Who has a Milling Machine and Lathe at home?

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SLOPAR72

SLOPAR72

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Morning guys. So I am wanting to get a Mill and a Lathe. To the point what do you have that suits your needs at home? I am basically a Virgin with these machines though I have been around them a bunch and my dad is a well salted Machinist now retired. I have several reasons for wanting one and it will be used for my job and at this point I see purchasing one no different than someone who buys a big toolbox.....

I have plenty of space, good concrete, and single phase power but 3 phase would not be an obstacle honestly. I have formed many opinions and would like to see what you guys respond with. Tolerances within .001 is fine and efficiency is not necessarily a must.

Thanks in advance,
JW
 
SLOPAR72 said:
Morning guys. So I am wanting to get a Mill and a Lathe. To the point what do you have that suits your needs at home? I am basically a Virgin with these machines though I have been around them a bunch and my dad is a well salted Machinist now retired. I have several reasons for wanting one and it will be used for my job and at this point I see purchasing one no different than someone who buys a big toolbox.....

I have plenty of space, good concrete, and single phase power but 3 phase would not be an obstacle honestly. I have formed many opinions and would like to see what you guys respond with. Tolerances within .001 is fine and efficiency is not necessarily a must.

Thanks in advance,
JW
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I have a small lathe milling machine combo. It is neat to have, and I can figure out a way to do most of the stuff I want to do on it. But if I were to do it over, I`d get the biggest machines I had room for, or could afford.
 
famous bob said:
I have a small lathe milling machine combo. It is neat to have, and I can figure out a way to do most of the stuff I want to do on it. But if I were to do it over, I`d get the biggest machines I had room for, or could afford.
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That's exactly what I have read over and over. A true machinist will beat down the combo machines and I understand why if you work with bigger equipment constantly but the scope of my work is actually pretty small. I don't want to bring a Grenade to a Balloon fight with this lol and am hoping responses come from people who are able to make small machines do what they need and that is exactly what your reply tells me....

Thanks,
JW
 
I have a german lathe from the 60's it's sweet and I have a a knee mill . when buying a mill I recommend getting one with power x and power y . also I suggest a D.R.O. and one with variable speeds without changing belts of course these are not needed but make the experience much nicer . the D.R.O. Is the best thing since sliced bread .
 
Depends on the work you want to do. I am a gunsmith. I have and use daily a Southbend 9A lathe, and a Clausing 8525 knee mill. Both are from the 1950's and suit my needs well. But again, I am a Gunsmith and I do small work. I have run up against the size limitations of my machines many times. As jimmyjimmy mentioned DRO(s) are AWESOME to have. Everyting you want to do can absolutely be done without dro's, but is magnitudes faster and simpler with them.

Personally I will eventually step up to a slightly larger lathe with a larger through bore (my main limitation is the 3C collet system on the south bend) and a dro. Something on the order of a 10' grizzly gunsmith lathe. I will probably keep my Clausing mill always (it is perfect in so many ways) but I bought a cnc mill to automate some of what I do, (just a Chinese syil unit) and will add a full sized Bridgeport knee mill with dro capability and power feeds.

There are a TON of great machining videos on youtube and some of the absolute best are by an old shop teacher named mrpete222. Herenis the first video in a series of 3 by him on "how to buy a lathe" All of mrpete222's videos are gold.

If you have any specific questions just ask and I will try to help. There is a lot to consider, but dive in! Machining is extremely satisfying and fun!

Best

CE
 
Oh, you are correct to stay away from the combo machines unless it is all that is available. They are better than nothing, but don't do as well as truly dedicated machines.
 
My next door neighbor has a Bridgeport, lathe, and a host of other machines in his machine shop/garage! The Bridgeport runs 3 phase, but is the most versatile machine in the shop! We make all kinds of stuff on that thing, and he knows how to run it! He was a plant manager and got all of his machines when the plant closed and the company sold!
 
I have both in my home shop but also have a farm that has to fix machinery.
I am a machinist by trade and dad is a professional welder.

We converted our lathe and Bridgeport over so single phase.
We swap out the 3 phase motors with single phase. Then make a coupler to mate the shafts together.
The wiring we get a good electrician with brains to make it all work. The lathe has a seperate button to switch it into reverse if needed.
The Bridgeport works like normal for forward and reverse.
 
Keep it coming guys. I will respond later.... Gotta get a garage door up lol....

Thanks,
JW
 
I bought an old wwII era lathe. Monarch 18in swing, 6ft bed, taper attachment, cam lock chucks. Heavy as hell, built like a brick $hit house. I would guess it weigh's about 7 or 8k #. Don't know for sure. It's 3ph, so I'll have to get a phase converter. I hope it works, cause it is one big paper weight, otherwise.
 
rustycowll69 said:
I bought an old wwII era lathe. Monarch 18in swing, 6ft bed, taper attachment, cam lock chucks. Heavy as hell, built like a brick $hit house. I would guess it weigh's about 7 or 8k #. Don't know for sure. It's 3ph, so I'll have to get a phase converter. I hope it works, cause it is one big paper weight, otherwise.
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You lose some efficiency, but some just get a single ph motor & couple it to a 3 ph motor and run the single ph using the 3 ph to generate the power for the machine. I was
told by the power company I would have to foot the bill to run 3ph from the main drag up the hill to My place & mount a set of transformers there, at the time(late 90's) it
was in the mid-$20K's, that wasn't happenin'!!!
 
I don't mind buying a phase converter, but I hope I can figure out how to wire it up, myself. I've only hired an electrician, once, and that ba$tard, took my money, did about half the job, and left me to finish the job.
 
The problem with the phase converter is that it lags to get the power. And takes time to spool up. It just flat out sucks. (My experience)
A single phase 2 horse motor is about 200 bucks. And maybe 50 bucks to convert it over. The wiring is simple if you understand wires.
Last I heard the phase converter is 2 grand?
If your in a rural area go find a good agricultural electrician or an Ole timer with brains. The young in experienced ones like to take your cash and scratch their heads because their book didn't tell them
 
For three phase motors, don't forget a VFD... Variable Frequency Drive. It's a nice compromise for powering three phase from single phase.
 
Thanks for all the info guys. The one thing that keeps sticking in my head is why do I need a 3phase powered Mill that I never see getting used to it's full potential? I guess it comes back to my question of is a J head type Bridgeport just too much? I don't know because it could lead into other things down the road....

As for the power, I would definitely consider a VFD and steer away from a rotary phase converter. What I can't figure out I certainly have a controls electrician that I consider the top of his field.

And then there is pricing. I see a BP for 1500.00 with no vise, tooling, and the sellers just seem to not have much info. I have seen them in the 3500.00 range with tooling and at this point in the game I would rather pay a greater amount and trust the seller and know I am not getting a garage ornament.

One thing for sure is those of you with the skills and equipment make me jealous lol....

JW
 
I've never run a BP, but I've run several lathes, and horizontal mills, etc when I was a machinist 30 yrs ago. If you can get a Mill with rapid traverse, power feeds, and variable speeds that would be great. Digital readout is very helpful, as is additional tooling. Watch for gouges in the ways, or table. and excessive slop in the crossfeed screws.
 
My boss had a Bridgeport in his garage and a lathe. I spent more saturdays off at the shop playing on the equipment than working. First piece I made was a centering bushing for Chevy Centerline rims onto Mopar hubs. Centerlines turned out to be hubcentric as there is no wobble rolling on the Mopar hubs. I need one!
 
Looks like it may be a patient wait for the right one to come up for sale. I have a man who has run BP's all his life and is going to do an evaluation for me once I get the right BP in my crosshairs lol....

JW
 
mopowers said:
Man, I'd love to have a small table top lathe to make little pieces like in this article:

How to Modify Holley Regulator to Full Bypass

How much do used small lathes go for, anyway? What are their footprints?
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Do a periodic search on Craigslist. Unfortunately most people want Ferrari money for Yugo equipment, but negotiate. A decent South Bend 9a can be had for $400 to $1200 depending on condition, bed length etc. I got the 9a with a 4' bed I use daily for $250, but that was a 1 in 1000 type deal. As to footprint they go from coffee table (sherline type) to as big as you can imagine. If you find one you want a remote second opinion on, I'll do what I can without actually being there.
 
I don't have a mill and not sure where to put it if I did. I did get a Southbend 9A sitting on a gunsmith's cabinet, well heeled unit with plenty of accessories including collet setup. so far it has been not only fun, but has bailed me out on a number of jobs where you can stop a second, knock out what you need, get back to work all without having to run around town trying to find a special bolt or bushing etc. and still come home empty handed.

In the photo below you see wheels on the lathe cabinet....these were for when cleaning the machine and going over it during inspection and such. It now resides on very heavy set of adjusting feet so to level the beast.

lathe before.jpg


lathe after.jpg
 
I also have a south bend 9A lathe.keep missing out on small mills that come up for sale. I use lathe often,to make specific parts or to work on some hair-brained idea. I second visiting youtube's mr pete 222 also known as tubalcain. a wealth of information.
My lathe is just over 4 feet long and 2 feet deep on the wide end.
 
bigaadams said:
I don't have a mill and not sure where to put it if I did. I did get a Southbend 9A sitting on a gunsmith's cabinet, well heeled unit with plenty of accessories including collet setup. so far it has been not only fun, but has bailed me out on a number of jobs where you can stop a second, knock out what you need, get back to work all without having to run around town trying to find a special bolt or bushing etc. and still come home empty handed.

In the photo below you see wheels on the lathe cabinet....these were for when cleaning the machine and going over it during inspection and such. It now resides on very heavy set of adjusting feet so to level the beast.

View attachment 1715043942

View attachment 1715043943
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I like the drawers for tooling beneath the lathe.
 
I have a little SB 9" and a Jet mill-drill. I would never claim to be a machinist.

so far as 3 phase, you cannot always replace 3 phase motors, as some mills, etc have dedicated specialized motors that you simply cannot "belt replace" so to speak. Your only real choice is to

1....Make a custom mount to replace a specialized motor

2....Use some sort of phase converter

3....Use an expensive VFD. "Name your poison."

A simple motorized phase converter DOES work, they are not that expensive "used" if you have th eroom.
 
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