New lathe = cheap things for you!

hey kiy, how much did you get your mini lathe for. And where from.
I used to work on the massive lathe at school after hours with my metals teacher, but he left for another school and i dont like they new teacher.

Might be researching some lathes and how to use it (safely).
I need to know everything about the subject before i buy one.


Thanks, Luke.

well its a Harbor Freight mini lathe 9x20 it normal goes for 1,000$ in store but i found a guy on craigs list for much cheaper and with a few accessories. 500 ish.
But there are many other good ones there is a mini lathe and mill from bolton hardware for around 640$ on amazon.
5" x 7" Mini Combo Lathe/Mill at Bolton Hardware
i was looking at that one very much till i saw this deal on craigs list.
as far as price i would not charge much.
but i have a few projects on the list atm.
so it might take a few days to get to work on it.
and as far as fins go i had a few ideas but am unsure if you would like them.
I can cut fins with my band saw so it would be more like a processor heat sink then the one in a pic the difference is there would only be fins on 3 of the sides and the bottom would have none for mounting reasons.

kiyoukan said:

no my problem is under that.
If you look at that 3rd axis you will see a dial if you look under that you will see 3 screw that is what hold it bolted down.
That is what seems to be my problem.
Seeing as i am not using that Axis any way i wanted to know if i could get rid of it somehow.

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Sounds like stripped holes in the compound or cheap bolts, take it apart and fix the sloppy part whatever it may be. you will need the compound so you can adjust for tool geometry and clearances of the chuck, tooling and work piece.

Even if you fixed it you could make any tool post you want to mount on the cross slide. If you have a welder then that cuts down on time and cost of making a tool post.

Iv been a job shop machinist 18 years and have a smithy midas 1220 lathe mill combo in my home shop, its a dandy machine. Iv made 2 engines and a bunch of odds and ends.

The HF 9 X 20 has good yahoo groups with info on modding the machines so they do great work them. People build small engines and stuff with them every day that are incredible.

you get your lathe tuned up a little and It will be sweet.

good luck, Mike.

How about making polygone mirror blanks?
Meaning Aluminum hex barr stock or stock with even more sides cut into 1/4" or 1/2" slices with a centerd pilot hole and a centerd hip for set screw mounting on a shaft?

i could make those but i would have to go out and buy more metal. also i cant make a mirror finish but i could make one you add mirrors to.

I wish I had a lathe. I was a Plastic Injection Mold-Maker/Machinist for 10 years + high school shop, and two years of Machine Shop/Mold-makining in college. I can machine pretty much anything out of any material with the right machine and tooling.(Titanium is a bitch to machine though.)

I just finished making my custom 445nm/1W on my brothers' father-in-laws lathe. I'm just waiting for my boost drive to assemble. Diode came today.

I made the heatsink out of "Thermo-Mould" Copper alloy that I got at Ellwood Specialty Metals here in Windsor, Ontario. I'll probably post a thread with Pics. The sink is .735" in diameter. I had to bore out the host with a boring bar to fit it. Because the boring bar was a bit flexible or because the lathe is so old, the hole diameter is .735 at the beginning of the hole and .732 towords the bottom. I just machined the same small taper on the sink and press fit it into the aluminum host head.

This is the host:
Focalprice.com offers 200mW 532nm Adjustable Green Beam Laser Pointer with Lock (Black) ,discount 200mW 532nm Adjustable Green Beam Laser Pointer with Lock (Black),200mW 532nm Adjustable Green Beam Laser Pointer with Lock (Black) products,low price 2

The adjustable focus should be awesome. On one end of the focusing travel(movement) the laser will be columated, and every thing else will be for burning.

kiyoukan said:

i could make those but i would have to go out and buy more metal. also i cant make a mirror finish but i could make one you add mirrors to.

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I have lathe and mill but no tooling and no knowlege to work with yet. how much would barr stock cost? consider the biggest throw you can work with.
I have a way to polish the polygon mirror blanks to a mirror finish. I just need some to work with. this is not a priority request.

well on my 9x20 lathe i can hold very large stocks. but my chuck maxes out a 4in. but i do have a face plate i can bolt to and hold much larger things.
If you send me a sketch with dimensions i can see what i can work out.
I poped my cherry last night.
I broke my first belt for my lathe!
And i found a store less than 9miles from me that sells the replacement parts!
So yay, now lets hope these new belts last a long time.
The guy i bought it from said each belt should last a whole year but due to buying this lathe used i have no idea how old the belt on the machine was.
thinking maybe it is a pulley alignment issue i am going to check before the new belt goes on but i hope not.

Got my heatsinks yesterday. The small ones are perfect!! The OD on the larger ones are a little too big but I've got someone nearby who I think can turn them down a tad for me.
Thanks for the great service!!!!