Mini lathes - possible to turn stainless?

[HankMcSpank]

PM returned matey.. 12mm shanks..... might still "fit"

A judiscious amount of googling has confirmed they will still fit - I'll paypal you now.

Cheers!!!!

thanks Tom...I'll likely just buy it with a 4" 4 jaw independent. I did look into 5" chucks the other day...but they seemed fairly scarce (maybe I was looking in the worng places!) & very expensive

[irving2008]

PM returned matey.. 12mm shanks..... might still "fit"

Got any more Kip?

[irving2008]

Couldn't get over there today (it's further than I thought & this is London!).

Called the seller - it seems it does take 10mm tools ....Kip I'll PM you!

So what have you bought?

[John S]

Pity I'd have swapped you for 5 ballscrews and 4 stepper drives, too late now ........................

.

[Alfaman20]

If you can file something then you can turn it, as simple as that. Some stainless is "free cutting" and is much easier to cut but all stainless can be turned. Cutting speeds are important and HSS will cut although not as good as tipped tools. Size of lathe is unimportant so buy one that you have the space for. Remember, don't try too big a cut on too high a speed. One answer states that ss hardens as you cut, not true. The only time it will harden is with excessive heat generated from a tool that rubs stock away rather than cut it and you should always use a small amount of coolant anyway as the cutting action itself will generate a certain amount of heat. When I have finished turning anything I can touch it with my bare hand so the heat generated is only minor. Your turnings should be the same colour as the stock, this is always a good guide on how much heat is being generated. All the above is a general rule and by no means definitive.

[GeorgeD]

it almost certainly won't cut stainless "out of the box". I was very disappointed with my lathe to begin with. I even struggled with (small diameter) steel until I'd done a fair bit of adjustment. With a sharp bit now though I can take 2mm off a steel diameter without too much bother (I changed the spindle bearings to taper rollers before doing this). They're great lathes as long as you treat them as kits for finishing, rather than production-ready.

Hi Tom

Are you saying the cutters fo these mini lathes won't cut the steel or the machine is not up to it?
Thanks.

[black5f]

Hi. Not sure about the cheaper ones but a Sherline will handle anything that'll go in the chuck up to it's full capacity. I've turned a lot of 45mm dia cast iron and mild steel without any problems at all. Made stainless parts and the od bit of silver steel. If you want to turn down rod the chucks are very accurate if you keep the scroll clean, mines less than 0.25 thou run out.
Tom

[bogstandard]

Before building up your hopes too much, I suggest you talk to whoever is supplying the lathe about a few of the items that have been mentioned.

The chuck backplate that usually comes with a minilathe is usually a standard sized one that takes specific sized chucks, so any thoughts of larger ones will require a chuck backplate change. Also, you will have to take into account the mass of a larger chuck will have on the fairly frail gears in the headstock. So changing out for metal gears would be a recommended option, and while you are there, you may as well fit tapered bearings to the spindle, and they will require to be preloaded correctly.

Also soft jaws are not as universally available as you seem to think. The chuck manufacturers use all sorts of different measurements when making their chucks, width of jaws, scroll size etc. So just going in and asking for a set of soft jaws for a 100mm chuck will most probably get the reply, which manufacturer? You might be lucky and the retailer knows if they are available for the chuck on your particular mini lathe, but don't count on it. I don't buy 3 or 4 jaw self centring chucks unless I can buy soft jaws at the same time, because trying to trace ones to fit later can be a real PITA.

Also, as mentioned before, the mini lathe comes ready assembled. That means it has been put together in a rough order. The final tuning depends on yourself.
Having done set up tuning on a fair few of these machines, I would say at least four or five hours to get it to a machining ready state, if you don't know what you are doing, get someone in who does know. The way the saddle, cross and compound gibs are set on these machines really does take some very fine tuning to get them right, and if they are not done correctly, you may as well kiss goodbye to fine finishes and close tolerances. Even the leadscrew usually requires tuning into position.

I am definitely not trying to put you off, I am just preparing you for what WILL be required before you can do any serious machining with it.

But once done correctly, they will usually cope with most things you can throw at them.

Also don't forget, the correct slideway oil must be introduced to all gibbed slideways before attempting to adjust, and the correct oil is NOT engine oil or WD40, use a correct way oil, usually it has a 68 in the name somewhere, it is designed to do the job properly.

Bogs