alan2525

The Amateur's Lathe by L.H. Sparey is probably a good place to start.

The book was originally published in 1948, describes setting up the lathe, tool grinding, marking out etc.

It's a little heavy going but a good reference to have around and pretty cheap too.

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Bunkerbarge

There is a lot of usefull information on the sites already linked in this thread as well as littlemachineshop.com.

There is also a good manual at the American Grizzly site here:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/g8688

That is if your Axminster is the same as my Chester, which is the same as the Grizzly G8688!!

I would also recommend anything by Tubal Cain such as:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MODEL-ENGINEER...QQcmdZViewItem

and:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WORKHOLDING-IN...QQcmdZViewItem

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“Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack, Butting through the Channel in the mad March days"

alan2525

I finally bit the bullet and purchased a small lathe!

After a bit of research and some reading on the internet, this here forum etc, I decided on purchasing a Taig / Peatol Lathe. I needed something small as it's going to be used in an unheated shed and needs to be portable small enough to stow away when not in use, but still rugged enough to be able to make some usefull model parts.

There's a very usefull website: www.cartertools.com for info on the taig lathe. Taig produce a small range of usefull accessories for the lathe too, milling attachment, collet sets, 4 jaw chuck etc which I'll be adding at a later date. The first job is to turn some brass collets for my cnc machine, then true up some acrylic wheels and produce axles and spacers for gearbox for my tank model...

Here's mine mounted up on an old 3/4" tabletop with motor mounted and wired up - just after making some swarf:

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Bunkerbarge

Very neat, I was actually looking into one of these when I got my Unimat but I couldn't get an answer from them so I gave up.

I do like my Chester now but it does have to have a permanent home so it needs a bit more space.

Glad you got one anyway and looking forward to seeing what it can produce.

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“Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack, Butting through the Channel in the mad March days"

alan2525

An update on my Taig Lathe. If anyone else is considering purchasing one.

Made my first usefull parts on my little Taig Lathe today - some nice knurled handles to replace the annoying cap head screws on the tailstock of the lathe! A pretty easy modification and saves time hunting around for an allen key wrench.

The only problem is that they turned out so nicely I'm replacing all the split moulded plastic handles on my chinese magnetic base now. I also modified the handles on the saddle and cross slide so it has spinning handles too.

I've purchased a quick change tool holder from A2Z cnc in the US - very nicely made and makes the lathe much more pleasant to use. I just wish I'd remembered to order a few extra spare tool holders for it!

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GeorgePapa

Hi people,
I was just about to ask Richard about keeping the place so clean !!!
Allan, I would suggest as sturdy a table as possible, since the finishing quality as you may already know, has a lot to do with machine - system rigidity.

I am the happy owner of 2 Unimats and an Emco Compact 5, all with milling attachments. I prefer the more expensive European (or US ) makes for accuracy and longevity (my first Unimat runs true since 1961).

I wish you to enjoy your new lathe as much as you can.

Greetings from a boiling Greece,

George

man31x

Hi, I have just joined the forum with the intention of gathering advice and information before I buy one of these Taig/Peatol microl lathes. I have a small remote helicopter that I would like to make parts for, also I have an interest in modifying Abu multiplier fishing reels for my father who has several ideas to persue.
Can you offer any advice? Are you pleased withit? Would you buy it over again?
What would you say are it's best and worst elements?
What do you need to order to get going as I beleive this is not a complete lathe ready to go out of the box and several parts are required to be ordered seperately?

Best regards
Geoff