All excellent pieces of advice, and I am much appreciative for all of them. I just lack the funds to follow much of it. My budget is 1/10th the cost of some of these machines.
I'm not a machinist, nor have I owned/operated a combo lathe/mill. Just some general observations.Smaller equipment is less rigid so quality finishes are harder to achieve. A small lathe is better than no lathe, but bigger is even better.Tooling will cost as much or more than the equipment if bought new. Check Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, etc for used equipment/tooling. I bought a used/like new 14X40 Birmingham (Taiwan) with loads of tooling for $700, it took months of checking 3 or 4 times a day, but was worth the effort. The tooling was worth what I paid for everything. Also if you buy good used equipment you most likely will always get your money back out of it.I know you said you want to put it in the basement. Consider if there is room to put larger equipment in the garage or shed.Good luck.
Quote from: customcutter on May 01, 2022, 09:31:16 AMI'm not a machinist, nor have I owned/operated a combo lathe/mill. Just some general observations.Smaller equipment is less rigid so quality finishes are harder to achieve. A small lathe is better than no lathe, but bigger is even better.Tooling will cost as much or more than the equipment if bought new. Check Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, etc for used equipment/tooling. I bought a used/like new 14X40 Birmingham (Taiwan) with loads of tooling for $700, it took months of checking 3 or 4 times a day, but was worth the effort. The tooling was worth what I paid for everything. Also if you buy good used equipment you most likely will always get your money back out of it.I know you said you want to put it in the basement. Consider if there is room to put larger equipment in the garage or shed.Good luck."Smaller equipment is less rigid so quality finishes are harder to achieve."This is true but when taking light cuts with good tooling good finishes are possible with "bench top" type equipment. My bench top lathe and some projects.........New steel backing plate for new 5" 3 jaw chuck was "maximum working size" for the lathe...... Smaller work is easily done with the 8x14 lathe....... My small milling machine is often fitted with a dividing head for drilling radial holes in the oring sealed piston caps I make for myself instead of a milling vise......... Anywhoo, as mentioned by others, bench top equipment isn't the most rigid tools however with light cuts and good tooling some good work can be done (but also rather slow). Also, expect to spend more on tooling than the lathe itself! LOL.....extra chucks, quick change tool posts, tool bits, measuring tools etc do cost an extra few coins.
I assume you are referencing the smallest lathe mill combo from grizzy. G0937 ?
Quote from: Cyknife on May 08, 2022, 06:58:49 PMI assume you are referencing the smallest lathe mill combo from grizzy. G0937 ?Well, I was...just to have something to get me started, and save my fingers. Now, I don't know what I am going to do. It would be great to find a good deal on used equipment, but my luck has taken a hiatus for a few years, and I don't expect it to pop up any time soon.