User Panel
User Panel
User Panel
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 6:37:34 PM EDT
[Last Edit: RocketmanOU]
[#1]
I love my Rockwell 11x36
 
|
|
|
|
GA, USA
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 6:38:02 PM EDT
[Last Edit: giantpune]
[#2]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Dragynn: That is pretty cool stuff! Was looking at that machine on HF's site, would you say it's worth the $730.00 bucks or so it costs or should it be cheaper for what it is? @Millennial In my experience, it was worth it for the sake of figuring out if you want to get into the hobby or not. At least, its worth the price you pay when you hit them with the 25% off coupon. The mill and lathe are decent enough quality that you can take time to dial them in really well and they can cut wood, plastic, aluminum, steel, and even titanium. I was able to make some really cool, albeit fairly small projects. You can try the hobby out and see if its something you'll enjoy and stick with. Cost to try it out is under a grand. But once the HF mill or lathe breaks, thats it. Don't bother sinking money into it to try and fix it. By that time, you know whether or not you will stick with the hobby. If you are gonna keep at it, put the HF one in the trash and get something better. |
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 6:46:50 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Ridgerunner9876: Their prices look to have considerably gone up. I misspoke when I said my buddy had the gunsmith lathe. I remember him going back and forth between that one and the 14x40 ultra precision with the same spindle bore but made in taiwan and carrying the bigger price tag. He went for the better one. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Ridgerunner9876: Originally Posted By batmanacw: The smallest PM Taiwanese lathe is the PM1236. It starts at $7k. My Chinese 1030v is around $3500 when I bought mine and it came with the dro. I'd love to dump my 1030v for a Taiwanese PM lathe someday.... Their prices look to have considerably gone up. I misspoke when I said my buddy had the gunsmith lathe. I remember him going back and forth between that one and the 14x40 ultra precision with the same spindle bore but made in taiwan and carrying the bigger price tag. He went for the better one. I bought a PM1236 Chinese. It does a pretty good job but if I had it to do over, I'd go for the one your friend bought. For a mill, I bought a Series I BP 2 HP. For my home workshop, they are good machines and I'm happy with them.. |
|
|
|
OR, USA
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 6:51:39 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Ridgerunner9876: Little lathes can be frustrating. Also, they have two lines. Chinese and Taiwan and there is no comparison. Not sure which yours is. My friends is a taiwan 14x40 but with the larger spindle hole they call the gunsmith lathe. For the money, it's a peach. I ordered the 9x35 mill. Just didnt have room for the bigger one. Besides, itll mostly be single holes or squaring up stock. Got 1ph step pulley because the varispeed was still a month out. Grew up with step pulleys so, no problem. Lot quieter, too. Power feed, DRO, installed, shipped,lift gate, tax exempt, 9500 to my door. Spindle bore is a hard part with selecting a lathe. That's the only downfall to my Hardinge. Plus, with the collet closer installed I loose probably 0.125" of diameter and it adds length to the headstock when trying to pass a barrel through. |
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:01:18 PM EDT
[#5]
I snagged a barely used 1996 vintage Atrump 1340 gear head from a liquidation company I found through Craigslist in 2003.
I was nervous as I bought it without it running but was very happy to only find phenolic, brass and nylon chips when I cleaned it up. It had never turned anything harder than brass. I paid $2000.00 for it plus $50.00 for them to deliver it. It was a good gamble. |
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:02:50 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Ridgerunner9876: There's work out there. Set up an Etse page selling widgets. Costs nothing to be a sole proprietor doing business as. DBA Batman Precision. Boom. All your cleaning supplies, tools, materials, storage, paper supplies, computers, phone, etc....deducted. Another thing is Ohio has pass through income for sole proprietors. You dont pay state income tax up to a pretty substantial amount of income. 250k for a couple. So, that's nice.  I need to hire a cpa so I can learn about all this stuff....I do small jobs on occasion. |
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:17:34 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By hockeysew: I snagged a barely used 1996 vintage Atrump 1340 gear head from a liquidation company I found through Craigslist in 2003. I was nervous as I bought it without it running but was very happy to only find phenolic, brass and nylon chips when I cleaned it up. It had never turned anything harder than brass. I paid $2000.00 for it plus $50.00 for them to deliver it. It was a good gamble. You did very well on that one! |
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:24:34 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuote HistoryOriginally Posted By 0100010: Originally Posted By Andr0id: It's best to form some sort of rudimentary lathe from the materials in your environment.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pK3O43JddgI'm seriously addicted to this guy's videos. |
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:25:52 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By giantpune: In my experience, it was worth it for the sake of figuring out if you want to get into the hobby or not. At least, its worth the price you pay when you hit them with the 25% off coupon. The mill and lathe are decent enough quality that you can take time to dial them in really well and they can cut wood, plastic, aluminum, steel, and even titanium. I was able to make some really cool, albeit fairly small projects. You can try the hobby out and see if its something you'll enjoy and stick with. Cost to try it out is under a grand. But once the HF mill or lathe breaks, thats it. Don't bother sinking money into it to try and fix it. By that time, you know whether or not you will stick with the hobby. If you are gonna keep at it, put the HF one in the trash and get something better. Yeah but the thing is, i'm not looking to make milling into a hobby or make money making products, for me it would just be another addition to my arsenal of tools I have in the shop that I use to work on my other hobbies. Kinda like my benchtop drill press, I don't use it very often, but when I need it, it's a godsend. So many times i've needed something to shape a small piece of metal for a gun part and such that is fairly precision. It's a lot of money though for an occasional tool, I have several other HF tools, and I know now going in i'll have to do some work on new HF machines before using them, but they were all under $100 bucks. |
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:29:31 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By hockeysew: I snagged a barely used 1996 vintage Atrump 1340 gear head from a liquidation company I found through Craigslist in 2003. I was nervous as I bought it without it running but was very happy to only find phenolic, brass and nylon chips when I cleaned it up. It had never turned anything harder than brass. I paid $2000.00 for it plus $50.00 for them to deliver it. It was a good gamble. Linen phenolic or g10? 
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:32:52 PM EDT
[#11]
I have one of the small Grizzly branded ones - don't recall the size offhand, but I believe it is the second or third smallest, so a step bigger than the HF model IIRC.
Does it have a lot of limitations? Absolutely. Would I like a better machine. You bet. But I can't justify the expense. I mostly just turn spacers/bushing and small mandrels from polymer (delrin or PTFE), aluminum, or brass. It's also an occasional thing - it is one of my least used tools, but is indispensable when I do need it. As it is, the mini lathe is able to get the job done for my very limited needs. |
|
|
|
GA, USA
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:39:41 PM EDT
[Last Edit: giantpune]
[#12]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Dragynn: Yeah but the thing is, i'm not looking to make milling into a hobby or make money making products, for me it would just be another addition to my arsenal of tools I have in the shop that I use to work on my other hobbies. Kinda like my benchtop drill press, I don't use it very often, but when I need it, it's a godsend. So many times i've needed something to shape a small piece of metal for a gun part and such that is fairly precision. It's a lot of money though for an occasional tool, I have several other HF tools, and I know now going in i'll have to do some work on new HF machines before using them, but they were all under $100 bucks. The cost of the machine is only half the cost. You'll spend that much again on tooling, work holding, and metrology. Then with the HF ones, several hundred more upgrading them. And in the end, still be limited by the size of parts you can cut in them. Thats gonna be a personal call if you want to sink that much into something you use twice a year and the rest of the time it takes up 10-15sqft of your work bench. |
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:43:16 PM EDT
[#13]
I've been looking into lathes but I only have 1 buffer tube I want to modify so can't really justify it not to mention I don't know how to operate it.
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:53:08 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Commando223: I've been looking into lathes but I only have 1 buffer tube I want to modify so can't really justify it not to mention I don't know how to operate it. I have flash hiders that have turned into rifles. Surely you can justify a new hobby to feed a current hobby 
|
|
|
|
TX, USA
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:53:44 PM EDT
[Last Edit: mvintx]
[#15]
If you want a project, get the HF lathe. If you want something that works right out of the box, Precision Mathews or Little Machine Shop. Be prepared to spend at least an additional $500 for tooling and measuring tools. My LMS 7 X 16 lathe is made by Seig and I've had zero problems with it. Guess I got lucky.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 7:57:12 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By McGuy: I like a lot of things from HF, but would never consider buying a lathe from them.  Attached File |
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 8:01:23 PM EDT
[#17]
Keep an eye on govdeals for lathes, mills, grinders, presses, etc within driving distance. I threw an opening bid on a 14” swing Logan Powermatic a high school was getting rid of back in October and actually won it. $500 for a 2300 lb full sized American lathe from the 70s. Now I just need a shop to put it in.
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 8:17:14 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By giantpune: The cost of the machine is only half the cost. You'll spend that much again on tooling, work holding, and metrology. Then with the HF ones, several hundred more upgrading them. And in the end, still be limited by the size of parts you can cut in them. Thats gonna be a personal call if you want to sink that much into something you use twice a year and the rest of the time it takes up 10-15sqft of your work bench. Sucks being one of the poors.  If I ever win the lotto, you'll know it was me, story will be "Redneck in middle-of-nowhere wins lotto, won't upgrade 2 bdr/1 bath house, instead builds 20,000 sq, ft shop and buys 2 million dollars worth of machinery and tools". |
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 8:22:04 PM EDT
[#19]
Didn't read all the replies and I don't do metal.
But I've had one of their 12x33" wood lathes going on 6yrs with no issues. |
|
|
|
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 8:47:00 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Need4Guns: Didn't read all the replies and I don't do metal. But I've had one of their 12x33" wood lathes going on 6yrs with no issues. A wood lathe is an entirely different beast. |
|
|
|
OH, USA
|
Posted: 5/12/2024 8:48:16 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Millennial]
[#21]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Dragynn: That is pretty cool stuff! Was looking at that machine on HF's site, would you say it's worth the $730.00 bucks or so it costs or should it be cheaper for what it is? @Millennial Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Dragynn: Originally Posted By Millennial: Ehhh, Harbor Freight desktop machines work fine if you understand their capabilities and work within their limitations. I used my HF machines to ad a nighthawk IOS optic cut on my 1911 slide. Cut the slide for the island barrel too. https://www.1911addicts.com/attachments/aa2f6d62-138e-4956-a994-c9c7336b6aeb-jpeg.1226420/ https://www.1911addicts.com/attachments/142d7ecf-5661-460d-8705-6452789e6627-jpeg.1226430/ https://www.1911addicts.com/attachments/8e5bb71c-8ba0-4df2-a7a3-363abf9642ea-jpeg.1226427/ https://www.1911addicts.com/attachments/d719c235-2a0c-4408-a516-0098dacc6f46-jpeg.1226429/ https://www.1911addicts.com/attachments/ab15709f-a058-4781-b35d-035f85147e01-jpeg.1226426/ That is pretty cool stuff! Was looking at that machine on HF's site, would you say it's worth the $730.00 bucks or so it costs or should it be cheaper for what it is? @Millennial No, not really worth that now. I got it for 300 something 15 years ago. Nowadays I’d spend just a little more and get a CNC or something CNC-conversion ready. |
|
|
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.
