Mini Lathe suggestions

[58 Impala]

I have been thinking about purchasing a mini lathe to make model car parts. I've never used one, so any suggestions on a good lathe for a beginner. 

And also not too expensive the would require selling a kidney. Thanks.

[peteski]

Price and quality go together.  Sherline to me  is a prefect balance of good quality and reasonable price.

Also, if you were to search the forum ,there are multiple threads with your type of question. Here are couple. I suggest reading the info already posted to reduce duplicity.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

42 minutes ago, peteski said:

Price and quality go together...

Truer words were never spoken.

Which means stay away from the really cheap plastic Chinese junk.

Most of them are toys, and are incapable of delivering any kind of consistent accuracy.

I'd owned a full-size lathe and mill for my business since 1995, but when I decided to get into miniature machining I started with a used but excellent late '60s Unimat, and in early 2024 added a used Sherline that came with a bunch of tooling for an incredible price, though the machine does seem to have been used by a chimp at one point.

Deals are out there on excellent used equipment if you have patience, but be prepared to spend at least $500 and up today to get something you can actually make parts with.

If you're not already familiar with machine work terms and procedures, you'd be ahead of the game if you did some reading on machine work in general and miniature machine work in particular, so you'll have an idea of what the various machining operations entail and what additional parts and tooling you'll need besides just the basic machine.

Edited yesterday at 03:46 AM by Ace-Garageguy

[Bugatti Fan]

Sher!ine comes to mind as being a really well built miniature lathe, currently in production and with a good range of accessories. American manufactured.

Proxxon also makes a very high quality miniature lathe and accessories also currently in production. They also make many other miniature power tools for model making. Austrian manufactured.

Unimat. Sadly stopped production of their excellent little machines and huge range of accessories for the.a few years back. At one time regarded as a benchmark miniature machine tool, made in Austria. Not known why they ceased production, but not too difficult to obtain their machines and accessories on the second hand market. I have a Unimat 4 that I bought new some time ago and can attest that it is a fine little machine.

Cowells.  A British made miniature machine that is regarded as the Rolls Royce of miniature machines by many with a price to reflect the very high quality.

There are a number of other miniature lathes from less we!l known that have been available over the years that crop up second hand now and again. Peatol and Toyo are two names that I can remember having seen in the past.

Important.  One has to remember that lathes are generally sold as a basic machine and one needs to buy accessories on as well as the machine to do certain different things on it. So one will have to consider what it will be used for and if any accessories at extra cost needs to be considered.

Edited 21 hours ago by Bugatti Fan

[Bainford]

Have a look at Taig lathes, too. Often cheaper than the Sherlines and Unimats, but a full range of accessories available, including milling attachments, and they are more than capable of the work done in scale modelling. They are US made, and there is good online community support, as well. 

[Straightliner59]

I have a Sherine lathe and one of their milling machines. They're more than suited for what I do, and there are members of this forum who do amazing work, on them.