Mini-lathe and mini-mill advice?

I want to be able to do some simple gunsmithing (hobby, not pro) on my own project guns. I want to be able to cut odd threads on custom screws and tube mags for some of these old guns, cut slots in light-gauge metal, make firing pins, ejectors, dovetail slots, dovetail sights, rolling-block levers and other small parts -- some purely round, others flat, etc. My questions: (1) Am I correct that I"ll need both a lathe and a mill to do what I describe? (2) Anyone familiar with the Grizzly line of mini machines?
I really don"t want a combo lathe-mill, and I already have four drill presses. Also, I don"t want to get involved in finding used equipment; hence my interest in Grizzly or other reasonably OK/reasonably affordable machines. Please pardon my ignorance; I"m a newby when it comes to machinist work beyond what I can do with a drill press, a vise and a file. I will appreciate any and all advice.
 
Hello, There are several schools of thought on this subject as you well know. I am of the opinion that a person getting into machining is much better off with a decent quality new machine than a used one he knows nothing about and comes bare (no tooling) The import will come almost ready to use and very well tooled. All you need to do is purchase inserted tool holders (and a quick change is nice) to get going doing basic turning. People who lump machines into quality using only the country of manufacture are sorrily mistaken. There are some nice machine tools being imported into this country,, along with the junk.
You are wise to stay away from the combo machines! Besides the fact they are handy for nothing, most mini machines are of suspect or worse quality. Think of them like a cresent wrench, would you use one where the job must be done right and and box end was laying right beside it? Another tip for the first time lathe buyer is to carefully figure out how big you have to have and then buy one at least twice that large. Way too many people find out the hard way that you cant machine a 9"x20" shaft in a 9x20 lathe!! Another reason to go larger with a Chinese or Taiwan lathe is the quality always goes up once you get above the smallest units. The gear drive 12x36 lathes sold by Enco, Grizzly and many others are damn nice lathes by any standard. I did all my rifle chambering abd barrel work on one for 12 years. There is one smaller that is decent quality, 9x24? I think? belt drive unit, anything smaller is suspect quality. Whatever you do for a mill do not be suckered in by the low cost "mill drills" that control the height of the cutter with the quill only. You want a knee mill where the table adjusts up or down in relationship with the spindle. They make some small ones. Think about what you want a mill for and how are you going to take .003 cut when you have to move the quill?? the knee mill will allow for cuts in accurate .001 steps.
 
I have heard it said that a bridgeport type mill is the only machine capable of duplicating itself.
They must make an attachment to do threading on one ? Can't prove it by me I'm just an amature on them.
 
The only way to really do what you want is to buy a Bridgeport milling machine and a beefy 220vac lathe. A 110 lathe is a toy. A decent lathe is 3hp, with 9" swing or larger.
 
If you buy an imported unit stick to a known name like Grizzly where they have some quality control and reject the inaccurate stuff.Those Smithy units have quality control[sort of costly for what you get] I think Jet is one also. Another option is to take a class in adult night school. I took machine shop in the 1970s and I remember guys working on 45 cal 1911s and such . Although now you might be on the nightly news for bringing a piece into the school. But you can bring each part and work on it. That way you get tooling from the tool crib and an expert machinist to advise you on what you are working on.The operations you describe are both milling and lathe work.A surface grinder would be an excellent gunsmith machine as well. On a sidenote the smaller the piece you are trying to thread the more difficult. Thread cutting takes some practice. There is alot of great youtube vids on all phases of machine shop.Spend some time watching to get some ideas. Lots of smart guys although some are sales pitches too.
 
It is an old saying that a lathe and mill are capable of reproducing themselves. Unless they become a foundry I never really thought they could do it. When I was in the Marine Corps a Master Gunnery Sgt. started to make a lathe from big wide flat stock and a Ford transmission.After hours and hours of machining the sides for the bed he went out and bought a lathe at which point a SeaBee cut up his metal and through it in the scrap bin.So no they can't really reproduce them selves.At least from what I've seen.
 
Rossow: I have both a mini lathe and mini mill and have done lots of home/amateur gunsmithing (among many, many other projects) on both--the latest project was fabricating a side-mount scope base to fit on a .30-40 Krag. The majority of the units sold by the major importers (Grizzly, Enco, Northern Tool, Harbor Freight, etc.) are essentially the same machines, from the same Chinese factory, with just different paint and a few features added or subtracted depending on price point. That means you can often mix-and-match tooling, accessories, etc. and parts, service, etc. isn't all that hard to find if you know where to look. While it would be nice to have a big Bridgeport or similar setting in my garage, I have access to larger stuff if needed, and manage to get by just fine with my little units, providing you understand their limitations, both in terms of size (as was mentioned, don't figure on being able to use the entire capacity--you'll always lose some space for clamping, etc.) and tolerances. Also heed the advice that quality goes up with size--the slightly larger units are more robust than the smallest ones, and have more features. However, the flip side of that is that everything costs more--tooling, fixturing, clamps, chucks, etc. all go up rapidly in price as they go up in size, especially if you're buying new. You'll find that threading takes a good deal of practice, and oddball threads, while doable, aren't easy for even a good machinist. Still, both my lathe and mill have paid for themselves many, many times over, and I tend to use them even more than the larger equipment as they're more user-friendly than, say, the old 9" South Bend lathe that sets next to them. The mill has a geared micro-adjust on the quill, so making 0.001" steps is no problem at all. The link below has literally hundreds of pages of info on these and similar tools, and is an invaluable resource for these handy little tools.
Mini Lathe and Mill home page
 

tim v has some good info + links . i made 2 tool post grindes for my 7x12 . i using an adapter for my dremel and the other an adaper for my air die ginders (straight and right angle ). some where in the links shows how to mount a mini vice to the tool post for limited milling .
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top