need information

[Beekeeper]

I want to purchace or make a barrel vice and wrench.
Having never used one ,can't decide on the make or buy!

Also am interested in a mini lathe but again the last lathe I used had an overhead belt and was 12 feet long so have little knowledge of them.
Don't like the idea of plastic gears so am asking opinions.

Pro or con appreciated to help me make up my old feeble mind.


beekeeper

[Casting Timmy]

There are a lot of acessories out there for the mini lathes, but an older lathe woudl give you more size for the same or a little more money if you watch for one. I would suggest an older lathe over the mini lathe, but you can also look at Grizzly.com for some table top lathes that are a little bigger than a mini lathe.

I would say make your own vise and wrench, but I am still working on mine from time to time. So I guess I woudl suggest how fast do you need it and how much free time do you have? I don;t have a lot of free time, but I also don't have a need for it either right now.

[John Taylor]

A barrel vice that really clamps the barrel, shown with octagon barrel.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l132/johnptaylor/barrelvicewithVblock.jpg

Action wrench that will work on most actions.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l132/johnptaylor/actionwrenchbreachplug.jpg

[Casting Timmy]

Looks good

[littlejack]

Beekeeper:
I see, you're not getting much advice on what would be a good lathe for you. I do know that there are a lot of the members here that own and use lathes. They have stated so on previous threads on this site and others. I would have thought that there would have been more input from fellow members on the subject.
I am just finishing up my small shop, behind our house. It will have all the amenities that I need and want. Plenty of lights, a wall heater, a ceiling fan, and coffee maker when I get tired of walking back and forth to the house. It is only 12' x 12', with 2x4 construction and insulated walls, and ceiling.
This should be nice and cozy warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. I am moving my reloading tools and componants to it, and will have everything in one building. Mamma can have the spare bedroom back.
I am getting ready to order a Grizzly G0602 10x22 lathe. I am by no streatch of the imagination, a machinist. I have worked in a few maching shops as welder and fabricator during my career. This will be my first lathe, but from what I have read, it will be as good as I need.
My main interest will be in making dies, punches, check makers, etc. I find I have been enjoying making tooling and parts on a Chinese drill press, as rewarding as the reloading itself. I will really enjoy having this lathe. I just like making things with my hands. That was my trade for 37 years, and I enjoyed it all the while.
There was another thread on this site a few months ago, about members getting lathes and needing information. You may want to dig back a few pages, and see if you can find it.
I know that there was a few posts, on that earlier thread running down the Chinese lathes.
There area lot of them out there. Quite a few of them are made by the same manufacturer. Grizzly is one of them. I talked to one of the Grizzly representitives, and I believe the Grissly is one of the better lathes in the group. Grizzly has three big stores here in the US. One in Washington state, one in Philadelphia, and one in Missouri. They have a good supply of parts on hand, and alot of tooling.
I am also going to get a small mill (Grizzly) , if it turns out that I need one.
Good luck on your search. Maybe some other lathe owners will pipe in.
Jack

[MBTcustom]

It is very hard to make a barrel vice without the help of a milling machine. I made my own out of a piece of 6" diameter SS that was 2" thick. I sawed it in two, then took an inch off of both sides, turned the two pieces back to back and drilled through one and tapped the other for 3/4 all-thread bolts.
If I were in your position, and if I could afford it, I would probably just buy one from brownells. Sometimes I still think I should probably do that, but this one works (actually work pretty well) and its not costing me money yet, so I just keep on using it.
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l481/goodsteel/IMG_0603.jpg
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l481/goodsteel/IMG_0602.jpg
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l481/goodsteel/IMG_0580.jpg
I have some good advice for you about machinery, anvils, vices, chainsaws, and women. This wisdom has been passed to me by my father who is a very wise man.
Buy the biggest one you can afford.
So, being a good son and wise enough to listen to wisdom, I bought a lathe that is ten feet long, and strong enough to swing a 6 foot piece of 12" diameter bar. (Hey, I might need to fix the crown on a cannon barrel someday!)
Here she is, afectionately nicknamed "Neck-bone".
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l481/goodsteel/IMG_0583.jpg
We have since painted her white, and fixed her up with some custom fixturing like a live tailstock and bluprinting jigs.
She gulps three phase juice from a variable frequency drive that she shares with "T bone" the milling machine.
Little lathes are nice for little stuff, but when they run out of room they do it awful sudden like. Its a miserable feeling when you realize that you brought a squirt gun to a knifefight.
However, the amount of work that you can produce on a cheap little Chinese lathe is astounding.
I would just mention that there is not much to these machines, and you might be able to pick up a cheap one from the scrap yard for a song. You would be much better off buying a bigger one that is fifty years old, than a new one. I just caution you to make sure that if you find one in the scrap yard, that it has all of the attachments that you are going to need (that being change gears, pulleys, chucks, tool post and tool holders, etc etc etc.)
Also, ebay is your friend when shopping for tooling at a cheap price. There are literally thousands of tools that are being sold for pennies on the dollar on e-bay.