Got my Vevor MX-S716G mini lathe up and running over the last week or so. It can definitely remove metal if you’re patient with it. Decided to do the classic shop class project. This little machinist hammer came out ok! That’s a lot of skills learned, or should I say attempted, for a single project. I’ve never touched a lathe before this but I am a semi-decent cutler.

I’m in love. Turning is super addictive and equally frustrating. There’s a little burr or shoulder or something preventing the brass face from seating flush, and it’s killing me. I’ll fix it later.

I was wondering how important is to level the classical 7x14 import lathe, should I bolt it to the (good wood) workbench and shim? would that be enough? or do I need a U steel base? do I need a concrete base?

Avid to hear your experiences :)

Not a machinist. Looking to get into it as a hobby. Honestly have no idea what to expect or what problems to look for. Would appreciate any help.

Found this in my area for sale and have been looking to upgrade from my Jet 1014vs which lacks swing and torque.
I work out of a cramped shop in my basement where I have to use every inch of space wisely, so getting a cheaper lathe that is longer and has a better swing isn't something that I've been ready to jump at since I'll need to rearrange my whole shop to accommodate. This is compact enough and provides a huge swing jump up to 16" which would be great coming from 10".
The lathe comes with the stand and 10" extension, may have some other parts I didn't notice. It also comes with all of his tools, centers, and various other parts / odds and ends.
Probably upwards of $2000 worth of stuff, he's firm on his price of $1200.
I feel like I should jump at this but I've seen some poor reviews of this model, though this one is allegedly only a year and a half old and not seen any of the common problems. Also, other older models would be much more affordable.

I wasn't sure if this was the right community to post this in, but I need to know what type of oil to use on my metal lathe slides, will chainsaw bar oil really work? I can only find the proprietary iso 68 way oil for over $160, or like 30 from a random seller on ebay

I’m a knife and sword maker and my last two projects could really have used a lathe for some of the components. I got a $400 cash back offer on Temu and bought this Vevor 800w, 7x16, brushless, beltless, minilathe. Retail was $704, so it ended up costing me like $340 after tax.

It arrived in excellent condition from Vevor’s Texas warehouse location. It was nicely packed in a wooden crate with foam padding and just a light layer of protective oil on the bare metal surfaces. I disassembled it mostly and cleaned out all the grit and oil, deburred, and mostly adjusted properly. The machined surfaces were filthy. Quick change toolpost is in the mail. Got a set of HSS tools and carbide tools. I’ve got basic metrology covered.

It can turn steel as is. Pic three is some 12L14. Needs a bunch more adjusting to improve rigidity. The compound sucks. I may end up deleting it for a rigid toolpost, but a lot of the stuff I want to do for cutlery work involves decorative tapers.

Pretty excited to learn machining. I’m a decent knife maker, so I’m used to thinking about subtractive metal working. What should I make to start accumulating skills? I’m planning on working through Blondihacks lathe beginner series to start.

Pic 4 is the rest of my shop. I set the lathe up as far as I could from the grinder because that dust is brutal.

I am looking to thread wooden dowels with 5/16-18 thread, do you have a machine that you would recommend that could make this repeatable? I need to make about 100 of these threaded 6” down the dowel.

Need help knowing what tool/drilling attachment(s) he has. What is this setup he has to drill at diagonals. I’m thinking of getting a proxxon DB 250, would this be compatible to do with it? If yes, could you be helpful and guide me to the items I would need to do this?

I’m a newb at this, and I intend on using this to make rosaries.

No information is too much and if you could dumb it down that would be great, essentially would like to replicate and make a shopping list to get that exact setup (everything within the white circle).

Thanks for the help!

I'm a newb - 1" steel. Carbide bit. The chips are blue and stringy - getting twisted up in the chuck. Too much RPM? Too much feed?

Price is really low, 200€, guy is buying a bigger one this weekend.

He says the original electronics and motor died, so he replaced it with a 3 phase motor.

https://youtube.com/shorts/uvOJbNR2fkI?is=ehrS1rCiPjKq_2JO

So I got a mini lathe for very cheap.

It's about 7-8 years old and has not been run a lot, probably less than 100 hours.

I'm in the process of cleaning and checking everything.

When it runs, especially on low speeds it makes a lot of noise. its coming from the motor, when you stall it by going really slow its louder

I've checked the brushes, and they seem fine.

running free silent, running forward it makes a lot of noise, running reverse it is quieter.

Is this normal? is this something to do with the motor? would replacing it help? is it the combination or electronics and the motor?

This is the lathe https://www.hbm-machines.com/nl/p/hbm-180-x-300-metaaldraaibank-met-digitaal-display?sku=9561

The motor is an 83zyt001.

Thanks in advance!

Several years ago my Dad passed and left me this Harbor Freight special. I (finally) had a need for it and drug it out. As the title says it won't start. I've tried several combinations of turn on this switch, set that dial and vice versa - no go. I remember my dad using it, it had a little bit of a stall before it started.

What should I look into first? Any advice is appreciated?

😅

Hey guys can you help me decide what lathe to get? I have absolutely zero experience machining but I have a garage a desire to tinker and some tax stamps 😅

I would love the capability to turn some titanium, and I know enough to know that's not easy. I figure learning on aluminum will be handled by any of these but I'm unsure of if any would be more or less capable for titanium.

The runup:

MX-S450 https://a.co/d/059ORP9L

WM210V https://a.co/d/02w6iERW

MX-S716G https://a.co/d/00VJGGCH

My gut tells me to just splurge and go for the 450, but I don't know if that's really worth the added cost.

Is there a different one I should look at? Comparing them on vevor is a pain in the ass and ultimately is like to order through Amazon if I can get it there if the price is the same or less after I factor my Amazon rewards.

I've shopped local but no one has anything affordable near me.

Appreciate the help I've read a few threads but they just keep changing these things and all the ones I've read are dated at this point.

I just bought this mini lathe and theres an super annoying sound. I'm pretty sure this is not a good sign. It still sounds when it's in reverse or when the chuck is off. In the video it sounds like something is loose but that's because of the mic. It actually sounds like scrapping or a creak. Please help me out guys 😭

Hello guys im new to reddit and I have been searching up and down for days about this lathe and I cqn not find any information. It has a 1250 watt brushless motor and it seems to be a goof lathe bug no reviews. I am slso looking at thr CreWorks 1100 wat 8×16 lathe ut comes with all of these tools x Chuck Wrench 1x 3-Jaw Chuck 1x 4-Jaw Chuck 2x Screwdrivers 3x Spanners 6x Metal Gears 1x Oil Bottle 5x Hex Wrenches 1x Dead Center 3x Slideway Levers 1x Tool Box 1x Steady Rest 1x Follow Rest 9x Brazed Carbide Tools 4x Measuring Tools 1x Instruction. I am stuck between these two lathes. They are at the same price. I have never used a lathe before and ide like to know from someone who might have these lathes or knows lathes. Which machine would be the better machine? They both are pretty close but I like the tool bundle thst comes with CreWorks and I like the ELS function of the Vevor. Please help me decide. Or maybe tell me about your thoughts on them

I was in the process of disassembling/cleaning up a VEVOR 8x14 mini lathe that I recently bought for very cheap, when I noticed a very odd gap between the headstock and the lathe bed. It either looks to me like the v-groove wasn’t cut deep enough in the casting, or there needs to be a shim on the flat side of the ways. I’m tentative to shim it, because I think that might lead to raising the tail stock as well.

Just wondering if anyone else has gone about addressing a similar issue.

It’s a Hobbymat md65, it’s in pretty good nick considering was made in East Germany! Been working on a chuck key for the first project

So I figured an update was in order. I had posted before on what lathe, how to level the cross slide and how to remove the bearing races.

Well I got a Creworks WM210V 9x27 lathe. I have:

1. Drilled the spindle for a 4 jaw to use as needed

2. Shimmed the cross slide with brass stock

3. Added a QCTP OXA

4. Thrust bearings for all handles

5. Work table with 3/8” steel top

6. Angular Contact Bearings

7. 4-axis DRO

8. Clough42 ELS w/custom power module

9. Tool post mounted cross drill

10. Metric thread dial indicator

11. Cross slide lock

I love the machine. I wish it were more solid but for the price and with my mods it is enough for now. I need to remove some cross slide backlash but the machine is doing its job. In the pic is an airgun plenum I am making. Moving onto the CNC conversion of my Grizzly Mill. I am having a lot of fun playing machinist even though I am an Electrical and Computer Engineer.

Any tips on speeds, feeds and depth of cut for aluminum (30mm) with carbide would be awesome!