Mini Metal Lathe Recommendation?

[Guy La Pourqe]

Hey Guys,

As a proud owner of one of those 1876 Repros in .45-75, brass is turning into a real nightmare. It's almost inevitable... there are only a handful of suppliers in the US, most of them are out - and I can buy gold cheaper than cases for this calibre. Even if I could get it in the USA... getting it across the border to me up here in Canada is another costly can of worms.

I am rapidly being dragged out of my comfort zone with this calibre. I've never reformed new cases from parent cases but here... I am pretty much stuck. Are any of you smiths or machinists? I am thinking of getting a mini-lathe because it looks like I will have to turn down the case rim of a parent cartridge (50-90 Sharps) and thin it out... and the lathe is the only tool up for the job. Can any of you recommend a good benchtop hobby/mini lathe that will do the job? Have any of you done the 50-90 to .45-75 conversion?

Any pointers and recommendations sincerely appreciated!

[GONRA]

GONRA believes you will get a lot of Professional Replies. Just make SURE to purchase a "screw cutting metal cutting lathe" WITH A LEAD SCREW!!! Don't waste yer $$$ on anything else....

[Dutchman]

Resist the urge to buy one of the 7x12 lathes. They may be adequate for what you want now but you'll outgrow it fast.

If you're going to do it then do it right. This would be the minimalist lathe I'd recommend.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/110V-8-x-16-750W-Variable-Speed-Mini-Metal-Lathe-Bench-Top-Digital-Top-Quality/263590454152?hash=item3d5f372388:g:Mo0AAOSwVXRbz8~ N

My 12x36 Birmingham:

https://images56.fotki.com/v714/photos/2/28344/2069154/DSCF2867q-vi.jpg (https://public.fotki.com/dutchman/vintage_machine_tools/12x36lathe/dscf2867q.html)

Dutch

[salpal48]

to Add something . You said it is a Repro. . Most repro's , The One's imported are Generally not Following Original 1912 Winchester specs. Currently some repro's are Built On 50/110 brass. Most who by them don'y know the difference. Check Them Out before You Start. 50/110 The rim is smaller and Base also.

[country gent]

I have worked in the trade for 35 years. I have the central foundry 7X12 mini lathe and it would do okay for what you want. It is accurate and is easy to learn to run. It has a nice speed range to work with also. Mine is high low and variable speed control. It doesn't take up a lot of room and isn't overly heavy. Now for the other end, At lower speeds it does lose power some. Dial reads actual movement, Meaning .001 in the dial is .002 on the part. Change gears for feed and thread changes. Short bed can limit work, measure a 3/8" and 1/2" drills length then add in a drill chuck. Gearing in the carriage leaves a little to be desired if running by hand. It also has a special starting procedure that if not followed blows the machines fuse. In a plus tooling and odds and ends arnt overly expensive for them.

Better but more expensive would be older small atlas, logan, craftsman, or other small lathe with a longer bed. 20" gives a lot more versatility here. Also a solider machine. Best would be a smaller modern lathe with gear head and gear box. These machines also are direct reading on the dials so take what you need. Most have a simple switch or clutch to start and stop. Also the gear head belt driven machines don't lose power like the variables do.

For what your wanting to do turning and thinning rims a simple hand ground High Speed steel tool hand ground and honed will do the job. A 0-1" indicator in a ways mount will give repeatability fir rim thickness. You want to machine the front of the rim to thin or primer pockets will be shallow needing recut. The hand ground tool to face and turn along with the indicator makes for a good set up.
Mount case
Bring carriage to indicator reading of +.005 and face in to bottom of rim and back out
bring carriage to 0.000 and take the finish pass on inside of rim. set cross feed to +.005 and reduce rim dia return and go to 0.000 in cross feed take finish pass.
Some simple tips setting compound to 45* and using it for feed in to set zero gives true .0005 graduations or .001 in dia. set to 72* it gives .0001 or .0002 on dia.
A simple fixture or small collet makes changing cases quick and easy. I would make small split bushing bored in the chuck to run its truest for this better would an extra set of jaws for the chuck bored to case size then used with a spacer to set length. Bolt a 3/8" ID X 3/4" od X1" bushing to the jaws when snugged in cut into jaw liners with 3 cuts between jaws. snug down on edges of the bushing and bore to dia then clean up edges a little more. a 1/2 bushing 1/2" long held against jaw face and rim pushed snug sets length for each case and almost 100% clamping to hold.

Here it will be simpler to feed by hand than power feed the small amounts of travel.

I would run the lathe around 1800 - 2000 rpm here for best finish and easiest cut in the brass. You will be feeding in with the cross feed and towards tailstock with carriage. For added support a live center can be used to support the case.

With care and experience you should be able to hold .001 +/- like this.

With the 5/16" square tool ground right you can face the rim, turn and recut the back chamfer all in one set up And all to the same with the cross feed dial and indicator.

With the machine some practice and the right set up you can run 100 cases pretty quickly. Machining the front of the rim saves a special setup to recut the primer pocket. As I said above a little bigger machine gives more set up room and leeway, a bigger machine may allow for use of collets and not modifying jaws or making a collet for in the chuck

[rbuck351]

I bought a 7x10 return from HF cheap and found it to work well after doing a bit of aligning of the head and tail stocks. It is plenty accurate for what you need but the 7x10 has very little working room between centers and even less with a live center or drill chuck. I bought a bed and lead screw from Little Machine Shop to make it a 7x14 which gives it a lot more working space. I make a shaft with a step that the case neck fits over snugly and hold it in place with the live center in the primer pocket for neck turning and rim dia. For rim thinning, I just push the case in the chuck with the rim against the chuck and cut to proper thickness. This shortens the primer pocket but the Sinclair primer pocket uniformer quickly cuts it to proper depth while still in the lathe. I haven't used the 7x12 but I think it would work well for what you need. Check the price on the 7x14 first as a couple of extra inches makes quite a bit of difference with that short of bed. It's worth spending a bit more for an extra couple of inches. I also have a 10x24 Atlas and it is a lot more solid but for the small stuff I prefer the 7x14 It fits on my loading bench which saves a lot of running back and forth. I have used it for making lots of small reloading things like gas check makers, lube sizer dies, my own M dies and other such stuff. Makes a good power holder for Lee case trimmers as well.

[paul edward]

20 years ago I bought a 7 by 10 HF lathe for a specific project. Since then I and have found it a very useful tool; one of those tools you get used to having and using. Not only can it be used to make or modify reloading tools, or modify cases, but it is useful for all sorts of jobs around a home shop. Once used it to make a Whitworth fastener not readily available.

[Rapidrob]

Yep, I have made firing pins, screws and cleaning rod ends as well as many,many cases that are not available or so expensive it's a joke.
My favorite is making 6.5 Dutch cases from .303 Brass. It's so simple to turn down the web thickness you can do one in 30 seconds.

[skeettx]

EASY to make 45-75 cases from 348 Winchester brass
This brass should be available in Canada.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?348349-Case-forming-45-75-from-348-brass-help

Mike

[abunaitoo]

I have a chinese 7x10 lathe.
Friend is using it now.
It was Ok for small things, as long as you don't try to cut to much at once.
"Little Machine Shop" has a good one.
Cost more than the generic chinese brands, but they have parts for it.
Most of the parts might work on the chinese one, but some might not.
Have a big lathe now, so it was just collecting dust.
Sure hope I get it back some day.

[indian joe]

EASY to make 45-75 cases from 348 Winchester brass
This brass should be available in Canada.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?348349-Case-forming-45-75-from-348-brass-help

Mike

348 brass works fine in my Uberti and would be my first choice for "easy" 50 alaskan was a much better price/ availability recently and same case body anyhow - 50/110 should be same again ----
-if you gonna use the sharps brass get ahold of one someplace and test it for fit in your chamber before you jump in big. Everybody says they work but if they made to specs and your rifle is minimum chamber - could be a bit sticky.

[smithnframe]

Try 348 winchester brass. The parent case is the 50/110 winchester I believe!

[McFred]

Searching for "750W Lathe 8"X16'' " you will find a grey metal lathe with a 38mm spindle through hole for ~$900USD. Its not perfect but for a "mini lathe" it's fairly capable. I have a friend who's purchased one and it has been serving him well after some modifications and tooling upgrades for light jobs.

Here's one guy's example where he tears it down and looks it over. He's got a series of videos about it too:
http://www.silencertalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=139536

[rondog]

I'd love to get an Uberti 1876 Centennial in .50-95, but there's that whole ammo/brass/dies thing.....

[indian joe]

I'd love to get an Uberti 1876 Centennial in .50-95, but there's that whole ammo/brass/dies thing.....

Buy 500 50 alaskan while its still out there ($270 per 250 bag) odd calibre brass has been a good investment the last five or ten years.
Once ya got the brass - almost gotta buy the gun:kidding:

[uscra112]

Buy 500 50 alaskan while its still out there ($270 per 250 bag) odd calibre brass has been a good investment the last five or ten years.
Once ya got the brass - almost gotta buy the gun:kidding:

I'm not laughing......I've done it. [smilie=1:

[uscra112]

As for a lathe - no matter what you buy you'll soon wish you had more. Just stay clear of the Sherline lathes intended for (I guess) model railroad and airplane builders. And DON'T buy from Amazon, Harbor Freight, or Northern Tool. You will have zero support. I have bought accessories from Little Machine Shop, and find them good people. Blue Ridge has decent stuff. Just keep in mind that there is no free lunch. You're gonna spend $1000 minimum to get anything that will do a good job and that will last.

There's a lot to be said for an old South Bend. The plain bearing spindle and belt drive will always give you better surface finishes than gears and roller bearings. Ask me how I know. No, better you don't....I'll bend your ear for hours.

[samari46]

Started out with a Unimat made if I remember right in Germany. Then a 6x20 sears craftsman metal working lathe. Now have a 13x40 gear head by Jet. I remember going to work with a box of 1/4" HSS tool bit blanks and going home with the same box but ground with some help from the South Bend book "how to operate a lathe". Did the same with the 13x40 jet. Could never get the 60 degree ones right for threading. So bought some pre ground ones. Frank

[country gent]

Having worked on lathes mills grinders and other equipment for years in the trade I have seen a lot. A standard 60* threading tool looks simple but on coarser threads its taking a pretty heavy pass towards the end. The compound set to 29 1/2* feeds in so only one face is cutting to help. But the geometry needs to be right to cut. We actually roughed in threading tools by hand. then finished them in a fixture and surface grinder. A machine that's underpowered is harder to use and also harder on tooling. Threading drilling can use a lot of power and at lower speeds these mini machines give up a lot.