Inline FabricationLoad DataRotoMetals2MidSouth Shooters Supply
Reloading EverythingLee PrecisionTitan ReloadingRepackbox
Wideners
Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 75

Thread: Mini Lathe Harbor Freight Question

  1. #1
    Boolit Master brstevns's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    MO
    Posts
    3,339

    Mini Lathe Harbor Freight Question

    Are any of the Harbor Freight Mini Lathes capable of barrel threading?
    Any books out there for using a Mini Lathe for Dummies?

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master
    bangerjim's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    out of here, wandering somewhere in the SW.
    Posts
    10,163
    Check out an Amazon search for "how to run a lathe". I have 3 of those books (from years go when I was learning in college) and the basics have not changed over the years!

    To thread a barrel you would have to have a head stock bore large enough to pass the barrel thru it. A no-go on those LITTLE ChiCom toys you are talking about. They are for "semi-accurate" model making. I have one of them and a Sherline in my model shop, as well as 4 other lathes (large professional tool room style) in my main shop

    HF appears to only have that tiny toy 8X12 lathe anymore. Years ago they offered big lathes that could do what you are talking about. You best bet is to watch for a used AMERICAN-made older lathe with sufficient head spindle thru-bore size for your barrel tasks.

    You might be able to rig up a short pistol barrel between centers and thread it that way on that 8x12.

    Check out Grizzly.com.....about the same lathes as HF had, only green! Their G0602Z may do what you want.

    Good luck on your search.

    bangerjim

  3. #3
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    UPSTATE new york
    Posts
    1,722
    You might take a look at Facebook market place. Here in CNY there are generally several for sale. You can not believe the sellers when they say "it's all there". Usually it was gramps, or dads for uncle willty's and they know nothing about it. It is generally more expensive in time and money to track down the parts to make it work than the cost of the lathe. If it's some way off brand , you may never find the stuff you need. good luck

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master

    dragon813gt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Somewhere in SE PA
    Posts
    9,989
    Grizzly is your best bet if you’re looking for a smaller lathe that won’t break the bank. Well the breaking the bank part is relative. You will always spend more on tooling then the lathe.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master Ozark mike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    1313 mockingbird lane
    Posts
    1,098
    Grizzly buys from china jus like hf ya have to get up to the 10x22 i believe before youll find one with a large enough head bore. They make one called a gunsmith lathe also but it is a little more expensive. The 10x22 starts at around 1500 for a non variable speed machine. I wouldnt recommend the varable speed machines cause they are just a dc brushed motor
    Those who would trade freedom for safety deserves neither and will lose both

  6. #6
    Boolit Master brstevns's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    MO
    Posts
    3,339
    Well I am on a small SS income so the Habor Freights looked good. I can live without threading barrels, would like to have one for making swageing dies like the Lees and turning down rims on brass etc.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master Ozark mike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    1313 mockingbird lane
    Posts
    1,098
    Those smaller hf and griz like the 7x14 dont have enough meat to really be all that accurate dont expect em to be able to take a decent cut either if working with steel. Ya can make em a better lathe by lapping the ways with a Granite. Block and other fixer uppers jus dont expect to much out of the box
    Those who would trade freedom for safety deserves neither and will lose both

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy

    Flailguy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Bakersfield CA
    Posts
    192
    I personally went with an old usa lathe. it's a Logan 11x36 with a 1-3/8 bore. Got it on craigslist for $1,500 yesterday I changed my brakes on my pickup and naturally the rotors were about 1/2" too large in diameter or I would have turned them myself now I wish I had a bigger one.
    I will say this lathe is one of the best purchases I've ever made, I absolutely love it, it opens up so many possibilities as far as what you can make instead of buy.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master Ozark mike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    1313 mockingbird lane
    Posts
    1,098
    Thats usually how it goes with lathes. Its said buy the largest one ya can afford. Besides lathes are cheap compared to all the tooling ya will need
    Those who would trade freedom for safety deserves neither and will lose both

  10. #10
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Jul 2020
    Posts
    39
    Just buy the threaded barrel. Going to be cheaper.

    Sent from my SM-S727VL using Tapatalk

  11. #11
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    2,725
    I have a Harbor Freight 7x10 mini lathe. The spindle bore is about 3/4" diameter But the chuck that it comes with has a smaller hole. It's only 5/8". However. It can be bored out to 3/4" also. Giving a spindle bore of 3/4" If the barrel is less than 3/4" diameter for the majority of the length, It can be threaded on this lathe.
    As far as how to use lathes, The way people learn stuff like that nowadays is by watching youtube videos. There are hundreds if not thousands of videos on lathe operation. Some show a lot of stuff you can do on a mini lathe.
    A mini lathe is a great piece of machinery. Don't let anyone mislead you. Even people who have bigger lathes along with their mini's still use them for lots of stuff. Here are a few of the youtube names that show mini lathe operation:
    "The Aussie Shed"
    "Steveodee stevehodee"
    "Steve Jordan"
    "Rotary SMP"
    "TimNummy"
    "Jan Binnendijk"
    These are some that show simpler stuff. "they also show more complex"
    You can just search "mini lathe" and find tons of stuff.
    There are also groups on Face Book that share stuff. One is actually named "7x Mini Lathe"
    PM me if you want more specific info.
    One word of caution...
    These things are ADDICTING. I have mine in my living room and use it every day.
    Last edited by Traffer; 09-13-2020 at 08:27 PM.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master elmacgyver0's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    1,971
    I don't know about the 7 x 10 lathes but I have a HF 9 x 20.
    It is not a bad lathe but there is no back gearing.
    It does have a indicator for threading but has no way to slow it down enough to use it.
    I made a hand crank to be able to thread.
    It will make threads just fine but metric threads not SAE. I know, they claim it will do SAE but they lie.
    It comes real close to SAE but no cigar.
    So if you going to make dies, just make sure it does real SAE.
    On something the length of a die body the error stacking adds up real quick.

  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master

    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Northwest Ohio
    Posts
    14,456
    I would look at something with a longer bed and bigger swing spindle bore. The harbor freight minis are okay for small work like cutting rims and small jobs but Several issues with them ( I have a 7 x 12) change gears got feeds and threads, the cover is bolted on not easy open. The short bed dosnt leave a lot of room for tools cutters and work. Mine is under powered no real power tapping or drilling with out pilot holes working up. With the bed length even the 12" with a drill chuck ( 3" roughly) the chuck (another 3-4 2-3" of piece sticking out of chuck to indicate there isnt a lot or room left for drills or taps. Another is the tail stock has to be removed from bed to adjust for tapers or to set to straight. For wildcatting and modifying cartridge cases they do good. Tooling isnt to expensive but finding the smaller stuff is harder.

    I would recommend looking for a good used machine in the 10-12" swing range with a 24-40" between centers bed. Atlas clausing monarch logan sheldon jet grizzly and many others have made machines is this size range. Watch school shops for used machines. A lot of schools had clausing delta rockwells and sheldons. The Sheldons are a real sleeper.
    Big lathes rarely bring as much but moving expenses are a lot more. And all is heaver requiring more work to use it. Also more space A 18 x 96 lathe is a lot of room and work to move tail stocks and carriages. Chucks are much heavier than the smaller machines.

    A decent used machine may also come with most of the tooling in the deal. This is a big plus as was said tooling runs more than the machines.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Posts
    3,702
    I have three lathes in my workshop
    1) started with an ancient Nuttal - flat belt drive - 40" between centres - inch and an eighth spindle - plain bearing head - only came with a big old 4 jaw chuck - (that was a blessing in disguise - it forced me to learn to set stuff up properly - EVERY time I used it) 1100bucks and hauled it home from an auction 3 hours away. coulda shoulda woulda spent 3K and had a nice new chinese machine - but the old girl earned its way doing farm repairs - sits in another shed setup specifically to wind three foot coils for another business I do
    2) bought a small chinese machine (they dont make these anymore) its only good for light work but is a long bed 700mm between centres (I think) ---I figured in a pinch I could thread a barrel between centres - its a decent small machine - gets used a lot (often) - the three jaw chuck will repeat inside one thousandth if I mark the jaw and the workpiece (surprisingly good I reckon!!) use sharp tools and take light cuts its fine
    3) uncle passed on and I inherited a 4K chinese lathe - didnt need it - would not have bought it - gets used about half as often as the small machine - far superior for any heavier work
    4) I put the scrap recyclers into the farm rubbish heap back when iron ore was sky high and trucked out two semis of rubbish and spent it on a mill drill - will do any of that kind of work that I will ever want to do

    Tooling - spent a couple hundred at a yard sale then found a guy that grinds reamers and endmills - got a stack of interesting stuff that way and I have bought a lot of stuff off ebay - the cheap stuff is useable and its pennies in the dollar - the main fault is the cutting tools are brittle - hard, they cut ok, but break easier.

    Most handy thing I have is a set of small collets with a taper shank for the mill and a parallel shank that I use in the chuck of my small lathe, cost about sixty bucks all up and it is just magic for holding small stuff - can turn down boolits - rims of cases - hold small screws without marking the thread so you can clean up the burred heads etc - just the best gear!

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    4,612
    The mini lathe will only fool you into thinking a real lathe until you try to run it.
    You are better off buying a real lathe.
    EDG

  16. #16
    Boolit Master Ozark mike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    1313 mockingbird lane
    Posts
    1,098
    Whatever you do dont talk about small lathes over on practical machinest they will scalp ya cook ya over an open flame then eat ya all while you are still kicking and screaming
    Those who would trade freedom for safety deserves neither and will lose both

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    S.E. OKLA.
    Posts
    448
    Hello, my is Hootmix ,, and i'm a Mini Lathe Addict ,,mine is a 7x12 ( 14 ), it is blue w/ a 4 jaw chuck & my S.B 9 w/ 3 1/2 ft. bed w/ old 3 jaw chuck is gray w/ bright yellow down in side ( so I can see ) both have 3/4" bores. Some times I just make 3/4 " bolts ( grade 5 & 8) in to 1/4" rods just to practice ( I am a addict ) . I use both to make nearly all my own gun parts ( lever actions ).
    The 7x12 w/ 4 jaw chuck will get with in .001-.003 ,, but the tail stock is almost worthless ,, of course I am not very good ,, yet ,, but for what I do they both serve me well ,, would I like a bigger lathe , well ,, yes ,, just don't room in my closet ( shop ) , ( or the money ).
    With all that being said , I have surprised myself many times with parts i'v made , from just junk iron laying around . Yup ! gets in the blood. It's 4:00 am now, and I have the urge to go to the shop ( working on a 76 win. ) after my coffee ,,, heck i'll take the coffee w/ me ( I am a addict ya' know ( lol ).

    coffee's ready Hootmix.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Posts
    3,571
    since selling my big lathe and Bridgeport before moving ive been looking at the smithy. the granite has chuck bore of 1.6", mt4, and specs as far as spindle accuracy and tolerances on it look pretty good.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    356
    Quote Originally Posted by farmbif View Post
    since selling my big lathe and Bridgeport before moving ive been looking at the smithy. the granite has chuck bore of 1.6", mt4, and specs as far as spindle accuracy and tolerances on it look pretty good.
    Might want to get some oppinions and reviews on them first.
    Both the people I know that owned Smithys said they were a waste of $$ and dont do much of anything well,,,ymmv

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    indianapolis
    Posts
    648
    there is a 8 x 16 lathe with a 1.5 bore on fleabay...not sure how solid, but would be suitable for a lot of smaller jobs. there are several sites that go into improving the chi com defects, so some work, and alittle more money, and you have a servicable lathe...according to them. i am planning to get one, so i'll try to remember to let everyone know when i do, probably a few months from now.

Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check