a lathe be not expensive

[Andy_1984]

was looking at some websites about float making and came across this: http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-H2669-Hobby-...e/dp/B0000DD399

 

thought it might be interesting to someone who might be thinking of making some nice floats or lures.

 

can see me using this for even more weird and whacky ideas

[Steve Walker]

Drill not included, mind!

[Dick Dastardly]

Paul,Nick and our other back garden engineering experts would this be any good or should I wait till I could afford a Unimat or similar?

[watatoad]

Paul,Nick and our other back garden engineering experts would this be any good or should I wait till I could afford a Unimat or similar?

 

I would wait till you can afford a bit better as I assume you want it for float making and therefore you don't need a long distance between centres but you do want a smooth cut. Remember the distance between centres is the maximum length you can put in the lathe and height over saddle is usually half the maximum diameter you can work on.

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks for that Rod I forgot to put that I wanted it primarily for float/lure making but would be handy for turning down cork handles as well.

[tincatinca]

Paul,Nick and our other back garden engineering experts would this be any good or should I wait till I could afford a Unimat or similar?

 

To be honest Budgie, I personally would not touch it. If you are looking at a variety of tasks and use different materials then it is desirable to be able to change speeds and also ideally a vaiety of ways that you can hold the workpiece. A 4 jaw chuck for example to me is very important as it is very versatile. The Unimats are OK provided it is not the plastic one although it would be ok for making floats. By the way, I have done the mods to your swinger bodies but I have have had to use loaded nylon for the reducing collars. Using the 4 jaw chuck enabled me to offset the existing hole and leve sufficient material thickness on the side to accomodate the lock screws. Forgot to say, hope you had a good holiday

 

Edited June 1, 2010 by tincatinca

[Dick Dastardly]

Many thanks Paul.

 

I had kind of thought the Grizzly Lathe might not be up to all the varied tasks I would want to try on it and so lead to frustration! I suppose like Andy said though it would be ok for the float making though.

Edited June 1, 2010 by BUDGIE

[tincatinca]

This would be a nice little lathe to use if funds allowed

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Model-Engineering-La...=item3a5b659c3c

 

and a cheap wood lathe

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Clarke-CWL-12D-Wood-...=item27b20e9b1f

Edited June 1, 2010 by tincatinca

[Worms]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the drill mount type lathe beds. The lack of speed changes and the limitations of swing and overall bed length limit them significantly. To get the flexibility regarding speeds etc. you'd need to spend a lot of money on a decent drill!

 

If you are just after float making gear then it may well be good enough but you are still going to have to shell out for cutting tools, probably more than the lathe bed!

 

The Faircut Junior that tinca tinca has linked to is a different kettle of fish, and, at the price an absolute steal if it's in good nick (it looks it from the photos). These are British made (Sheffield) high quality model engineering lathes made between the 30s and 50s. This one comes with screwcutting gears and clutch and 3 and 4 jaw chucks. If I hadn't already got a couple of lathes I'd be in there like a shot at a hundred knicker! It has a gap bed (over 9" I believe) and a face plate as well. Might be a bit short for cork handle work but you won't get much better quality for the money!

[Dick Dastardly]

Well I bid on the Clarke but got sniped!