[Nickgold123]

I need a mini lathe to make the battery section of personal vaporizers and can't decide which one to get. I just want precision, ease of use, and a high quality machine.
I'll be turning 3/4" and 1" Copper pipes / tubes and blank cylindrical stock for 20/1 threaded caps, lathing 1/8" battery contacts, and hopefully carving different designs on the tubes. I need threading capability, and depending on business in the future, would like cnc capabilities down the road.
I'm battling between the grizzly mini metal lathe, micro mark 7x16, or one of the sherline models.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[awerby]

The Sherline lathes are smaller but more precise than the Asian mini-lathes, and there are more accessoiries available for it. They do threading with a series of gears, which are available in Imperial as well as metric sizes. CNC capability is easy to add to the Sherline lathes by getting Sherline's motors, motor mounts, and controller. And we can give you a discount off the list prices.

Andrew Werby

[Nickgold123]

Who is "we"?


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[awerby]

Me and my tapeworm...

[Nickgold123]

Well if you and your tapeworm have a link or a discount code I'd like to look into it. Lol


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[awerby]

Sorry; I paid to be a member so my signature line would appear as I wrote it, but that seems to have stopped working, for some reason. That little "website" link at the bottom of the page should get you to my site, though -it's at computersculpture "dot" com. There's no discount code, but I do offer a discount on Sherline products. Send me an email describing what you want, and I'll give you a quote.

Here's another: Mark Twain quotes

[Nickgold123]

Ok cool. Thanks


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[russormrod]

What's your budget


Russ

[Nickgold123]

Under $1,000 for the unit


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[russormrod]

Roger. The sherline is a good little lathe. May be spending a little more than that but your looking at the right lathe for what you're trying to accomplish. How many parts are you trying to produce?


Russ

[Nickgold123]

Honestly I haven't thought about that yet. I guess it depends on how fast I can produce them. I need it more for fine tuning the prototype, and also for producing newer models.
I would say 200 at most before I move on to another model


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[russormrod]

Any production on a manual machine will be obviously very labor intensive and slow. Repeat ability and part consistency is tough to achieve.


You really want cnc especially if you have families of parts. You don't need anything special but even a decent small cnc lathe will be costly if your budget is $1k


Russ

[russormrod]

And I was referring to used not new.


Russ

[Nickgold123]

I agree. That's why I want one that is cnc ready or able to be converted in the future


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[russormrod]

You don't need tight tolerances or crazy features. Just a 2 axis lathe. I would seriously look at a 20+ year old cnc lathe with fanuc. You can find them all over eBay for 5k. If you have the jobs lined up the $4k difference would pay for itself very quickly. I just saw an older mori seiki on eBay for $5k and it's in good condition. Check your local cnc machine tool distributors for any trade ins they may have or customers they may know about trying to sell some older used equipment.


Russ

[russormrod]

It sounds like overkill but it's something to look into. A bigger machine will give you flexibility to get more work down the road.


Russ

[Nickgold123]

I like your thinking Russ. This is more of a hobby that makes a good profit. Honestly I do it for bragging rights on performance and craftsmanship more than anything else.
But "a 20+ year old cnc lathe with fanuc" has been added to my personal notes in case things change in the future.



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[russormrod]

Hey man just because it's a big boy name like mori doesn't mean it can't still be a hobby. Good luck man. Hard work and determination will pay off.


Russ

[russormrod]

Oh forgot to mention check out jet lathes. We have one in our tool room. I think new they are just over $2k but they are a beefier machine.


Russ

[Nickgold123]

Good point. I was looking at them briefly but haven't read into the reviews. They look like a well built machine


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