Emco Unimat 3 lathe

[abunaitoo]

Anyone have one????
They look like a good small lathe.

[jmorris]

If you are making tiny parts they are an ok hobby machine.

[bangerjim]

And I stress SMALL..........VERY TINY parts. There are 2 Unimat 3 designs. which one are you looking at?

http://www.lathes.co.uk/emco-unimat-3-and-4/

This is a very old version of Sherline's products. I have 2 of them. Very similar to a watchmaker's lathe. I rarely use them anymore. No power feed. Unless you build one like I did or someone has added that feature to it. And the standard motor is a universal AC/DC brush type motor that makes a ton of noise when running. Like a sewing machine or vacuum motor. New ones have a permanent magnet DC motor.

With less that a 2" swing, tiny 0.4" head-stock bore, ~8" between centers, you can do very little on one except make small hobby parts.

It was a ShopSmith take on an "all-in-one" (Euro) design with all metric parts and threads.

Totally depends on what you are trying to do and what you have to pay for one these days. I got both of mine for under $100.

For very light work.

banger

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I've had one since 1967. You really can't do much with them. Lacks power, manual feed, there was a threading attachment as an add-on. Most of the newer mini-lathes from China have greater capabilities.

[country gent]

We had blueprints floating around the shop for building one was a lot of work but the few who made them like them for small parts. Buy the time you bought the materials chuck motor and bearings you had more in it than a mini lathe. The one I did see made was a work of art all ground polished and hand scraped surfaces. The Gentleman made it while he finished his apprenticeship and kept in his box out on the floor when small tooling needed polished or touched up he set it up and used it.

The small machines are useful and handy in their place most try to over work them and that's where things get rough. I have the little Harbor Freight mini 7 X 12 For iring pins and the like or facing a die bottom off and parts in that size range it does well. I make a micrometer adjust powder tube for my Belding and Mull measures.. Here it does great no it wont power tap and drilling can mean a lot of pilots drills. But you can make a lot with one. If I want to rough and heavy work I have the clausing and Nardinni that are real machines. With the 2500 rpm spindle on the mini polishing is fast and easy.

Not super expensive and they usually come with enough tooling to get started they are great for a beginner to get his feet wet and decide if he needs more. The only things I dont care for on the minis are the change gears for threading and feeds and the way the chucks are mounted up.

[Chris S]

While I didn't have one of those particular lathes, I did have a couple other small lathes. The Sherline and an old Atlas 6". In my humblest opinion, the small lathes are good for very little. You'd be much better served buying a used 10" or larger with at least a 24" bed. The difference in attachment availability and usability of the machine is just huge.

About the only negative of a larger machine is in moving and keeping the thing. You have to have a good place to keep it, usually a garage, which can be a problem for some. And moving big, heavy tooling is a task best left to gorillas, which I always hire when moving.

Chris

[ascast]

I have an older Unimat. All above is true. I used mine to work/rework brass in caliber changes. Like trimming the body a bit on 8mm Lebel to make 41 Swiss or maybe it was Beumont. They are better than an electric drill clamped in a vice. I also set it up to cut out Berdan primers. Also to modify pilots for trimmers. Mine was a gift. Parts were available on fleabay.

[Bent Ramrod]

I started out with a Unimat for my home shop endeavors. Mine was the green one with the rod ways. Bought it off a music store repairman who used it to mill plastic sheet for pickguards and pickups for electric guitars.

I got a couple of the thread masters for the lathe, and it was useful, if slow, for making gun screws. Used the drill press function on a Highwall lower tang that I made from a railroad spike with my Atlas shaper. The holes for the trigger pins, etc, that it drilled were usable, but not exactly straight. I never had the nerve (or need) to try it as a vertical mill, as I already had the shaper. Not a lot of rigidity in any of the setups, which limits it for steel, although for plastic, aluminum and other “modelmaker” stuff, it was fine.

Once I got my Atlas 6”x20” with the milling attachment, the Unimat went back into its box. Gave it to my brother and nephews but I don’t think they’ve done much with it.

For someone with limited workspace who needs one step above a file and hand drill it has its uses, but for serious work on gun parts, there are better ways to spend the money.