Mini Lathe Reviews Please

[cumbriasteve]

I sort of help a young guy down the road who has problems with communication and understanding some aspects of life, he is on the autistic spectrum at some level.

He wants to make his own trains on a slightly bigger scale than the normal Thomas and friends stuff (his passion) and some little turned bits and bobs would look nice, brass funnels and steel wheels etc.

I have managed to get him kitted out with a bench drill, bench grinder, vice and more or less got his little hobby shed sorted for him, (I do any welding for him) he is very good with his hands and his father intends to get him a lathe for Xmas, this has been at least a two year discussion with loads of advice and what they should look for, a Myford ML10 was my suggestion but they are not very common around this area and I don't want to travel the country for one or have the responsibility of finding something that later turns out to have any issues... guilt trip scenario.

So..they have decided to buy one of these for around £450 new and have asked what I think of them.

I know members have had them or may still have them so feedback would be very helpful, it will be big enough and powerful enough for his projects, I just need feedback on their overall good or bad points if using the machine within it's limits.

I also know members will try to be helpful by saying..go for one of these and you can get better if you etc etc but in this case that's out of the equation because we have been down that road and got nowhere and I don't want to leave myself open to any comeback even though I wish to help as much as possible.

I want to be able to go back on Monday and say: Yes the guys consider it not a bad machine for xyz or sorry everyone who had one found them to be rubbish, then it's up to them to make the final decision.

Thanks for reading all that

 

[Crater Creator]

I looked at Amadeal lathes when I was in the market for one - they looked pretty good, certainly nothing scared me off during my internet research. Not sure about the smaller sizes but the reviews I read of the slightly bigger ones were also reasonably positive.
For a starter lathe with a set budget I'd say it was a good buy. If he decides to go for it I have some spare small tooling I can send to get him started but it'll have to wait a couple of weeks as I'm overseas working right now.
I can also understand not wanting to give a second-hand Xmas present, better to give the chap something shiny to open on Xmas morning....

 

[pod70]

I bought one of these when my little Clarke Cl300 blew its speed controller and to be honest should have just bought another Clarke.
The cross slides go from stiff to slack to stiff again so are impossible to accurately adjust despite stripping, cleaning and lubricating them, the adjusting screw for the tailstock was stripped and I had to re-tap it, the locking rollers on the tailstock constantly work loose and the automatic feed lever on the leadscrew can be difficult to engage / disengage making cutting threads almost impossible.

luckily I only really machine simple spacers etc. for my motorbikes so it is ok but I wouldn't want to do anything requiring any real precision on it.

Apparently these 7 x 10 lathes (Clarke, Sealey, Chester, Axminster etc.) all come from the same Chinese factory but my old Clarke seemed to be slightly better quality - maybe there is a pecking order for quality control depending on the re-seller.

Machine Mart are doing VAT free at the moment which is worth considering.

 

[Spuddevans]

I have a Axminster branded C2 mini-lathe and love it.( I think it is the same/very similar to that one pictured ) Had it for about 6 years now, and done a few mods to it that have made it much better (Tapered Jib's, lever lock for tailstock, thumb-screws for the changewheels, to name a few)

Some people poo-poo these imported lathes, or say that you have to completely rebuild them and adapt them in order to get accurate work from them, but I did nothing to mine except clean the "Dragon Fat" off it and install a QC toolpost to it for the 1st 4 years I had it, and I built 2 static steam engines using it ( Elmers #25 and Bogstandard's Paddleducks marine type engine )

The largest thing I have turned on it was a 2-step pulley for a mini-mill (Seig X2) belt conversion, that was turned from a billet of ali' 90mm in diameter by 100mm long gripped in the outside jaws of the 3-jaw chuck (this was done before I installed any of the mods detailed above)

I have also turned 50mm diameter Mild Steel and got good finishes (took a little experimenting with speed and feed rate, plus applying some cutting oil), and I also have turned quite a few Titainium Rings from up to 25mm diameter Ti bars.

Now with the mods applied to it I can take a 0.5mm Depth of Cut on Mild Steel of 25mm diameter ( If I try deeper cuts the lathe's brain thinks the motor is overloaded and shuts down )

Hope this helps, if there's anything else I can answer, just ask.

Tim

 

[Perry Owens]

The two main Chinese producers are Seig and Real Bull. I had a Chester Conquest for several years, made by Real Bull, and had no problems with it. You can do good work with these small lathes if you take it easy when turning and read all the internet tips on how to adjust them. A milling slide and collet chuck are very useful add-ons. I think such a lathe would handle the sort of stuff you mention - I made mostly bits of reloading equipment on mine, including stainless steel dies etc. I only got rid of it because a friend offered to swap his Myford Super 7 for it.

 

[Arc Tourist]

Speaking of "comeback's", I don't recommend anything anymore; I only let others know what has worked for me, then it's up to them what they do. I can understand your reluctance to get deeply involved. Sometimes getting even mildly involved can lead to bad feelings.....
A few months ago I noticed oil on the street where a neighbour usually parks his car, so I mentioned he might want to check his engine oil level. He asked me to help him, so I asked him to park the car level and then the dipstick was pulled. I showed him that it was low according to the dipstick, and poured a little oil in until it reached the full mark. He thanked me and that was that. A couple of weeks later he was having electrical problems with his lights and came over to complain to me because he said I was the last one to work on his car. Needless to say, no good deed goes unpunished.

Seems like your worried, so regarding a lathe, suggest that the people check out some Model Engineering Forums for advice.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Needless to say, no good deed goes unpunished.

So very true, I'm very reluctant to make recommendations when asked now.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Thanks for the info so far folks and yes suppose I am a tad cautious, because I am known for fixing and making things I do get asked a fair bit of advice, in this case though I feel I am in a bit deeper due to the person involved.

I have decided to print off the comments (after removing mine and individuals forum id's) and just give them the pages with a ..'sorry but I don't feel qualified to advise in the instance but here's what others think'

 

[cumbriasteve]

I bought one of these when my little Clarke Cl300 blew its speed controller and to be honest should have just bought another Clarke.
The cross slides go from stiff to slack to stiff again so are impossible to accurately adjust despite stripping, cleaning and lubricating them, the adjusting screw for the tailstock was stripped and I had to re-tap it, the locking rollers on the tailstock constantly work loose and the automatic feed lever on the leadscrew can be difficult to engage / disengage making cutting threads almost impossible.

luckily I only really machine simple spacers etc. for my motorbikes so it is ok but I wouldn't want to do anything requiring any real precision on it.

Apparently these 7 x 10 lathes (Clarke, Sealey, Chester, Axminster etc.) all come from the same Chinese factory but my old Clarke seemed to be slightly better quality - maybe there is a pecking order for quality control depending on the re-seller.

Machine Mart are doing VAT free at the moment which is worth considering.

Was it that exact same model and make? Sounds a bit worrying and suppose there can always be a dodgy one gets through but that's of no help if the dodgy one becomes yours.

 

[pedrobedro]

I have a Axminster branded C2 mini-lathe and love it.

A friend of mine has one of these and has done some bits for me. His first one was faulty, the speed kept varying but they swapped it within a week. He really likes it and for the size it is a very capable machine. It's a bit more money than they are looking at there but it has a good backup if anything goes wrong.

 

[pod70]

Yes exactly as the photo and I collected it from the Amadeal warehouse in N.London. Unfortunately it does look like I got a Friday afternoon special and should have taken it back to exchange.

One thing I have learnt with these lathes is that they seem work a lot better with a good set of indexable tools with the inserts

 

[MCKDAVID]

a lot of it boils down to what he's going to be making on it, I think a lot of the complaints (despite the lack of build quality) regarding these little machines boils down to folks thinking it'll take a 100 thou cut on stainless steel prop shaft for the QE2. then when it doesn't they criticise the machine.

I've had a little emco compact 5 for years, (Austrian built)and for what it's capable of it's been fine, patience is a virtue, as is a sense of reality, it's not a Colchester, nor boxford nor will it ever be, but for small parts, etc fine.. it still doesn't like stainless much though.

seems to me a lot of the folks that want a big machine will rarely use it to it's capacity and a smaller machine would be perfectly adapted to what they need. it's not as if they're setting up a tool room is it.... personally I do all I need on mine, when I have a bigger need, I go to the local machine shop and get them to do it, will probably cost less in the long run...

that said if you want quality then you'll be looking at old iron though, but I wouldn't exclude these little machines for what they are capable of, just don't expect miracles.

 

[Pete.]

Does that come with a 4-jaw and steadies for £450?

 

[cumbriasteve]

Don't think so, the warco mini lathes used to come with all sorts but I think they have also cut back with the extras, not sure if any of the amadeals come as a package at that price.

 

[brightspark]

Yes exactly as the photo and I collected it from the Amadeal warehouse in N.London. Unfortunately it does look like I got a Friday afternoon special and should have taken it back to exchange.

One thing I have learnt with these lathes is that they seem work a lot better with a good set of indexable tools with the inserts

learn a bit more to sharpen hss tools they work very well on any machine

 

[Pete.]

Has he got room for a bigger machine? I've got something ten times better coming up soon for less dough.

 

[clueless77]

Tell them to have a look at a book called Mini Lathes by Neil Wyatt. This was written recently by the Model Engineers Workshop magazine editor so should be relevant and up to date. You can buy it from the usual outlets like Arceurotrade.

 

[james butler]

i have one very similer its the clarke https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cl300m-metal-lathe/ and i find it very good.
it comes with most of the bits you will need (except tool bits) to get started.
yes they are a bit cheap compared to a full size lathe but seeing as this lads just going to be model making i think he will be fine.

 

[gaz1]

for a person that hasnt even used his own yet

my ml4 was being used by a machinist for making parts for trains his upgrade was to the machine posted by the op seemed very happy with it

for the ml7 ive seen bigger stuff being made for there trains

myford boy does traction engines a good start with some nice info on them

https://www.youtube.com/user/myfordboy/videos

mr pete does steam engines as well

 

[addjunkie]

The difference between this and the 800 quid warco, is the extras with the warco. These bits cost lots if buying alone.

I had a clarke machine it was quite soft easily broken. Assume the chinese stuff has improved in the last few years.

Its a starter and he will out grow it rapidly.