The Home Machinist!

Hey guys, been a while since I last visited this post. I have read all of your ideas and tried many of them with varying success. Thank you all for your time and for your help.

Hi, I am an amateur metalworker looking for an inexpensive project involving a propane torch, and some brazing rods. I was wondering what ideas you experts may have for a beginner.

Thanks.

I do not know. But the smaller engines nowadays have great fuel economy due to electronic aids, but still produce ample power. They also might be somewhat cheaper to build. I also disgusts me that the engines are all made of aluminum blocks and heads. Honestly I have never heard anything about the ....

I went to the Grizzly store/display in Springfield and as soon as I saw the 7 x 12, I knew that it wasn't going to be of size or do much of anything. The quality of the mini and micro lathes is very very poor. They are not very rigid either. So, I finally settled on a 10 x 22, which had a very accep...

Awesome!

I agree with both MrRon and SteveHGraham. The Grizzly 7x12 is a nice little lathe. Do however check out some of the tooling. Little Machine Shop sells a basic tooling package for 7x lathes for about I think $200. More important, what you need is some knowledge and experience. After some time you wi...

John Evans wrote:A 9X20 would be better but as Steve 12X36 is a very useable size. Down size is as it gets bigger the price follows big time.

I looked online at a 9 x20 and 12 x 36 and they are both out of my budget by far.

Depends on what kind of work you want to do. If you are into model making, a 7x12 may be all you need, but if you want to build a large scale steam locomotive, you will need something bigger and heavier. The price will go way up. All I want to do is start tinkering with aluminum stock, small projec...

Depends on what kind of work you want to do. If you are into model making, a 7x12 may be all you need, but if you want to build a large scale steam locomotive, you will need something bigger and heavier. The price will go way up. All I want to do is start tinkering with aluminum stock, small projec...

Hi, I am an amateur metalworker just starting out with a new shop. I was wondering what kind of lathe I should get. I'm looking at a 7 x12 from Grizzly, but I don't know if that is going to be my choice. :| DrDavo (my uncle), is taking me to the Grizzly shop in Springfield to look at some of their e...