunning this sort of lathe up. Should be able to find it amazon.
-- I've got two things to mention here: - Races or bearings that go on to a shaft go into an oven at 450° F to expand them. If possible, also heat up a bore of which a race or bearing slides into. & - A shaft that bearings slide on to, races that fit into a bore or bearings that fit into a bore go into liquid nitrogen until chilled fully to shrink them. All of the parts will slide freely/easily into position where you desire them to be without damage. Allow them to normalize to room temperature and you're good to go. You are welcome! - Max Giganteum PS Edited... I screwed it up the first time because I was paying attention to the ball game. Oops!
I have this same lathe but with another brand name. It has been working fairly good but requires oiling and cleanup regularly. I also bought fourjaws of two sizes for it. Those make life much easier if something needs to be turned from both ends.
Way to combine the engineering of both countries. From good enough to just good. Always interesting concepts in the videos, similar to other content but wholly unique .
Good video! I have a 9x30 and a RF-30 mill, and they are work in progress as well. I am not sure if it ever ends, but it is fun upgrading! Thumbs up and subscribed.
My cheapo Chinese lathe arrives tomorrow. I already have the new bearings on order. That seems to be the first thing everyone does. While I'm waiting for the bearings to arrive, I guess I'll try to get the head stock and tail stock to sit on the bed squarely which is another typical problem with these. As questionable as the quality is, it's going to be a lot easier to work with than the tiny Unimat DB-200 I'm using now.
Thank you for the vid, and the humor. I am a retired tool and die maker from the drawing board and hand cranking days. I'm looking at a small lathe for my small home shop. P.S. Carbide loves rpm, and also not a following approach angle unless you are just finishing with a bevel.
I scraped the ways on my cross slide and carriage, it make the preload on the gibs more consistent and make the cutter more ridged for sure, but it just takes a long time to do.
Every video I've watched on these "mini lathes" the person has to adjust, repair, modify and or fix it to get it to cut decently. A good used South Bend 9A can be purchased for about a grand and can do almost anything. Determine the thread of the spindle then buy or make a face plate. With a face plate you can accurately machine awkward parts because you can just bolt them to the face plate and/or mount them to a 90-degree steel angle piece.
I did a group-buy when I got my Lathe and I paid 1/4 of you. My machine also came directly from Sieg and was very well finished. I needed to do some tuning of the ways etc but it performs quite well. I did do the same toolpost upgrade though as the exchangeable holders and adjustable heights are so convenient!
@@pieterveenders9793I think we ended up 13 or 14 lathes, and one mini-mill. The lathes were Sieg C3 (7x14" lathes). It was however MANY years ago so price is probably relatively good although quality has maybe declined? For my market the machines were red btw.
Yes leveling is important, you can induce a torsional twist in the lathe that causes your cuts to be tapered. Also would be interesting to fit it for CNC work
Not sure if you'll ever read this or it's been said before but try using the dcmt 07 style insert they work incredible and are really cheap. I've tried a lot of different styles of inserts and tools and on a small lathe they are a game changer, definitely for me anyway. Plus the tool holders come in some really nice and affordable prices. Good luck on your machining journey.
For the next upgrade look for a solid toolpost conversion. It gets rid of the shitty compound slide (the thing on the top that you rotate to cut at different angles) and allows you to bolt your toolholder directly to the crosslide. The compound is a major source of chatter so this really helps, and if you need to cut an angle you can always just put the compound back on
It's normal for carbide inserts to have a spacer between the and the toolholder. It's a piece of soft shim stock so that the set screw doesn't crack the carbide and can comply down for a stronger fit!
Great video, I got one did the mods, and a couple of others but I still have a problem with taper across the length of a work piece, tapers in (smaller diameter) close to the chuck, larger diameter at the tailstock end. More to fix.
One thing I saw for a workshop upgrade was replace a workbench top with a type of holes surface to bolt things to. Another really important addition to the workshop would be an old popular mechanics design for a drill press using one of those 30-60 dollar hydrolic jacks, scrap metal, and a welder; it works like that cheap harbor freight press while also being homemade :D. My father had to buy a press for installing bearings on his transmission shaft, as he was damaging the bearings trying to hammer them. Didnt know about quenching metal in vegtable oil, and will definitely use that technique in the future. Loved the video :D
@@CamdenBowen good to know. The oil tip reminded me of some of the stuff in popular mechanics encyclopedias, like improving vice grip strength by putting a shingle in the middle of the grip and the thing your holding, which is why I think its super cool :D
removing the compound and using a solid block in its place is a good improvement for rigidity. Remaking the clamping for the saddle is a good idea, i have two brass pieces shimmed to the right clamping pressure.
The whiplash I feel coming from (recently) mostly inheritance machining is... It It's something. Nah but fr, you're where i see myself in a while. Mr IM is where i see myself on a dream
Recommend to anyone who wants a great small affordable lathe with crazy versatility in terms of accessories and tools is sherline lathes. Don’t bother with these. I started with a lathe like this, you very quickly run into problems with these lathes. You’ll spend more time wrestling with these Chinese lathes then you will cutting chips. I’d even recommend sherline lathes over robust second hand lathes due to the fact that it’s so easy to get a lathe and accessories that just work, even though they’ll never compete with the robustness of a large, heavy lathe, they’re way better for hobbyists or small scale manufacturing. And the they’re so easy to move around if you end up moving yourself.
-- Aside from buying chinesium crap and supporting the communists in China... as opposed to Americans in America... think carefully about buying one of these mini lathes from a total cost perspective. Why? Because by the time you add up the initial cost of the lathe itself plus all the time modifying it and possibly chasing around all over for parts plus the cost of the parts themselves... you may very well find that you should have just spent the same amount of money on a far superior lathe while not wasting the time! In my 56 years of experience, I've seen far too many individuals go down the road of trying to get away as cheaply as possible and they almost all ended up getting burned. Caveat emptor! - Max Giganteum
Looks pretty good! 😁 I've never used one of these mini-tools; but I've restored a few second hand lathes (Colchester Student & Master types) and getting an 'ok' 2nd hand one into fully running state is probably more cost AND more time.
I used to be a machinist. All inserts should be identical such as with your CCMT to conform with standards. However the screw holes in them can be made differently. I was told change the insert screw for the same make as the inserts and it should fix the issue of it not sitting in the holder.
You're overheating the HSS when you grind aggressively, that destroys the temper and cutting edge becomes soft. Dunk it in water every few SECONDS when you're grinding to keep it cool... HSS is not magic :)
you needed to put electricity over on that other table anyway! :) might pick up an arbor press at hf they arent too bad ,even the full 12 ton press is under 300 with an add on air over hydraulic jack on it. cool upgrades i picked up an OLD Montgomery Ward 04TLC-700A Logan lathe at auction ! it too needs lots of work (just starting on it ) and it takes up about 3 times the room as yours not counting the stand got a qc tool holder for it but not on yet , side tracked by plumbing issues at home LOL . good work and have FUN with it!!!!!
Happy snow time. Try to make a multi speed snow cleaner with a compressed air engine (either a piston design,Vankel, that new spinning thing or a turbine.
thanks for the extensive video! I have been contemplating an old machine or maybe a vevor, i think i will stick with looking for an old machine! Cheers
@@CamdenBowen in terms of getting good surface finish, do all your roughing cuts at the correct feed and speed, then for the finishing crank up the rpm to 2000 or something, it will be extra shiny! (with a minimum 0.8 nose radius if possible). And Centre height for tooling is extremely important! Always have the tooling on centre height! It changes everything! (as you figured out)
I have the same lathe and for some reason the auto feed never worked right it would skip teeth or something and be just awful. Maybe one day I’ll follow your guide to improve that bad boy sitting under my workbench.
Inserts have different relief angles. If the holder is for CC inserts and you try fitting a CN insert then you'll get that issue. Don't worry so much about the bashlash on the crossfeed. You will always have some backlash and if you're not attacking brass with deep cuts you'll be fine. People get too obcessed with trying to eliminate things that don't matter. Also, try setting the float on the bearings with the spindle warm. I've seen a newly overhauled machine have it's spindle lock up because the end float was set cold. It was too tight so as the bearings warmed up they put a large amount of preload on the bearings, enough to stop the spindle.
Just went on Facebook marketplace and found a Graziano Sag14 Lathe for $3k and it's in good working condition for reference it's about 4x the size of yours😂😂 not meant to be an insult or anything I just find it funny I found a lathe 4x bigger with a 2x price comparatively
Nice. I have an ancient Harbor Freight three in one, that is minimally functional. I actually am going to start making some parts on it next month, so quite the timely video.
I kinda want one of those, but i can find old industrial ones for less than half the price near my house. I don’t have the space so far, but if i can figure out the space one day i will come home with a cheap lathe, or maybe a free one
I don't know how it took me so long to find your channel but this is the kind of content I live for as soon as you chopped that allen wrench off I knew I would like you😅
It's often a good idea for cheap imports like this to tear them down and clean them anyways. one of the ways they keep the prices low are in assembly and fitment; there's grinding dust, casting sand, etc left behind that ruin the tolerances and will mar up the machines surfaces so you will want to clean them and get rid of any burrs. same goes for any tooling you get for it
I bought this exact vevor lathe off-amazon for $500 Mine came with metal gears and fairly precise out the box I had to file and shim here and there but after 3years its still a great mini machine
Good to know it'll run for 3 years aha, I was a bit worried when I read some horror stories from other people saying after ~20 lathe hours the speed controller gets smoked, though it seems parts are easy to find
Welcome to the club my dude. I have the same lathe- few points. The tailstock is a disaster. The motor isn't that bad as long as you don't try 50 thousandths cuts in 4140. Keep the gibs adjusted. When you have the money, buy a better one.
Angular contact bearings are the way to go for these lathes and they are the same thickness as the roller bearings and work in the same way as tapered bearings do.
Pro tip: hot/cold bearing installation method works significantly better, if you hold the bearing stationary, and drop the shaft into it, from the top. Yes, this doesn't seem to make much sense when you think about it, but it makes all the difference in practice, like night and day difference. A bearing is to small to position it perfectly perpendicular to the shaft, it always goes on crooked and jams, and the heat instantly starts to equalize at the point of contact, the bearing instantly shrinks the shaft expands, while the bearing is still crooked, and when you try to fix it, the heat is already uneven and it's too late, plus you are very likely to make it even more crooked by "helping" it go down. But If you hold the bearing stationary, I usually open my vise, and put the bearing on top of the jaws (not in the jaws, on top) and secure it with couple of small magnets, and you drop the shaft through, and I literally mean drop it, the shaft will somewhat "self center" while falling down, and even if it gets stuck, a good whack with a rubber mallet will push it forward easily, because it won't be stuck crooked, it will be semi-stuck but straight. Also, lubrication seems to have widely inconsistent impact, sometimes it helps, but sometimes, it acts as a thermal bridge, equalizing the temperature way too fast. I found that only silicone based lubricants seems to be working, any other oils or lubricants have way to high thermal conductivity. Alternatively, if you don't have a silicone lubricant, just don't use any, it counterintuitively works better without it (no thermal bridge), or, only lubricate the actual part of the shaft the bearing is supposed to sit on (not the bearing, only the shaft), so nothing gets lubricated along the way until the bearing reaches its designated spot. I've been doing bearing replacements on my two stroke crankshaft this way, and it almost always goes perfectly straight in one go, without even having to use mallet, just gravity, and in the rare case it doesn't, a whack with a fist is sufficient, in fact, using a fist is much much faster than using a mallet, because toyr brain doesn't have to think about aiming, and you save precious seconds while both parts are still at different temperature. Also, the bearing, provided it's not a sealed bearing and it has no lubricant at the time of installation, should be quite hot, I usually check by flicking some water droplets on it with my fingers, if the water instantly evaporates it's the right temp, but if the water sizzles, it's a bit too high.
Cool lathe! I just got exactly the same one. But mine has a small lever behind with Right/Stop/Left feed selection. Putting it into Stop kinda holds the carriage.
Next time you have to install bearings like that, just go to a welding supply store and get some liquid nitrogen. Its really cheap and theyll usually rent you a container to get the LN2 to your shop. Putting the shaft outside in "the cold" does nothing, if you can survive in the temperature then it will not cause metal to expand or contract by an amount to matter.
for 60$ or so you can order a set of metal replacements, but for my case since I'm not cutting threads very often (if at all) I'll just rock the plastic gears until one of them strips a tooth or something
note to everybody .. never, ever do that with two fingers in a bearing .. when the bearing seizes take a moment and think what that does to your jammed-in fingers
😁🤣😂🤣😂🥰🥰🤗, same lathe (except bigger motor) same problems. Thanks for some answers. Mine has an unresolvable(?) tick in it too. Needed the carriage lock. I want to use the feed screw for prime y though so I want bearings on it too...best clean accurate y, no align needed. Need better feed screw...locked it has a 2mm play....I'll need a horsewhip for that back-lash...thanks!
I love watching machining videos vs wood working videos. Wood working... "Watch me sand and stain this $2 table I found in a parking lot" Machining... "Watch me use $200,000 worth metal working tools to make this other tool work I just bought, work"
That wooden surface is going to vibrate nicely underneath the lathe because wood has some flex. Buy a 1 to 2 inch thick slab of something heavy to go between the lathe and the table surface, and the extra mass will nicely damp vibrations.
![Metal Lathe [Restoration] - 1930s RANDA](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pomYXlG45HQ/mqdefault.jpg)
oh how convenient i was almost about to go to bed a half hour early
Me too
Fr same
Still got 17 minutes. Not that bad of an early start to sleep.
Yep, perfect time to go to sleep two hours late
Exactly me rn
I have a mini mill and mini lathe. Whenever somebody asks me if they should buy these tools, I tell them: they're awesome, but you're not buying a tool, you're buying a project!
Yes, somebody on another channel has said that they are basically a starter kit for a lathe and mill.
But, I want ....
You get what you pay for. And after all, you're learning how to use it at the same time. No textbook can replace experience.
Besides, one of the great things about these machines is that you can make most of the replacement parts you need on them. The lathe, as a matter of fact, was probably what kickstarted the industrial revolution. Forget about the automatic loom; The manual, unpowered lathe was the first tool that, in essence, can reproduce itself.
I’ll co-sign on that. I have a mini lathe and a mini mill I converted to cnc years ago.
I just bought a mini drill press and a cross table to go with it.
Both of them had issues out of the box. But since i was setting up my new workshop i had everything at hand to fix most show stoppers.
I kinda gotten used to fix stuff that comes broken from the factory. However it is quiet the contrast to how it used to be 20 years ago.
@@LeBoomStudiosthe capabilities of a lathe are only limited by the turner
Wise words from an old machinist not being me of course
A little tip, if you look for the aluminum cutting version of the insert (generally they are chrome/silver color), they're generally much sharper than their steel cutting version. For mini lathes/mills, we need this extra sharp edge to bite into steel since we don't have the SFM capabilities of industrial machines that uses these carbide inserts. I find it gives a much nicer finish in general and doesn't wear out that much faster than the steel cutting inserts. Considering they're dirt cheap, it's worth it.
I may give that a try. For some reason I thought being for aluminium they wouldn’t stand up to steel so well.
@@sjv6598 These lathes really don't have the power for carbide, they need all the help they can get. I use the aluminium ones, they work fine. HSS inserts as well if I want a nicer finish or I'm too lazy to sharpen a HSS bit.
@@j.f.christ8421 thank you.
Uh oh😵💫
Vevor should sell these as a kit already as nobody uses them without any mod, assemble once without the inconvenience of dissasembling it. And it would make their statement of "we wont make these any better, as they sell even as crappy as they come" even more true. They dont even have to assemble them anymore! Win-win
sell the castings unmachined so we can use our bigger machines to make good small machines
@@ikbendusan that only works if you have a large machine.
@@conorstewart2214 so much was implied
when you used the lathe to upgrade itself i was reminded of this book series called something like "home metalworking from scrap" where a guy builds up from digging a furnace, casting and melting bronze, to building a lathe and using it to make a milling machine. realistically they probably weren't instruments of extreme precision, but if you're really gonna go for building a metal engine you may find it worthwhile to dig up some scans. been watching since the algorithm randomly fed me that vtec video, probably gonna keep watching until im crusty. your editing just keeps improving. good luck!
Привет, я не умею говорить по-английски, так что буду на своём языке:) подскажи пожалуйста, как называется серия книг, о которой ты говоришь? Я бы очень хотел такое почитать. Спасибо.
Build Your Own Metal Working Shop From Scrap
David J. Gingery
Серия из 7 книжек, правда стоит задать себе вопрос - мне детали интереснее делать или станки.
@@VEC7ORlt спасибо! мне интересно и то и то)
@@DomWood Clickspring had a video recently on this exact topic, making a bow powered lathe with sticks and stones, what bothers me is that all this basic machining was way back when and somehow didn't take off universally, but then again bronze age ended and a lot of trade routes collapsed that led to less availability of metals that were easy to machine and slow rediscovery iron processing across europe.
Okay. The ‘head stock on a rocking chair by the fire’ bit was pretty damned funny. I had a good laugh. Thank you.
This was the exact moment I hit subscribe.
Hello everyone and welcome back to This Old Camden...
I just realized I haven't watched a video by This Old Tony for a while. Thanks for the reminder!
As a machinist myself working on manual and CNC lathes, this was quite endearing to watch. Good job on the modifications! They certainly help.
Thank you!
I consider myself a DYI hazard. This video brought me joy as it now has equipped me with additional questionable knowledge on how to do things in a questionable way.
No, but in all seriousness, this was an awesome video. I love your humor and content.
Angle grinder to shorten the allen key is totally approved!
Wonder why the micro-lathe I got came with tapered bearings, while most others on YT are ball bearings. Anyway, replaced them with high quality SKF taper bearings.
To seat the bearing without hammering down, put them on the induction oven and heat them to 110 degree celsium. They'll beautifully slide onto the spindle.
Lapping the lockrings and spindle spacers flat will improve run-out.
The correct word is Celsius (Celsium is a company that makes temperature monitors).
-- I was going to say... I've yet to hear of 110° Celsium. That must be a part of the new DEI & inclusivity based science they're teaching! 🤔🤭😅😂🤣
Yeah, I busted up laughing at that one even though I understood what the real deal was...
- Max Giganteum
Shars Tool Company has the best goodies, imo. The cross slide always needs attention. That was my first cleaning and mod. I replaced the round 2 bolt tool post holder with a 4 bolt square piece I made from .625 plate. There was all kinds of anti rust gunk on the ways which allowed for massive deflection. Cleaned off the crud, no more deflection and a much cleaner result while turning.
Forge On!!!
Think they've got all the parts needed for these upgrades? What about little machine shop? Their stuff seems a bit expensive.
I bought myself a 1978 Sears Craftsman Commercial belt drive lathe, model 101.28990 12" x 36" for 700$. The seller was asking 1000$ for it but talked him down in price lol. I even still use the old lantern styled tool post holder. Love that thing. And your right about the used lathe market, it is really expensive, I've seen an average from 3k - 10k for Clausing, SouthBend, and Logan lathes. Even though this is a beginner lathe, you will find that this will open a ton of doors for you to make those hard parts you can't find or just any custom part you need. Next comes the milling machine haha. Anyway, welcome to the lathe life friend!
I’ve been actually looking at buying this lathe for a while now! This was a fantastic video, and I’d love a part two for all your other fixes you have in mind for this machine.
Haha I'd already done everything you see here plus levelling. Great to see someone else taking the exact same steps.
the way this guy approaches his projects is literally me and I find it hilarious; you got my sub dude
Glad to know I'm not the only one aha
A useful and simple mod I made to mine was to replace the socket-cap screws that attach the feed handles on the compound and cross feed with button head versions, these don't keep catching your fingers when turning the handles anywhere near as much.
This will be awesome! I’m super excited to see what you do with the lathe! The mini lathe I got is a grizzly g0765 mini lathe, and I am really liking it! My “3d printed engine” is not really “3d printed” any more, besides the crank case, but a lathe is such a versatile piece of equipment! Good luck with your lathe!
Inner races of bearings heated in oil make it way easier to fit on a close tolerance shaft. Similar outer races in chilled in dry ice help alot. You need fairly large temperature differential to take advantage of thermal expansion. If you try to pound out a bearing race from some old motorcycle wheel hubs its game over.
There was a book written by a guy in the UK that covers tunning this sort of lathe up. Should be able to find it amazon.
-- I've got two things to mention here:
- Races or bearings that go on to a shaft go into an oven at 450° F to expand them. If possible, also heat up a bore of which a race or bearing slides into.
&
- A shaft that bearings slide on to, races that fit into a bore or bearings that fit into a bore go into liquid nitrogen until chilled fully to shrink them.
All of the parts will slide freely/easily into position where you desire them to be without damage. Allow them to normalize to room temperature and you're good to go. You are welcome!
- Max Giganteum
PS Edited... I screwed it up the first time because I was paying attention to the ball game. Oops!
The electrical cable being a 1/2" short is so me, and made me literally LOL.
Vevor stuff terrifies me, yet I have more than a few of their products. I also like to live dangerously.
watching you hammering those bearing hurt me anyways nice video!
would love to see all the next upgrades, cheers
Drill a hole in the table so the power cable doesn't have to travel as far. C < A+B! Loving the lathe related content, keep at it!
Artisan makes RUclips channel has everything you could possibly learn about this damn lathe
I remember This Old Tony got one of these 'Minila The' and they look fun but do require the upgrades to move them into "Tool" category.
I have this same lathe but with another brand name. It has been working fairly good but requires oiling and cleanup regularly. I also bought fourjaws of two sizes for it. Those make life much easier if something needs to be turned from both ends.
Excellent video. I’m going to use your video to help me dial in my mini lathe. Thank you for making this.
Way to combine the engineering of both countries. From good enough to just good. Always interesting concepts in the videos, similar to other content but wholly unique .
This very lathe is due to me tomorrow. You have filled me both with dread and confidence! 😂😂😂
Good video! I have a 9x30 and a RF-30 mill, and they are work in progress as well. I am not sure if it ever ends, but it is fun upgrading! Thumbs up and subscribed.
My cheapo Chinese lathe arrives tomorrow. I already have the new bearings on order. That seems to be the first thing everyone does. While I'm waiting for the bearings to arrive, I guess I'll try to get the head stock and tail stock to sit on the bed squarely which is another typical problem with these. As questionable as the quality is, it's going to be a lot easier to work with than the tiny Unimat DB-200 I'm using now.
I picked up a full size toolroom lathe for $1000... For a 70+ year old machine it still runs like a dream too.
Talk about the elephant in the room. It's the same size and weight. A cat or dog like this is much more manageable
@@erik_dk842 oh for sure, it's big, heavy and noisy 🤣. Took up a good majority of my pickup bed too
You're a great patriot and people should tell you that every day
Thank you for the vid, and the humor. I am a retired tool and die maker from the drawing board and hand cranking days. I'm looking at a small lathe for my small home shop.
P.S. Carbide loves rpm, and also not a following approach angle unless you are just finishing with a bevel.
Thanks! I've heard HSS works best for these machines, I just need to improve my grinds first aha
@@CamdenBowen That in itself is an art. Cheers.
I scraped the ways on my cross slide and carriage, it make the preload on the gibs more consistent and make the cutter more ridged for sure, but it just takes a long time to do.
Every video I've watched on these "mini lathes" the person has to adjust, repair, modify and or fix it to get it to cut decently. A good used South Bend 9A can be purchased for about a grand and can do almost anything. Determine the thread of the spindle then buy or make a face plate. With a face plate you can accurately machine awkward parts because you can just bolt them to the face plate and/or mount them to a 90-degree steel angle piece.
I did a group-buy when I got my Lathe and I paid 1/4 of you. My machine also came directly from Sieg and was very well finished.
I needed to do some tuning of the ways etc but it performs quite well. I did do the same toolpost upgrade though as the exchangeable holders and adjustable heights are so convenient!
How many people did you do the group buy with? And which model Sieg lathe did you buy?
@@pieterveenders9793I think we ended up 13 or 14 lathes, and one mini-mill.
The lathes were Sieg C3 (7x14" lathes). It was however MANY years ago so price is probably relatively good although quality has maybe declined? For my market the machines were red btw.
You can also make the platform more sturdy. By bolting A thick steel piece along the inside.
I loved my little 7x lathe. Best upgrades I did were upgrading to a sewing machine motor (1HP) and put on an electronic lead screw.
I really loved the editing on this one, had me laughing a fair bit!
Yes leveling is important, you can induce a torsional twist in the lathe that causes your cuts to be tapered. Also would be interesting to fit it for CNC work
“I did the only rational thing….” Same moment I thought he’s gonna chop a tool down. That sir is comedy!
Mario 64 teleport SFX used very well. 10/10, watched that bit again.
You can also change the nylon gears. Vevor sells a complete package with steel gears. especially if you change the engine, you will need it.
We need to see how it looks when it's upgraded, WE NEED IT!!!
Not sure if you'll ever read this or it's been said before but try using the dcmt 07 style insert they work incredible and are really cheap. I've tried a lot of different styles of inserts and tools and on a small lathe they are a game changer, definitely for me anyway. Plus the tool holders come in some really nice and affordable prices. Good luck on your machining journey.
For the next upgrade look for a solid toolpost conversion. It gets rid of the shitty compound slide (the thing on the top that you rotate to cut at different angles) and allows you to bolt your toolholder directly to the crosslide. The compound is a major source of chatter so this really helps, and if you need to cut an angle you can always just put the compound back on
I love the way you make your videos, the tf2 sound effects definitely were a nice addition for me.
Thank you!
Great project! I really appreciate the cost breakdown at the end.
It's normal for carbide inserts to have a spacer between the and the toolholder. It's a piece of soft shim stock so that the set screw doesn't crack the carbide and can comply down for a stronger fit!
Great video, I got one did the mods, and a couple of others but I still have a problem with taper across the length of a work piece, tapers in (smaller diameter) close to the chuck, larger diameter at the tailstock end. More to fix.
The headstock on a rocking chair was master class 🤣
i recommend you to install the late closer to the edge clear the handles from the table and its much more comfortable to work with
We gotta get you some feeds and speeds my man
One thing I saw for a workshop upgrade was replace a workbench top with a type of holes surface to bolt things to.
Another really important addition to the workshop would be an old popular mechanics design for a drill press using one of those 30-60 dollar hydrolic jacks, scrap metal, and a welder; it works like that cheap harbor freight press while also being homemade :D. My father had to buy a press for installing bearings on his transmission shaft, as he was damaging the bearings trying to hammer them.
Didnt know about quenching metal in vegtable oil, and will definitely use that technique in the future.
Loved the video :D
Thanks! I really need to get a real press one day aha, as for the oil, used motor oil also works very well because of the high carbon content of it
@@CamdenBowen good to know. The oil tip reminded me of some of the stuff in popular mechanics encyclopedias, like improving vice grip strength by putting a shingle in the middle of the grip and the thing your holding, which is why I think its super cool :D
removing the compound and using a solid block in its place is a good improvement for rigidity.
Remaking the clamping for the saddle is a good idea, i have two brass pieces shimmed to the right clamping pressure.
I was thinking of getting a solid riser block, I don't cut many tapers anyways
The whiplash I feel coming from (recently) mostly inheritance machining is... It
It's something.
Nah but fr, you're where i see myself in a while. Mr IM is where i see myself on a dream
Recommend to anyone who wants a great small affordable lathe with crazy versatility in terms of accessories and tools is sherline lathes. Don’t bother with these. I started with a lathe like this, you very quickly run into problems with these lathes. You’ll spend more time wrestling with these Chinese lathes then you will cutting chips. I’d even recommend sherline lathes over robust second hand lathes due to the fact that it’s so easy to get a lathe and accessories that just work, even though they’ll never compete with the robustness of a large, heavy lathe, they’re way better for hobbyists or small scale manufacturing. And the they’re so easy to move around if you end up moving yourself.
-- Aside from buying chinesium crap and supporting the communists in China... as opposed to Americans in America... think carefully about buying one of these mini lathes from a total cost perspective. Why? Because by the time you add up the initial cost of the lathe itself plus all the time modifying it and possibly chasing around all over for parts plus the cost of the parts themselves... you may very well find that you should have just spent the same amount of money on a far superior lathe while not wasting the time! In my 56 years of experience, I've seen far too many individuals go down the road of trying to get away as cheaply as possible and they almost all ended up getting burned. Caveat emptor!
- Max Giganteum
Looks pretty good! 😁 I've never used one of these mini-tools; but I've restored a few second hand lathes (Colchester Student & Master types) and getting an 'ok' 2nd hand one into fully running state is probably more cost AND more time.
I used to be a machinist. All inserts should be identical such as with your CCMT to conform with standards. However the screw holes in them can be made differently.
I was told change the insert screw for the same make as the inserts and it should fix the issue of it not sitting in the holder.
You're overheating the HSS when you grind aggressively, that destroys the temper and cutting edge becomes soft. Dunk it in water every few SECONDS when you're grinding to keep it cool...
HSS is not magic :)
I will watch anything this man puts out.
you needed to put electricity over on that other table anyway! :) might pick up an arbor press at hf they arent too bad ,even the full 12 ton press is under 300 with an add on air over hydraulic jack on it. cool upgrades i picked up an OLD Montgomery Ward 04TLC-700A Logan lathe at auction ! it too needs lots of work (just starting on it ) and it takes up about 3 times the room as yours not counting the stand got a qc tool holder for it but not on yet , side tracked by plumbing issues at home LOL . good work and have FUN with it!!!!!
Happy snow time. Try to make a multi speed snow cleaner with a compressed air engine (either a piston design,Vankel, that new spinning thing or a turbine.
thanks for the extensive video! I have been contemplating an old machine or maybe a vevor, i think i will stick with looking for an old machine! Cheers
Fair aha, sooner or later I'll probably sell it and put it towards a better machine
@@CamdenBowen in terms of getting good surface finish, do all your roughing cuts at the correct feed and speed, then for the finishing crank up the rpm to 2000 or something, it will be extra shiny! (with a minimum 0.8 nose radius if possible). And Centre height for tooling is extremely important! Always have the tooling on centre height! It changes everything! (as you figured out)
I am definetly exited for the engine with parts from the lathe
I have the same lathe and for some reason the auto feed never worked right it would skip teeth or something and be just awful. Maybe one day I’ll follow your guide to improve that bad boy sitting under my workbench.
Inserts have different relief angles. If the holder is for CC inserts and you try fitting a CN insert then you'll get that issue.
Don't worry so much about the bashlash on the crossfeed. You will always have some backlash and if you're not attacking brass with deep cuts you'll be fine. People get too obcessed with trying to eliminate things that don't matter.
Also, try setting the float on the bearings with the spindle warm. I've seen a newly overhauled machine have it's spindle lock up because the end float was set cold. It was too tight so as the bearings warmed up they put a large amount of preload on the bearings, enough to stop the spindle.
Just went on Facebook marketplace and found a Graziano Sag14 Lathe for $3k and it's in good working condition for reference it's about 4x the size of yours😂😂 not meant to be an insult or anything I just find it funny I found a lathe 4x bigger with a 2x price comparatively
From cheap toy to Oh boy? Mister, you're speaking my lingo.
i got the same one!, it worked way better after a little work. ive done things you shouldnt on it.
No clue why you don’t have more subscribers. You made my day!!
Thank you so much!
Nice. I have an ancient Harbor Freight three in one, that is minimally functional. I actually am going to start making some parts on it next month, so quite the timely video.
I kinda want one of those, but i can find old industrial ones for less than half the price near my house. I don’t have the space so far, but if i can figure out the space one day i will come home with a cheap lathe, or maybe a free one
I don't know how it took me so long to find your channel but this is the kind of content I live for as soon as you chopped that allen wrench off I knew I would like you😅
Thank you!
The lathe, only machine that can make itself.
It's often a good idea for cheap imports like this to tear them down and clean them anyways. one of the ways they keep the prices low are in assembly and fitment; there's grinding dust, casting sand, etc left behind that ruin the tolerances and will mar up the machines surfaces so you will want to clean them and get rid of any burrs. same goes for any tooling you get for it
Congratulations on your new lathe!
I think the tool height is part of your problem. The tip of the tool should be exactly in the moddle of the centerline of your lathe
Yes , it looked to be"above" center.
Maybe you can drill grease holes to/and thru the bearing races in the head stock then outfit them with fittings? Bet it'd work.
@ 8:33 when he lights the blow torch with the space heater that's badass
I bought this exact vevor lathe off-amazon for $500
Mine came with metal gears and fairly precise out the box
I had to file and shim here and there but after 3years its still a great mini machine
Good to know it'll run for 3 years aha, I was a bit worried when I read some horror stories from other people saying after ~20 lathe hours the speed controller gets smoked, though it seems parts are easy to find
Welcome to the club my dude. I have the same lathe- few points.
The tailstock is a disaster.
The motor isn't that bad as long as you don't try 50 thousandths cuts in 4140.
Keep the gibs adjusted.
When you have the money, buy a better one.
Angular contact bearings are the way to go for these lathes and they are the same thickness as the roller bearings and work in the same way as tapered bearings do.
Pro tip: hot/cold bearing installation method works significantly better, if you hold the bearing stationary, and drop the shaft into it, from the top. Yes, this doesn't seem to make much sense when you think about it, but it makes all the difference in practice, like night and day difference.
A bearing is to small to position it perfectly perpendicular to the shaft, it always goes on crooked and jams, and the heat instantly starts to equalize at the point of contact, the bearing instantly shrinks the shaft expands, while the bearing is still crooked, and when you try to fix it, the heat is already uneven and it's too late, plus you are very likely to make it even more crooked by "helping" it go down.
But
If you hold the bearing stationary, I usually open my vise, and put the bearing on top of the jaws (not in the jaws, on top) and secure it with couple of small magnets, and you drop the shaft through, and I literally mean drop it, the shaft will somewhat "self center" while falling down, and even if it gets stuck, a good whack with a rubber mallet will push it forward easily, because it won't be stuck crooked, it will be semi-stuck but straight.
Also, lubrication seems to have widely inconsistent impact, sometimes it helps, but sometimes, it acts as a thermal bridge, equalizing the temperature way too fast. I found that only silicone based lubricants seems to be working, any other oils or lubricants have way to high thermal conductivity. Alternatively, if you don't have a silicone lubricant, just don't use any, it counterintuitively works better without it (no thermal bridge), or, only lubricate the actual part of the shaft the bearing is supposed to sit on (not the bearing, only the shaft), so nothing gets lubricated along the way until the bearing reaches its designated spot.
I've been doing bearing replacements on my two stroke crankshaft this way, and it almost always goes perfectly straight in one go, without even having to use mallet, just gravity, and in the rare case it doesn't, a whack with a fist is sufficient, in fact, using a fist is much much faster than using a mallet, because toyr brain doesn't have to think about aiming, and you save precious seconds while both parts are still at different temperature.
Also, the bearing, provided it's not a sealed bearing and it has no lubricant at the time of installation, should be quite hot, I usually check by flicking some water droplets on it with my fingers, if the water instantly evaporates it's the right temp, but if the water sizzles, it's a bit too high.
Great walkthrough!
Brilliant! Thank you, love your videos and the style.
Thanks!
I'm so happy you got a lathe.
Cool lathe! I just got exactly the same one. But mine has a small lever behind with Right/Stop/Left feed selection. Putting it into Stop kinda holds the carriage.
Many miles to go before you have fixed "everything" wrong with your mini-lathe but that's a pretty good start.
Next time you have to install bearings like that, just go to a welding supply store and get some liquid nitrogen. Its really cheap and theyll usually rent you a container to get the LN2 to your shop. Putting the shaft outside in "the cold" does nothing, if you can survive in the temperature then it will not cause metal to expand or contract by an amount to matter.
Cool stuff, there are plenty of guides others have made for improving a minilathe too!
This Old Tony did an extenstive upgrade on his where he replaced the plastic gears and that made a huge difference.
for 60$ or so you can order a set of metal replacements, but for my case since I'm not cutting threads very often (if at all) I'll just rock the plastic gears until one of them strips a tooth or something
note to everybody .. never, ever do that with two fingers in a bearing .. when the bearing seizes take a moment and think what that does to your jammed-in fingers
😁🤣😂🤣😂🥰🥰🤗, same lathe (except bigger motor) same problems. Thanks for some answers. Mine has an unresolvable(?) tick in it too. Needed the carriage lock. I want to use the feed screw for prime y though so I want bearings on it too...best clean accurate y, no align needed. Need better feed screw...locked it has a 2mm play....I'll need a horsewhip for that back-lash...thanks!
Hehe, the gun falling out of the wallet was top notch how-europeans-see-americans.
i would love to see you upgrade that thing in gradual steps so that a complete amature like me has a future chance to dig into a lathe.
I love watching machining videos vs wood working videos.
Wood working... "Watch me sand and stain this $2 table I found in a parking lot"
Machining... "Watch me use $200,000 worth metal working tools to make this other tool work I just bought, work"
That wooden surface is going to vibrate nicely underneath the lathe because wood has some flex. Buy a 1 to 2 inch thick slab of something heavy to go between the lathe and the table surface, and the extra mass will nicely damp vibrations.
Repurposing a 2.5 inch thick granite tombstone gets the job of "immovable object" done nicely.
@@DH-xw6jpSink cutouts from countertops are a solid (literally) option and can be had for between free and a 6 pack of beer
That grease packing hurt me😂 Probably doesnt matter too much in this application, though.