I'm located in Oshkosh WI. Thanks to all who have sent replies to my post. I have taken it all in and have broadened my search. I'm getting near retirement and don't want to sit on my **** and watch TV all day. I have always loved "hands on" work, and have worked in the HVAC-R field. I can't honestly say that I have a definite project in mind, but I do love putting "gadgets" together with small motors, such as an auger feed to use on my smoker, and in doing those projects find that a part I might need isn't readily available at the local hardware store, if at all. Being bale to make the part myself would be very helpful, and also fun.
Hello, kehster,
You've done one thing right, so far, asking for second-hand advice, rather than getting expensive first-hand experience and becoming unhappy.
Unfortunately, there is 'no free lunch'. The small bench lathe you seek is also sought by many, many others, and prices for serviceable ones will reflect that scarcity.
The very term 'bench lathe' can be confusing. At one time, many years ago, it referred to a type of lathe which was specialised for very small work, and did not have a 'carriage' like larger lathes, nor power feeds.
Over time, 'bench lathe' has come to generally mean a miniature version of an 'engine lathe', which has a carriage and a lead-screw for cutting threads, and, usually, a power feed for carriage longitudinal travel.
Unfortunately, quite a number of oriental makers have flooded the market with 'joke machines', aimed at newbies to machining. One of the 'authorities on the subject', Forrest Addy (whose writings you may find on practicalmachinist.com), has described them charitably as 'a do-it-yourself lathe kit'.
There were several makes of miniature lathes which are good ones, but you will have a challenge before you to find one, and to find one which hasn't been badly worn by an abusive previous owner.
Of these, the South Bend and Logan makes are the most often found.
(there are several other good makes, the Sheldon, for example....Dan Sheldon, now deceased, was a friend of mine.....his family built good lathes.....and, there are others......research and learn, before you invest your $$$)
They can be found, most often, sadly, at estate sales.
To learn what you will need to know before you invest in any lathe, go to the practical machinist internet board, confess yourself a newbie, and ask for guidance.....literally hundreds of newbies have done so, over the years, and the old-timers there, many of whom are retired machinists or engineers, patiently take the time to help out the newbies.......partly cos they remember being newbies themselves, many years ago, and partly cos they enjoy seeing the 'success stories' of this or that newbie showing off photos of a restored lathe or mill, and precision work they have done. (put in your query in the 'antique machinery and history' page of the practical machinist board, or the South Bend people's page)
The obvious 'starting point' for consideration of the purchase of any lathe is to first determine the 'work envelope' you may wish or need to have.......you can do teeny-tiny parts on, say a 9" South Bend, or a Myford, but, if you have larger work in mind, those just won't do, as they simply haven't the power or rigidity to cut larger parts, except with whole days spent doing slow, gentle light cuts. (and, yes, some hobbyists have had the patience to do just that.....you can see beautiful miniature steam engines and suchlike on the internet)
You also need to understand the level of precision you will require......'blacksmith' class work is one thing, 'common machine tolerances' is another, and ultra-precise 'instrument work', such as clock-building yet another.....'high-level precision costs money, how precisely do you need to work?'
On edit.........If you succeed in finding yourself a good serviceable small lathe, the next step is to correctly foundation it, if you want to do good work with it.......some years ago, I put in that info, from government specs back during the war, which has been saved as a 'sticky' post in the Monarch page of the practical machinist site.....read about how they did good work on small lathes, for the war effort.....the same principles apply today.
cheers
Carla
