stuck Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Hi all, Looking for a combination lathe / miller as I don't have space for seperate machines, have come across this: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/...lathemill-drill Problem is most of the stuff I've bought from MM has turned out to be complete $hite which I've ended up replacing with something more spendy. Question is would this go the same way? I'm a bit worried that the stand / suds tray is an extra and I can't see a lube tank any where... Would greatly appreciate it if anybody could recomend a decent piece of kit for reasonable money. Many thanks, Mick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoggyN Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 It's Chineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze But not a lot to touch it for the price. I've been looking on Ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plank22 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Looking at that I would spend my money on a half decent second hand myford lathe or somthing similar seeing as that mill couldnt machine a lump out of a digestive biscuit. What sort of things are you wanting to use a mill for as a small mill is very limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Personally, I would not go for a combination machine, as they really are a compromise. It is perfectly possible to carry out most milling operations on a lathe, provided you look for one with a t-slotted cross slide. I would be inclined to spend my money on a good secondhand machine. For the size you are after possibly something like a Boxford AUD or a small colchester. I am not sure which of these have slotted cross slides (also called a boring table) Buying from a dealer rather than privately will mean you are paying over the odds especially for the size of machine you are looking for. If you can find a machine from a private seller then go for it... Good places to look are places like homeworkshop.org.uk. Having said all that, if you are certain you want to buy new, then people like Arc Euro Trade are importing the chinese machines (similar to the clarke one you linked to above) and doing the quality control and the preparation on them that seems to be lacking from some of the other importers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuck Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 Thanks for the replys gents, Incredibly I've been given a Colchester Mascot today! , It's about 10 years since I used a lathe so would appreciate any pointers relating to decent makes of indexable tools etc.. Cheers, Jammy person I'm not that keen on. - edit what I typed dosent translate to well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl hurst Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 A mascot is a large size lathe, possibly to big for hobby use but if you have room why not, as for indexable tooling, ebay can be usefull, Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKD Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 A mascot is a large size lathe, possibly to big for hobby use but if you have room why not, as for indexable tooling, ebay can be usefull,Carl. No such thing as too big, you can always turn a small job on a big machine but will struggle the other way round, enjoy your lathe! Try these guys they also trade on ebay I use the largest piston type (just remember you can't interchange with a dixon type) and can highly recommended. I'm guessing you'll need one for about 10" swing over the saddle... Clicky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuck Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Cheers FKD, Picked the lathe up today, it isn't a Mascot after all, it's a MK2 Student. If I'm honest it's more the size I was looking for and although it's almost an antique it appears to be in fine fettle As it's 10 years since I've used a lathe I think I best scrounge some scrap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Well done on ending up with a decent lathe. just a quick note for anyone else reading this who might be tempted by the MM lathe - DON'T DO IT! I had a Warco combi lathe/mill which is identical to the MM one and it was the biggest heap of Sh#t that i have ever bought for my workshop. simply changing the speed takes 10mins fiddling about with drive belts and don't even ask about the play in the cross slide. I could go on enough to fill several posts but i will leave it at that. Sold it on e-bay and bought a second hand Myford and have never looked back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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