New toy in the shop

A

Absinthe

Well-Known Member
Well, I couldn't resist with a 25% off coupon to pick up the little 7x10 lathe from HF. I just ordered some tooling from Amazon, and pretty soon there will be no stopping me. I am not sure exactly what it will be good for, but I am going to make some little round things for something :)

That said, what might it contribute to knifemaking? I was thinking I could try my hand at turning down some precise pins, or perhaps even some bushings. I honestly didn't get this for any specific purpose, I just wanted it. It's been a long time since buying something like that. But like always, I feel bad after spending money on something. So, I will need to find something that needs to be made with it :) Anyone else do that, or is it just me?
 
You can turn anything from small pommels to pins with a small lathe like that. My experience with Harbor Freight tools has been either really good or really bad. So hopefully yours is a good one.
 
Absinthe said:
Well, I couldn't resist with a 25% off coupon to pick up the little 7x10 lathe from HF. I just ordered some tooling from Amazon, and pretty soon there will be no stopping me. I am not sure exactly what it will be good for, but I am going to make some little round things for something :)

That said, what might it contribute to knifemaking? I was thinking I could try my hand at turning down some precise pins, or perhaps even some bushings. I honestly didn't get this for any specific purpose, I just wanted it. It's been a long time since buying something like that. But like always, I feel bad after spending money on something. So, I will need to find something that needs to be made with it :) Anyone else do that, or is it just me?
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Congrats!

I don't have space for a big lathe right now (not done building the shop), so I've been tempted to get a "minila-the", too.

As is, you're not going to have a lot of fun turning steel. Aluminum, brass, plastic, and other easier materials aught to turn great, though. If you end up liking it and feel the need to upgrade, there are TONS of aftermarket parts out there. Everything from upgrade motors and gears to DROs.

Sent from my Champion Forge using Tapatalk
 
Sean Jones said:
You can turn anything from small pommels to pins with a small lathe like that. My experience with Harbor Freight tools has been either really good or really bad. So hopefully yours is a good one.
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Buying from HF is a matter of managing expectations. I think I have some pretty realistic expectations, and I am willing to deal with them as such. The way I see it, my mill is not the biggest, and for knives, folders and the such there don't seem to be many very large parts. If I have to run many passes only taking a few thou at a time, then I am ready and willing to do that.
I am refurbishing a few pipe wrenches now, a few of them have the wooden handles with the threaded pommel. Initially I was thinking I needed to make one, but I found them both.

I bought a few of those bronze bushings from K&G and one project will be to try and reproduce them with some reasonable accuracy. I think I also saw someone demonstrate how to make a stack of those thin washers from shim material.
I have also considered precision pin sizing. Loveless fasteners, Corby fasteners, cutler rivets, and even rivets with burrs. I doubt any of these will be cost effective, but they all sound like good exercises to learn.

I just haven't come up with anything else yet. So, I am just looking for ideas.
 
52 Ford said:
Congrats!

I don't have space for a big lathe right now (not done building the shop), so I've been tempted to get a "minila-the", too.

As is, you're not going to have a lot of fun turning steel. Aluminum, brass, plastic, and other easier materials aught to turn great, though. If you end up liking it and feel the need to upgrade, there are TONS of aftermarket parts out there. Everything from upgrade motors and gears to DROs.

Sent from my Champion Forge using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Yeah. I haven't come up with anything steel that I need to turn. Phosphor/Aluminum Bronze, brass, nickel silver, and perhaps some precision sizing on some stainless but thinking about a few thou to take some .098 down to 3/32 or something like that.

Not sure how I feel about making screws, but it is a feature possibility. So there's that too.
 
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