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I did a thing.
Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 4:20 am
by DCIV
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 4:35 am
by Jeff V.
Coop gonna make some things now.

Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 4:52 pm
by ChargerX3
Dude i want one bad. Problem is i dont have the space for it.
Get a good deal?
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 5:12 pm
by DCIV
1,100. It was in moorsville, NC. Nascar country. Dale jr was 4 miles down the road.
Brand new it’s like 2500 plus tax, plus shipping. This is so much more than the lathe I’ve been using and had a bigger mill than what I was gonna get.
I’m pumped.
Coop
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 5:35 pm
by ChargerX3
Man that will be fun to play and make custom parts with for sure.
How are you going to unload it. Looks like it weighs 2k lbs. lol.
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 5:51 pm
by DCIV
It’s 400lbs. He loaded it with a fork lift. I will use my engine lift. No biggie.
Now I need to clean out my garage for a place. I need to find the info on the table that has the current lathe and see if it can hold 400lbs. If not it has a stand that came with it but like you, space is an issue, and would be nice to use what I have.
Coop
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 6:15 pm
by ChargerX3
Get some iron and weld up a nice solid stand. Good luck on finding space. Will it go up top or the basement?
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 6:18 pm
by DCIV
The stand it came with is stupid strong. It will go downstairs.
Coop
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:45 pm
by DCIV
And then other project/stuff needs to take to the dump
Coop
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:48 pm
by DCIV
It’s running. It’s on its auto cut. I had to shim my cutting tool as it needs bigger ones than the HF one. Needs some tooling but it will get there.
https://youtube.com/shorts/X3bT9kfz5sI? ... Z-O3ZjYJ7Z
Coop
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 6:18 pm
by ChargerX3
Dude that's a steep driveway. Lol. Does it plug into 220 or 110V? Man watching that do an auto pass was pretty sick.
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 6:22 pm
by DCIV
It’s wired up for 110. It can be changed for 220 though. I will leave it for now. Man I need some tooling. What should I list the HF lathe for? Any idea?
Coop
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 7:19 pm
by ChargerX3
You picked up the new HF one too?
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 7:53 pm
by DCIV
No that’s the one I was using. Now dad said to sell it and whatever I get for it, buy tooling. Just need to pick a price.
Coop
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 9:09 pm
by ChargerX3
Oh well i have not idea then.
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 9:42 pm
by DCIV
They are 750-800 depending on the 10 or 12” size. I was thinking of starting at 550.
Coop
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2024 4:29 pm
by Toni
Nice! Looks bigger than mini HF lathe I got.
It is just a lathe with a 90 drill right? Not sure I'm seeing the mill part of it?
How big is the hole through the hole through the spindle/headstock? One annoyance I run into with the smaller HF one is it's pretty small so I can't run long stock through it without cutting it shorter first.
From my experience you want to be slightly above the lathe to see what you are cutting since you cut at 50%. That looks like it's sitting pretty tall. Is that the stand it came with or temporary?
Feeler gauges work well to shim lathe tools if you don't have a fancy tool post.
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2024 5:50 pm
by DCIV
Toni wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 4:29 pm
Nice! Looks bigger than mini HF lathe I got.
It is just a lathe with a 90 drill right? Not sure I'm seeing the mill part of it?
How big is the hole through the hole through the spindle/headstock? One annoyance I run into with the smaller HF one is it's pretty small so I can't run long stock through it without cutting it shorter first.
From my experience you want to be slightly above the lathe to see what you are cutting since you cut at 50%. That looks like it's sitting pretty tall. Is that the stand it came with or temporary?
Feeler gauges work well to shim lathe tools if you don't have a fancy tool post.
I had the larger of the small lathe from HF. This is about 2x the size. That is a mill as well, I think I posted the owners manual. It doesn’t have a huge mill area but a better Vice can get a good work around. It came with a freaking beam as the table. It was massive. But the table it’s on can hold 1200lbs. This thing is 400lbs so while it’s not as good as the one it came on, it’s fine. It’s a good height as well. I’m not directly over it but I can look where I need.
I don’t know how you deal with the HF one man, such tiny cuts and the deflection on any sort of length is crazy! Do you run a live center on the other side to help with that?
I don’t think I can pass through the Chuck on this one like the HF one because of the gearing to run the mill. Which is fine for what I wanna do. I just know from playing with if I can take real cuts. I have some parts ordered to get going. Need to order some metal. Where do you order yours through? Do you just use the hf cutting bits and tooling? I’ve been looking on MSC and thinking of ordering some expensive cutting stuff to get a nicer finish and easier time on some of the steel. This one is big enough to do rotors. Even though they are so cheap now days and cheap to have turned it’s still a nice option to have.
Coop
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2024 11:15 pm
by Toni
Metal? I got some aluminum bar stock from ebay. Just an assorted pack of cutoffs. Then went to my local metal supplier that has a room of cutoffs they just sell for cheap.
My dad gave me a bunch of high speed steel tools. Some already pre-cut and some blanks. I just grind new tooling if I don't have something already. The HSS is typically "sharper" so it cuts nice without having to put as much pressure on the part. I generally haven't had to use the live center.
Understood on the table height. You'll figure out what you like after using it for a while. There's got to be some published OSHA data on proper height too.
Re: I did a thing.
Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2024 3:07 am
by DCIV
This has been funny. So it didn’t come with the part to hold the mill tools. So I find the right stuff and order some parts. Dad does as well.
Go to instal mine today and look what someone added
So mine will not bolt on.
Funny thing, dads will. So I go online and I find the correct bolt and order it. It will be here next week.
Well, dad orders these.
Thinking we can use the cutters we already have from the lathe. Nope. They will not fit in the slot.
So to recap, the HF lathe tools are not the correct thickness to center the tooling, so right now I use a spacer. I need 1/2 inch, well the smaller HF and even some stuff dad has that’s older is still too big to go in the new stuff. His end fits the mill and mine doesn’t but my tooling fits together.
Lol.
It’s all good, we will get there as right the Vice really needs about 4-6 inch base improvement to get full use of the mill. We are getting some round steel stock for that right now. It will all come together eventually.
Coop