Canadian Airgun Forum

Hey guys,
the time has come. I've had a 7x12 lathe from busy bee for a while now. I know... I was told, I'd regret buying a tiny lathe... But in all honesty I learned a lot. And had I been learning these things on a bigger lathe I could have catastrophic failures or injuries... So I guess I didn't really lose out on much. Anyway it works really good for making small parts. I like it. As temperamental as it is.

Anyway. I don't know where else to look. But, any insight on this?
https://www.busybeetools.com/products/1 ... x709x.html

I can't see needing a spindle bore over 1.5"... Who knows

https://www.busybeetools.com/products/l ... cx615.html

Why not go with a lathe/mill combo. Gives you more freedom to make whatever you want

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Jonathan

Moderator

Hi Killer.
That looks like a great lathe. My larger Moody lathe has 1" through the headstock. It works fine for 99% of the powder burner barrel work I do. It has a 4' bed and I can swing a 26" barrel between centres.
The only drawback I see on your proposed lathe is the bed length and the resultant available distance between centers. If it comes in a longer bed length, and you can afford it, you might want to consider it. Besides the extra expense, the longer bed length will make for a larger and heavier unit, which may be a consideration for available shop space or location. (Does it have to go down a basement?)
I wish my lathe had 1.5" bore.
Don't sell your mini-lathe! I also have a smaller South Bend 9A with a short 36" bed, .750" bore, and 18" between centres. I use it a fair amount. It's useful when I have work set up in my big lathe, but need to make a small part. I also use the power feeds on the Southie for milling with a Palmgren milling attachment.

With your obvious machining skills, a catastrophic failure is highly unlikely. With a larger lathe failures usually result in broken tool bits. Please don't ask me how I know this.

Rick.

Edit: the advert doesn't mention what tooling/accessories are included in the price. Chucks for a lathe this size are not cheap.

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Theory is when you know how something works, but it doesn't.
Practice is when something works, but you don't know why.
In my shop, Theory and Practice are combined!
Nothing works and I don't know why.

Two lathes and too many projects

What you see is what you get. If starting from scratch not cheap would be a bit of an understatement.

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I have some airguns.

It would make more sense to have a longer bed. Ill eventually want to learn actual gun smithing, so that would probably come in pretty handy.

I like the idea of a lathe mill combo. Do they make them with a longer bed though? Probably pricey. Think Ill definitely look at the used market for something.

I won't have to pack it into the basement. Just have a small attached front garage. But space is pretty limited. I'm sure I can manage though move some things around, make room.

Will see what happens I guess!

If you can afford that lathe and additional tooling that will work great
I am not a fan of combo machines so would encourage you to stay away from them. They don’t do any job well imo

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Walter

I'm jealous of all of you. Last time I used a lathe, it was in shops class in grade 8 or 9.

Don't want to say it, but that was almost 50 years ago.

Bite the bullet and buy one! Worthy investment

I have this one: https://www.kingcanada.com/en/products/ ... etal-lathe

Comes with lots of accessories and pretty decent for the price, but needed a few (easy) improvements. Runs on 110V, 1'' spindle bore, a true 24'' between centers, comes with both a 5'' 3-jaw chuck and a 6 1/4'' 4-jaws adjustable chuck. You may want to add the optionnal quick-change tool post, very nice to have. Can be used with a small milling attachment with easy mods.

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If everything's so lovely yeah, then why don't I, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I feel lovely?

That would be a very nice lathe!
Only negative is the 1” spindle bore

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Walter

LOL... me too. Grade 9 & 10 tech class was 43 years ago. I think my folks still have the ball peen hammer and the salt & pepper shakers that I made back then. Lots of fun!

Very nice indeed.
Yes I'm finding most things I'd like to build lately would be at least 1" diameter.
I'll find the right tool. Not going to rush this one.

I see better ones come up used on Kijijji and Facebook all the time. You might want to entertain that.......this mill just sold for 1200$ near me.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... l%7D%22%7D

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Jonathan

Moderator

I learned a very little knowledge on how to use the lathe in my job from my nice workmates... In the school class in university, I learned how to use only a file and a table clamp to make a nut from a piece of metal block...

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~Plinkers~
FX-M3-22 Compact#PP700-Carbine#Diana48-177#XS28M-25@26fpe#HW45 Beast#AW-Custom Z-Killer DE
~Competitors~
FWB300SU#Tau-7#IZH-46M#FWB-65#CP88-C
~Target~
HW 30s/35e/97k/40+Extender/P3+Scope/70#CZ200s Laminated@10fpe#AA ProSport-177@12fpe

I took a heavy equipment mechanic pre apprenticeship course, one of the first things we did was make the crow foot gear puller using only hand tools and a drill. Files and hacksaw you'd be surprised what you can do when you put your mind to it.