Do I need a Lathe?

[Yorkie]

Hi All,
I've thought about buying a small lathe but never put any serious effort into buying one. However, since I've restoring test equipment and radio I can see that one would be useful. I've been doing a little research and have thought about buying a small Unimat lathe - any thoughts?

Regards

Rob

There are many 'min-lathes on the market known as '7x14' which can spin a workpiece up to 7" in diameter; that's what the 7 in 7x14 means. The 14 means it can hold work up to 14" long between the headstock (the bit holding the chuck) and the tailstock (the bit on the right). Many of therm are made in China, and though I've no personal experience of them, I've fiddled about with then in shops like Machine Mart, and on a superficial examination, they look quite reasonable. I don't think many of us as going to do any precison work or to expect too much of a lathe. I've used my simple little relic of the past to do things like make spindle couplers and other small tasks.

7x14s have facilities for other tasks such as screwcutting. There's an example of one at this link:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Lathe-Bra...4340.m1374&_trkparms=algo%3DPI.WATCH%26its%3DC%252BS%26itu%3DUCC%26otn%3D5%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D4494696779870055160

The mini-lathe that Machine Mart sell - the Clarke CL251, has variable speed and screwcutting. With VAT it's £418, but they do have 'VAT free' promotions which drops the price to £349.

I've got no connections with the above outfits or any other and I'm not recommending them, but they're examples of what's on the market, and doubtless they come up cheaper secondhand due for example to people upgrading to something larger. Unless you de-clutter your garage Rob, a 7x14 is all you'd find space for! :D