I want to expand the scope of what I can build in the workshop. Today I have the ability to work with sheet metal and tubing and to weld things together. You can do a lot with this, but I wanted more capabilities – a lathe and perhaps a milling machine.
This type of equipment is expensive and takes up a lot of space, so it has remained on the wish list. Checking Craig’s List I noticed a lathe and milling machine, with tooling, at a reduced price.
Between paint and chrome for the Imperial I’m already over budget for the year. Actually, I’ve been informed that I’m over budget for the decade. Or maybe even longer…
Nevertheless I built up my courage and took the listing to the the Chief Financial Officer (also known as She Who Must Be Obeyed). Somewhat to my surprise it was approved! Conditional on the machines passing my inspection.
I contacted the seller, arranged a time, and checked out the machines. They weren’t powered up so I couldn’t actually try them out, but they looked good. The previous owner had a fork lift which made loading them into the pickup easy. The lathe weighs around 1,200 pounds and the mill around 800 pounds. Once I got them home the trusty engine hoist lifted them out of the truck and moved them into place.
Lathe
The lathe is a 12″ x 36″ engine lathe. This means it can work on parts up to 12″ in diameter and 36″ long – plenty for the things I do! It has a quick change gear box for setting thread pitch and feed rates as well as a quick change gear box for rpm. This is much easier to use than low end lathes which require you to manually change gears for threading and which require moving belts on pulleys to change speed. It has power feed and cross feed as well as clutch control on the apron.
This lathe is ideal for my use – it is big enough and powerful enough for anything I will do, small enough to be reasonable for the shop, rigid enough for precision work, and full featured which makes it a pleasure to use.
The lathe came with a good set of tooling – three jaw chuck, four jaw chuck, faceplate, steady rest, many high speed steel cutting tools, a set of holders for carbide inserts (and a good supply of carbide inserts), live center and dead center. Basically everything you need for general work on the lathe! Buying this tooling separately would cost several hundred dollars or more.
After getting the lathe powered up I spent a couple of hours working with it and checking it out. Everything on it works with the exception of the threading dial – I need to look into that. Initial check of accuracy is encouraging; I need to take the chuck off and check actual runout at the spindle. This lathe has the most features and capabilities of any lathe I’ve used – I’m really happy with it!
It needs a good cleaning and good lubrication. I won’t be doing anything serious with it until the needed oils have arrived. Getting the correct way oil proved to be more of a challenge than expected – it normally comes in five gallon buckets from industrial suppliers. I managed to find a smaller container which will be here next week.
Milling Machine
The milling machine is a clone of the Rong Fu RF31 benchtop mill. This is probably the most widely used small milling machine. It doesn’t have the capabilities of a full size Bridgeport mill – but it also doesn’t have the cost, size, or weight of a Bridgeport! For small shop use it offers a great combination of size, features, and accuracy.
The most common model is the RF30. The RF31 is a more expensive model with power downfeed which provides better quality when boring large holes.
Checking the spindle with a dial indicator showed a total runout of 0.0002-0.0003 inches – a fantastic result which indicates that the machine is in really good shape. Quality of work will be limited more by my skills than the machine.
Like the lathe the mill came with a good assortment of tooling – a machinist vice, an angle vice, a variety of cutters, collets, a hold down kit, and some other odds and ends. Basically, everything you need for most machining jobs. Like the lathe, this tooling would cost several hundred dollars to purchase separately.
Also like the lathe, the mill needs a good cleaning and lubrication.
Other
The package also included a 12″x18″ surface plate on a stand and a machinist height gauge. I already have a 20″x24″ surface plate but didn’t have a height gauge so this is a useful addition.
So far I’m quite happy with these machines. These are more capable and higher end machines than I had expected to find. And they seem to be in good condition. I don’t plan to start any projects with them until I have the Imperial put back together and on the road, so it may be a while before any updates on them.