开云体育

G'day Kevin & Patrick.
WELCOME!!
The 7x12 is a good little machine for the money inspite of what some
persons imply about "Chinese" goods. Frequently the lathe does need
some improvement to get optimum performance but that is one way to
come to understand your tool. I have difficulties with those who are
critical of the lathe and denigrate things Chinese. It must be
remembered that for most of us, if it wasn't for the cost
effectiveness of the 7x12 we would not have a lathe. I watched eBay
for months and old second hand lathes of know better brands were at
least twice the delivered cost of my lathe and most likely were over
1000km away.
The 7x12 has all the features my Workshop Practice lecturer told us
to look for in a lathe, eg a prism bed, cross slide and compound
slide, back gear (well! pseudo geared headstock), reversible lead
screw, thread cutting ability, thread chasing dial, etc, etc.
The small mass of the lathe is an advantage regarding ease of
installation and mobility. Lastly the variable speed is a real asset.
Instead of labouring over cutting speed selections you just start
slow and crank up the speed until the tool smokes or the lathe
labours.
If buying a 7x12 check to see if the bed has a hardness diagram at
the tailstock end. IMHO this is important to the life of the lathe,
it may even indicate improved accuracy. There seems to be some
variation here with what the vendors are offering. Some 7x12 now seem
to have a better tailstock with a much more substantial foot. Other
features are things like ball oilers on the lead screw and saddle,
way wipers on the saddle.
Some vendors are offering test reports for each lathe showing things
like spindle run out, bed flatness etc.
Remember, it is a fun machine not a production machine; have fun.
Patrick, enjoy the magic!

Gear cutting. It is possible on a lathe by using the headstock and
change gears as an indexer and with a separately driven cutter. I
have read of people using a fixed tool in the cross slide and
traversing the saddle back and forth to cut a gear. You would need
patience. Gear cutting is really the job of a horizontal mill with an
indexing head on the table as a minimum. I have cut gears and the
mill is what I used after I turned up the blanks on a lathe.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian


--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Patrick" <patlamb41@...> wrote:

Hello all, I want to introduce myself. My name is Patrick I'm in
Gaithersburg MD. I joined the group to learn something about mini
machining as I'm a novice.
I have a basic knowledge machining/metal work, and good book

collection

which helps. My father was in the tool and die trade and a foreman

in a

machine shop before CNC machines arrived sometime in the late 60's

early

70's. He left the industry when CNC machines started making it big.
He had the chance to learn CNC, I guess he wasn't interested in it.

It

was a shame because I think machining was his passion. He

passed

on before I could really learn anything about machining from him.
I have made some small metal parts on a small unimat, but I need a
machine thats a little heavier and stiffer than the unimat.
I want to buy a mini lathe and would like to know what the best ala
round models would be. Most of them on the market are Chinese and

some

say there decent machines. I would like to make small gears at some
point. Just one of those things I want to do. I've been reading up

on

gear terminology and the math involved.
There's something magical about cutting a part out of a chunk
metal............thanks Pat L.

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@...>
wrote:

You could cut a full hole and sell the half you don't need on eBay.

Hey Ian,

You sound like you'd know. Any idea why half round files cost as much
or more than full round files?

John

Thanks guys.

You confirm what I've found. I just couldn't believe the difference.
I too was taught to use kero on ali and soluble oil for machining
steel. That was high school in Oz in the late 1960's. Hence that
recent hunt for soluble oil. I must follow up on that some time...

John


--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@...>
wrote:

G'day John & Gerry.
Somehow I seem to have finished up using "Tap Magic" and find it
works well on MS. Like Gerry I use a WD40 generic equivalent on

Ali.

I remember being taught that the cutting fluid for Ali was

kerosine

(parafin in the UK). WD40 is like Kero so that's why I have used

it.

The generic WD40 in spray cans is handy because it can blow out

the

swarf from the hole.
In theory the tapping hole for a 6mm x 1.0 thread is (6-1)mm = 5

(mm).

This can be a bit tight, you may be better of with 13/64 hole for
better clearance.

I have trouble with dies and have almost given up with them and
prefer using the lathe to cut threads instead.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "gerry waclawiak"
<gerrywac@> wrote:

Whilst WD40 is quite good for tapping aluminium it is not as you

have found

much good for anything more.

For what it costs it is far better to buy a purpose made tapping

oil or

compound which makes cutting far easier and gives better finish

and

prolonged tooll life. As an experiment someday try cutting mild

steel with a

normal hacksaw bothe dry and with a proper lubdicant and you

will

see the

difference. As well as being easier my blades last ast least

twice

as long.

Gerry
Leeds UK

From: "born4something" <ajs@>
Reply-To: 7x12minilathe@...
To: 7x12minilathe@...
Subject: [7x12minilathe] Tapping Lube
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 06:32:56 -0000

Hi,

I was tapping 6mm in 1/2" steel. Drilled 5mm and used WD40 as

it

was

handy. Pretty hard going and I snapped the tap on the 2nd hole.

G'day John & Gerry.
Somehow I seem to have finished up using "Tap Magic" and find it
works well on MS. Like Gerry I use a WD40 generic equivalent on Ali.
I remember being taught that the cutting fluid for Ali was kerosine
(parafin in the UK). WD40 is like Kero so that's why I have used it.
The generic WD40 in spray cans is handy because it can blow out the
swarf from the hole.
In theory the tapping hole for a 6mm x 1.0 thread is (6-1)mm = 5(mm).
This can be a bit tight, you may be better of with 13/64 hole for
better clearance.

I have trouble with dies and have almost given up with them and
prefer using the lathe to cut threads instead.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "gerry waclawiak"
<gerrywac@...> wrote:

Whilst WD40 is quite good for tapping aluminium it is not as you

have found

much good for anything more.

For what it costs it is far better to buy a purpose made tapping

oil or

compound which makes cutting far easier and gives better finish and
prolonged tooll life. As an experiment someday try cutting mild

steel with a

normal hacksaw bothe dry and with a proper lubdicant and you will

see the

difference. As well as being easier my blades last ast least twice

as long.

Gerry
Leeds UK

From: "born4something" <ajs@...>
Reply-To: 7x12minilathe@...
To: 7x12minilathe@...
Subject: [7x12minilathe] Tapping Lube
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 06:32:56 -0000

Hi,

I was tapping 6mm in 1/2" steel. Drilled 5mm and used WD40 as it

was

handy. Pretty hard going and I snapped the tap on the 2nd hole. >

G'day Rodney.
Roy's advice is sound. Just buy yourself a half round file.
You could cut a full hole and sell the half you don't need on eBay.
Pardon me I've been working up bush for few days and am getting over
my withdrawal symptoms from the group.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "roylowenthal"
<roylowenthal@...> wrote:

What size hole in what thickness of what material? For sheet

metal,

there are "D" shaped chassis punches available. For anything

thicker,

there's no real quick & easy way to make the hole. The classic

method

is to simply drill holes to rough out the opening, then finish by
filing. The other approach is to make a full sized hole, then

blank

part of it off with a half-round piece that's
glued/soldered/brazed/welded in place, as appropriate.

Roy

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "hockeylove69"

<hockeylove69@>

wrote:

Hello all,
I have been lerking on the group for about a month now this is my

first

post. I have a HF 7X10 mini and a Grizzly Mini Mill and my main
interest is building model steam engines. However my brother came

to

me

the other day wanting me to make a part that has a half round

hole. I

have no idea how to do this. Is there a way to do this with

either my

mill or lathe? Do I need to get a broach set? All the keyway

broach

sets that I have seen make round holes with that square bit in

the

middle. Thanks In Advance, I look forward to any help that may be
provided.

Rodney.

G'day John & FRI.
"Well you could build a 4-post bed with a higher than normal sleeping
shelf and a workbench under."
What a creative way to spend a sleepness night! Unfortunately the 7x12
is too small to turn a thread on the four posts so they can act a screw
jacks to raise the bed clear of the bench.
Thank goodness the humour is back. The chip pan belongs in the kitchen.

The splash guard is a nuisance but does keep the swarf and oil closer
to where they originated. I keep tripping over s bit of piano hinge
which reminds me that the hinge could be placed along the bottom of the
guard allowing it to be swung back for greater clearance. Some form of
fastening like a case clip could be placed at the headstock end to hold
the guard in its normal place.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian

Hi Herb,
I have had the same problem. I have replaced the screws with normal M4
cap head screws. You have to turn the tips of the screws down to match
the normal gib screws.
Kind regards
Mike
Kingsley, UK
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Herb" <hwederma@...> wrote:

I'm in the process of "lapping" in my dove tails etc and have
discovered that one of the gib screw heads are stripped out where the
allen wrench goes into it. The threads are fine, it's just that the
allen wrench just spins in it. Can I "slot" it with a small dremel
wheel so that a slotted screw driver will work on it? Or should I

just

order a new one? thanks, Herb W.

It is only relatively recently that Health and Safety regulations on both sides of the pond have led to the fitting of the safety guard on a machine that was never designed with it in mind and this makers "bodge" has affected the capacity. My 3 YO machine came without and the full 7" is useable and I dont think that the lack of a guard is an issue.

All machinery is inherently dangerous for the careless and unwary.

Gerry
Leeds UK

From: "Mike Payson" <mike@...>
Reply-To: 7x12minilathe@...
To: 7x12minilathe@...
Subject: Re: [7x12minilathe] Re: mini laths
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:58:17 -0700

I'm sure it would be easy enough to remove the chuck guard, I'm just annoyed
that I have to in order to use the advertised capacity of the machine. I'm
sure there is some bizarro world where the 10" part makes sense, but there
is no way that this should be sold as a 7" swing when the only possible way
to use it as such is to permanently disable the safety features (granted, I
think the chuck guard just gets in the way, but that's beside the point).

On 3/19/07, born4something <ajs@...> wrote:

Hi Mike,

And I think you'll find they will happily supply a 6 1/4" face plate
to fit this lathe despite the fact that the guard and associated
kill switch must be removed to use the faceplate. That's what I was
sold to go with my 7x12.

John



--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Mike Payson" <mike@...> wrote:

FYI, I bought the newest incarnation of the HF 7x10 (93212) with

the recent

30% off coupon. It's bad enough that it is 4" shorter then any of

the others

(& two inches shorter then advertised), but it actually only has a

6" usable

swing. I'm not sure if it's standard to all of the 7x's now, but

the HF adds

a chuck saftey shield that is only 3" from the center of the

chuck, so

without removing it, somehow moving your work 3" or so from the

spindle, the

largest work you can possibly turn is 6". I'm taking it back,

though I

haven't yet decided whether to replace it with the Homier, the HF

9x20

(which they will honor the 30% off for, so $560) or the Griz G0602

10x22,

which is really more then I should spend, but a much better (and

better

equipped) lathe.

Decisions, decisons... Any suggestions?

On 3/19/07, Ed <edo@...> wrote:

I just ordered a Homier for which based on my research was the

best

buy I could find. It costs $299 and the only accessory it comes

with

is a fixed center.

Cummins sells the same machine but it comes with extras for

$399. For

the extra $100 you get (1) Tailstock Drill Chuck 1-13mm (with

key, (2)

Moving Steady, (3) Fixed Steady, (4) 6 1/4" diameter Face Plate,

(5) 5

piece cutting tool set. Bought separately, these total $103, so

unless

you need all of them, I didn't see it as worth it.

Homier also sells an Accessory Kit for $99 (which I got for 10%

off at

their eBay store). It includes (1) Tailstock chuck, (2) Face

plate,

(3) Lathe dog, (4) Rolling center, (5) Knurling tool, (6) Follow

rest,

and (7) Spindle center. I figured these would cost $128

separately, so

I thought it a better deal than the Cummins with accessories.

Shipping for the Homier was $6 cheaper ($49 vs $55), but what

really

swayed me to Homier was the customer service. Cummins was real

slow to

answer emails, 3 - 4 days, and never did tell me if the lathe

was in

stock.

I ordered the Homier on-line Friday night when I saw they went

from

Out of Stock to Supplies Limited. I called this morning (Monday)

to

see if they got the order and was told it was being shipped. Got

email

with UPS tracking number this afternoon and it's scheduled for
delivery Wednesday.

If I had the money, my first choice would have been the MicroMark
(82710), $673 delivered. It's 2" longer, has inch lead screws,

and a

digital speed readout.

Other options are the Grizzly (G8688) at $700 delivered (some

think

it's worth it for the better customer service) and Harbor Freight
(33684) which is a 7x10 (2" shorter). It's $419 but is available

in

stores and with a 30% off coupon can be had for $293 + sales

tax. (The

coupons come out every few months.)

Hope this helps, and let us know what you decide.
Ed








Be sure to check out for small

mills and

lathes.
Yahoo! Groups Links

Be sure to check out for small mills

and

lathes.
Yahoo! Groups Links

_________________________________________________________________
Solve the Conspiracy and win fantastic prizes.

Whilst WD40 is quite good for tapping aluminium it is not as you have found much good for anything more.

For what it costs it is far better to buy a purpose made tapping oil or compound which makes cutting far easier and gives better finish and prolonged tooll life. As an experiment someday try cutting mild steel with a normal hacksaw bothe dry and with a proper lubdicant and you will see the difference. As well as being easier my blades last ast least twice as long.

Gerry
Leeds UK

From: "born4something" <ajs@...>
Reply-To: 7x12minilathe@...
To: 7x12minilathe@...
Subject: [7x12minilathe] Tapping Lube
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 06:32:56 -0000

Hi,

I was tapping 6mm in 1/2" steel. Drilled 5mm and used WD40 as it was
handy. Pretty hard going and I snapped the tap on the 2nd hole. Enough
stub to wind it out with the vice grips. I ordered some Tap Magic and
waited for the postie.

The 2nd & 3rd threads were a breeze. I could have turned the wrench
with my little pinkies. I'm not practised at tapping deep threads. The
1/2" steel had a prior life as an anvil on my bench so it was probably
pretty narly. Still, I'm astounded at this Tap Magic. Is that the
experience of others?

John

_________________________________________________________________
Get Hotmail, News, Sport and Entertainment from MSN on your mobile.

I'm sure it would be easy enough to remove the chuck guard, I'm just annoyed
that I have to in order to use the advertised capacity of the machine. I'm
sure there is some bizarro world where the 10" part makes sense, but there
is no way that this should be sold as a 7" swing when the only possible way
to use it as such is to permanently disable the safety features (granted, I
think the chuck guard just gets in the way, but that's beside the point).

My only problem with the HF is it's size. When I can get the Homier for
basically the same price ($20 more including shipping & tax) the HF doesn't
seem like much of a value, even at 30% off. While I haven't actually run
into any real problems with the size of the 7x, I do see some potential
issues... I bought the 5" 4 jaw chuck from LMS & even with nothing in the
chuck & the jaws virtually centered, the lathe shakes pretty bad at low
speeds. I can't imagine actually trying to bore something off center on it,
and I don't think it would be much better on a 7x12.

I had also decided on the 8x, and am in pretty much the same boat as you. I
would still jump on it, except that my local HF won't honor the coupon on
the 8x & they will on the 9x. The 9x20 seems to get mixed reviews, but the
biggest complaints seem to revolve around the cross-slide screw & lack of a
tumbler reverse. These are both fixable, and the latter appears to be true
of the Grizzly 10x22 as well, unfortuantely (please correct me if I'm
wrong... The only mention of reversing the carriage in the manual involved
reversing the spindle rotation as well).

Mike

In my opinion one of the cheapest and satisfying fixes you can make on these lathes is to replace any of the fasteners that are going to be adjusted ie all the gib screws, the topslide backlash adjusters and the toolpost capscrews with good quality items and similarly the allen keys as the stock items are not of the best quality and at best just adequate.

Whilst you could "make do" the way you describe it is much simpler to replace them and not having the problem repeated time after time.

Gerry
Leeds UK

From: "Herb" <hwederma@...>
Reply-To: 7x12minilathe@...
To: 7x12minilathe@...
Subject: [7x12minilathe] Stripped Gib Screw Solution??
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 05:49:38 -0000

I'm in the process of "lapping" in my dove tails etc and have
discovered that one of the gib screw heads are stripped out where the
allen wrench goes into it. The threads are fine, it's just that the
allen wrench just spins in it. Can I "slot" it with a small dremel
wheel so that a slotted screw driver will work on it? Or should I just
order a new one? thanks, Herb W.

_________________________________________________________________
MSN Hotmail is evolving - check out the new Windows Live Mail.

Hi,

I was tapping 6mm in 1/2" steel. Drilled 5mm and used WD40 as it was
handy. Pretty hard going and I snapped the tap on the 2nd hole. Enough
stub to wind it out with the vice grips. I ordered some Tap Magic and
waited for the postie.

The 2nd & 3rd threads were a breeze. I could have turned the wrench
with my little pinkies. I'm not practised at tapping deep threads. The
1/2" steel had a prior life as an anvil on my bench so it was probably
pretty narly. Still, I'm astounded at this Tap Magic. Is that the
experience of others?

John

I need to lap the gibs on couple of my machines I recently purchased, (with little time to use/clean, etc., 'till now). I've never lapped gibs - any particular tips?

Dennis (really new at some of this)

Cummins Mini Mill, freshly unpacked
HF 7x10
Cummins 7x12

Hi Herb,

I'd do both. Slot it for now and get on the air. Pick up a new one at
the locat industrial supply store at your leisure. Or LMS of you don't
have a convenient source. I was a bit worried when I first read your
post and thought you'd stripped the thread. I still gotta wonder how
you stripped the socket.

Congrats on deciding to do the lapping job. It seems thankless at the
time but I found it made a stellar difference.

John



--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Herb" <hwederma@...> wrote:

I'm in the process of "lapping" in my dove tails etc and have
discovered that one of the gib screw heads are stripped out where

the

allen wrench goes into it. The threads are fine, it's just that the
allen wrench just spins in it. Can I "slot" it with a small dremel
wheel so that a slotted screw driver will work on it? Or should I

just

order a new one? thanks, Herb W.

Sure, you can slot it! You can use a dremel or a thin hacksaw. Of course,
you will need 2 tools to adjust the gibs from now on, unless you slot all
the adjusting screws..

rexarino

--
Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I
contain multitudes.)
- Walt Whitman

I'm in the process of "lapping" in my dove tails etc and have
discovered that one of the gib screw heads are stripped out where the
allen wrench goes into it. The threads are fine, it's just that the
allen wrench just spins in it. Can I "slot" it with a small dremel
wheel so that a slotted screw driver will work on it? Or should I just
order a new one? thanks, Herb W.

Hi Pat,

You'll get lots of opinions on the small Chinese lathes - especially
around here.

My take is that they're not for everyone. Some call them a kit. In
my books they are, but not in a derogitory sense. If an experienced
machinist just wants a tool to use out of the box then I'd suggest a
more finished product. OTOH, some are happy with a Chinese lathe out
of the box. Maybe they don't need much or happen to score well in
the QA lotto that these things are. But a hobbiest or machinist on a
budget can finish one of the Chinese kits to be quite a cost
effective yet respectable machine. All the castings are there and
most of the machining done. They just need cleaning and checking
over for alignment errors, etc. The improvements to be had by fixing
any issues found are considerable. In the case of a hobbiest the
experience gained along the way is probably well worth while.

Each machine seems to vary. My personal path involved spreading the
feet (much more stable), lapping & adjusting the gibs (huge
improvement) and glueing some plastic (cut from an old CD) behind
the carriage to keep the swarf out of the apron gears. There will be
more refinements but that much got me underway. Starting from
scratch I spent a lot on accessories (DI, DTI, QCTP, scissor
knurler, centre drills, micrometer, callipers, etc.). However, you
may well have inherited a lot of these.

So if one thou tolerances are all that's required and you can live
comfortably inside the capability envelope without non-stop heavy
usage then you'll probably find the experience and trade-offs fine.

John



--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Patrick" <patlamb41@...>
wrote:

Hello all, I want to introduce myself. My name is Patrick I'm in
Gaithersburg MD. I joined the group to learn something about mini
machining as I'm a novice.
I have a basic knowledge machining/metal work, and good book

collection

which helps. My father was in the tool and die trade and a foreman

in a

machine shop before CNC machines arrived sometime in the late 60's

early

70's. He left the industry when CNC machines started making it big.
He had the chance to learn CNC, I guess he wasn't interested in

it. It

was a shame because I think machining was his passion. He

passed

on before I could really learn anything about machining from him.
I have made some small metal parts on a small unimat, but I need a
machine thats a little heavier and stiffer than the unimat.
I want to buy a mini lathe and would like to know what the best ala
round models would be. Most of them on the market are Chinese and

some

say there decent machines. I would like to make small gears at some
point. Just one of those things I want to do. I've been reading up

on

gear terminology and the math involved.
There's something magical about cutting a part out of a chunk
metal............thanks Pat L.

I had to re-read your post to see what you were telling me. I just
checked my Enco order - I did order 5/16". Typo in previous post, good
catch.
Ed

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "fricebe" <fricebe@...> wrote:

1. all the way down there? and all night alone by itself?

Well you could build a 4-post bed with a higher than normal sleeping
shelf and a workbench under. Just not sure what your lady might say. I
know what mine would. No, she doesn't read this forum. :-)

John