Axminster Micro Metal Turning Lathe

[Steve Maskery]

Evening all,
Has anyone by any chance got one of these?
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... 89&recno=1

My neighbour is thinking of getting one. I owe him big time for help with the wardrobe, and thought I might buy it for him. Any experience of it, anyone? Is it usable or is it a toy?

Cheers
Steve

 

[Chris Knight]

Steve,

Can't speak for this particular model but I have owned a miniature lathe in the past and they can be suprisingly capable. There is probably quite a decent range of accessories available under other badges for the same machine too. In any case most metal workers end up making a lot of their own tools for small lathes.

This model looks as though it can do basic screw cutting and has a vertical slide for basic milling so it can be quite handy as it is and I reckon it would make a fine present.

 

[Losos]

Steve - I was contemplating a mini lathe and got some info sent to me. The Axminster was IMHO in the top three. There is another one called Peatol which I'm told is favoured by model engineers. Might be an idea to find out what he wants to use it for first 'cos it would be a shame to give him something which had 10mm less capacity than he needs (e.g. Between centres etc.)

 

[jasonB]

Don't know about the Axminster one but I had an Emco Unimat 3 which had around the same capacity. If you want to make a start in model engineering these little lathes are great, some of the others have a lot more accesories.

I built one of these on my Unimat before moving on to bigger things (& mavhines)

http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det. ... /mod_id/39

Jason

 

[Steve Maskery]

Thank you all, seems like a generally positive response. I'll find out a bit more about what he actually plans to use it for. I do know that he has made clcoks in the past, when he worked in workshops.
I must say, it will be handy having a metal-turning lathe next door!
Cheers
Steve