Tag: Mini-lathe

These tables are extracted and slightly updated from the Home Shop Machinist index at http://www.homeshopmachinist.net/resources/article-index/ and the Machinist’s Workshop index at http://www.machinistsworkshop.net/resources/article-index/. I don’t promise to keep this up-to-date, so consider the original sources as definitive…

Home Shop Machinist

Article Title	Author	Page	Subject	Issue
Notes on the 7 x 10 Mini-Lathe – Harbor Freight Model 33684	Joe Mroz	41	Hobby Community	HSM Vol. 21 No. 4 Jul-Aug 2002
T-slotted Faceplate for the Mini-lathe, A	Sandro Di Filippo	10	Lathes	HSM Vol. 30 No. 4 Jul-Aug 2011
Additions and Modifications to a Mini-lathe	Ted Hansen	29	Shop Machinery	HSM Vol. 31 No. 5 Sep-Oct 2012
A+M: Making a Faceplate or Chuck Adapter	Ted Hansen	42	Lathes	HSM Vol. 31 No. 6 Nov-Dec 2012
A+M: Apron Upgrades	Ted Hansen	49	Lathes	HSM Vol. 32 No. 1 Jan-Feb 2013
A+M: Bed Wipers & Carriage Ways	Ted Hansen	52	Lathes	HSM Vol. 32 No. 2 Mar-Apr 2013
A+M: Increasing Torque with a Small Motor Pulley	Ted Hansen	28	Lathes	HSM Vol. 32 No. 3 May-Jun 2013
A+M: Upgrading the Tailstock	Ted Hansen	34	Lathes	HSM Vol. 32 No. 4 Jul-Aug 2013
A+M: Alignment Essentials	Ted Hansen	46	Lathes	HSM Vol. 32 No. 5 Sep-Oct 2013
A+M: A Carriage Travel Stop and Spindle Index	Ted Hansen	42	Lathes	HSM Vol. 32 No. 6 Nov-Dec 2013
A+M: Using the Compound Rest as a Milling Slide	Ted Hansen	37	Lathes	HSM Vol. 33 No. 1 Jan-Feb 2014
A+M: Milling Setups	Ted Hansen	34	Lathes	HSM Vol. 33 No. 2 Mar-Apr 2014
A Fix for the Mini-Lathe	Marco Crivellari	22	Lathes	HSM Vol. 33 No. 3 May-Jun 2014
A+M: Compound Rest Improvements	Ted Hansen	46	Lathes	HSM Vol. 33 No. 3 May-Jun 2014
A+M: A Quick-change Tool Post	Ted Hansen	50	Lathes	HSM Vol. 33 No. 4 Jul-Aug 2014
A+M – Aligning the Cross Slide	Ted Hansen	52	Lathes	HSM Vol. 33 No. 5 Sep-Oct 2014
A+M – Cross Slide Improvements	Ted Hansen	53	Lathes	HSM Vol. 33 No. 6 Nov-Dec 2014
A+M – Carriage Locks and More	Ted Hansen	58	Lathes	HSM Vol. 34 No. 1 Jan-Feb 2015
A+M: The Modular Dividing Head for the Mini	Ted Hansen	58	Lathes	HSM Vol. 34 No. 2 Mar-Apr 2015
A+M: A Worm Drive for the Indexing Head	Ted Hansen	46	Lathes	HSM Vol. 34 No. 3 May-Jun 2015
A+M: Using the Worm Attachment and Adding a Spindle Index	Ted Hansen	54	Lathes	HSM Vol. 34 No. 4 Jul-Aug 2015
A+M: Making Gear Cutters	Ted Hansen	56	Miscellaneous	HSM Vol. 34 No. 5 Sep-Oct 2015
A+M: Steady Rests	Ted Hansen	56	Lathes	HSM Vol. 34 No. 6 Nov-Dec 2015
A+M: Vertical Milling Attachment	Ted Hansen	50	Lathes	HSM Vol. 35 No. 1 Jan-Feb 2016
A+M: A Horizontal Milling Attachment	Ted Hansen	52	Lathes	HSM Vol. 35 No. 2 Mar-Apr 2016
A+M: Fine Feeds and Torque	Ted Hansen	52	Lathes	HSM Vol. 35 No. 3 May-Jun 2016
A+M: Ball Thrust Bearings and Working with Wood	Ted Hansen	52	Lathes	HSM Vol. 35 No. 4 Jul-Aug 2016

Machinist’s Workshop

Article Title	Author Name	Subject	Issue	Page
A Tailstock Fix for a Mini-lathe	Kevin Castner	Lathes	MW Vol. 24 No. 5 Oct-Nov 2011	32
Compound Rest and Cross Slide Clamps for the Mini-Lathe	Tom McAllister	Lathes	MW Vol. 26 No. 4 Aug-Sep 2013	28
Improve the Lead Screw Reverse Latch on Your Mini-lathe	James A. Hornicek	Lathes	MW Vol. 27 No. 1 Feb-Mar 2014	20
Mini-Lathe Modifications	George Overturf	Lathes	MW Vol. 29 No. 2 Apr-May 2016	20
My Mini-Lathe	Jim Reynolds	Lathes	MW Vol. 19 No. 3 Jun-Jul 2006	38
New Saddle Clamps for a Mini-Lathe	Carl Byrns	Lathes	MW Vol. 27 No. 4 Aug-Sep 2014	32
Quick-change Gearbox for a Chinese Mini-lathe	Lex Liberato	Lathes	MW Vol. 20 No. 4 Aug-Sep 2007	18

Little Machine Shop tabulates some useful Mini-lathe information:

• Overall specifications for many brands
• Paint colors vs. distributors

Ya gotta have a lathe, so I replaced the big South Bend lathe with a Little Machine Shop 5200 7×16 Mini-lathe, because it’s toward the better end of the mini-lathe spectrum and, as Eks put it, it’s not the worst lathe you could own. Having had some experience with the Sherline’s cramped work envelope, the extra two inches of bed seemed like a Very Good Idea.

Ted Hansen’s articles on “Additions and Modifications to a Mini-Lathe” began in the September 2012 Home Shop Machinist and continue to this day, which hints at what’s needed to bring one of these puppies up to contemporary community standards. Unfortunately, HSM doesn’t offer a book or DVD with all the articles in one place; you can buy all the back issues or map the borders of your ethics.

Although the LMS 5200 incorporates many of Hansen’s tweaks (which was a powerful motivation for buying that package; I really don’t need a major diversion right now), it has plenty of room for improvement. In one of his earlier articles, he observes that you may be reluctant to dismantle the lathe, particularly the headstock and apron, because you’re afraid of disturbing the factory alignment. He then says something like “Don’t worry, that won’t be a problem.”

He’s absolutely correct.

Before putting the lathe in service, take it completely apart, wiping off the excess oil as you go, and reassemble it while paying attention to the obvious details. There’s nothing really breakable inside and the thing will run much better after a simple laying-on-of-hands “repair”.

The condition of the ways was … disappointing, even though I wasn’t expecting much. As nearly as I can tell, final way alignment, done by precision grinding or  hand-scraping for spendy tools, consisted of a few passes with a hand-held angle grinder.

The tailstock doesn’t really need a sliding fit, because it operates while clamped to the bed; the flat way is rugged:

Its V-groove isn’t much better:

The compound ways are sliding joints, albeit with few points of contact:

The chromed (!) protractor dial has what Eks calls a “used car polish”: high shine over deep scratches.

The cross-slide ways seem to be slightly concave, with a single contact point on the far left end and a few more on the right:

The carriage flat leaves much to be desired:

That red patch toward the left isn’t left-over scraping blue:

I have no intention of spending all the time required to hand-scrape those things, Moglice seems like overkill (and has an imposing minimum thickness), and Turcite requires reasonable surface finish (and adds considerable thickness, too).

I’m mildly temped to apply a thin layer of good ol’ JB Weld epoxy, just to fill in the valleys and improve the contact area, but not right now.