#248 

I finished my install of my 16" bed last weekend and this video was a huge help. I didn't even bother reading the instructions after watching this once or twice, just dove in and everything is better than when it was a 10". Awesome job documenting the process and many thanks.

Ooo woooooww i never knew they sell a extension bed thanks!!!

I just completed my upgrade-your instructions for disassembly and reassembly were awesome, thank you so very much! 7x16 Yay!!!

Nice job on this upgrade! Not for the faint at heart, for sure. You have pointed out several weaknesses of this lathe, but you are getting the problems resolved. Thanks for sharing.

This video got me to buy this from LMS. Thanks for sharing. I didn’t even know this was a possibility..

I cut the small end of my drill MT2 taper so it fit farther in but still popped out when I turned the crank to 0, and It gave me a little more room. I have a quick change tool post like that and it is as tight as a new bride, and am really happy with it. I superglued the handle in and it has worked good.

My 2nd time watching this vid to refresh my memory as I just got serious and pulled the trigger on this for my 93799. The extra 4 inches is going to be AWESOME! Thanks again.

Just to clarify lathe specifications. The three principal working parameters are swing over the bed, swing over the carriage and length center to center. The swing specs are pretty straight forward but the C to C spec needs qualification. It is generally understood the working length of the bed does not include "accessories" such as chucks and rolling centers. The actual spec refers to having dead centers inserted into the spindle and tailstock. With that in mind the advertised spec is probably correct. It is up to the buyer to determine actual working dimensions based on their use case.

Great job! The crickets background noise was great a real homey sound to your build, better than the background music some of these videos have!

Thanks for showing this modification I need to do this with mine.

You sir should be a machining instructor. I cannot believe how thorough you are with every aspect of rebuilding your lathe. I dont even own a lathe or endmill but stayed and watched this to the end just because of how you explained everything perfectly. This video is getting saved for future reference when i do buy my lathe from harbor freight. This is why i dont understand people who rag on me for buying things from harbor freight. With a little bit of TLC and upgrades you can make anything from harbor freight perform as good as the big name brands. Well done sir.

It is actually ten inches from a dead center in the spindle and one in the tailstock. You probably could have made it work by putting your bar between centers and secure the bar for turning with the face plate a a lathe dog. Good job on installing the kit though. Definitely a useful upgrade.

Nice upgrade - a fair bit of work needed - but nothing that could really scare a guy who can rebuild a Mustang automatic transmission!

I'm getting this kit with steady rest for sure

The finest lathe video I have ever seen, on this topic. Very clear video, instructions, and easy hearing and understanding talk. I give you an A+++++++++!!

Thanks so much for the information on your quick change tool post. I have been looking about ordering a 7"X16" lathe and a quick change tool post set. You have been great help. Good luck with your lathe modification.

Nice to see the inner workings-> yes very educational and now if I need minor adjustments I can do myself

Nice upgrade Buddy to meet your shop needs. I have purchased tooling and accessories from The Little Machine Shop also, they do have a excellent business for the home machinist and customer service. I am still waiting on some materials to arrive so I can get my Electronic Lead Screw together and installed.

Very good video! Much appreciated! It's nice to see a How-To that covers all the details in real life. I don't have a mini lathe, but do have my great grandfathers 14" swing/36" workpiece lathe. It is VERY old (1930's, but not really sure[exposed gears are high above the head], but is very accurate, he was a master gunsmith and competed on the National level and made his own barrels. He also did boiler repairs). The lathe was originally set up with leather belts and interchangeable gears for gear cutting/feed rates nad adjusting head speed. I am planning to do some modernizations on it and your video really helps shed some insight and perspective on lath construction. Thank you, I am a subscriber now.

I figured you were going to connect the 2 beds together.

This is the exact reason why I started off with buying the 9x20 :)

Thank you for the wonderful information you have provided for those of us you want to upgrade our lives from Harbor Freight Tool! Thank you so much for your time buddy. Your knowledge is invaluable! May you be blessed my brother. Joel

Thank you for making this informative, detailed video. Take care

Wow! Great how to video. I plan on doing this modification to my lathe. Thank You!

Great for people with a 10" bed who don't want to sell it to buy a more expensive 16" and want to retro their existing lathe. I bought a 12" bed because it was the biggest lathe bed Harbour Freight had to get length was much cheaper that Little Machine of the same size but had to wait 2 months.

great job! lots of patience - great payoff!

Great video, nice and thorough! I could listen to your voice all day

Without a doubt, you are quite skilled at assembly. Good luck with that tool.

With all the extra work you've already done on this lathe, maybe the Grizzly g0768 might have been a better starting point. It is advertised as an 8 x 15 lathe, has tapered bearings on the spindle, has a cam lock tailstock and comes with steady rest and follow rest and both 3 and 4 jaw chucks. Looks like maybe the same bed and ways, but for what you've already spent in parts and labor, the $1350 price looks pretty reasonable.

Excellent instructional! looks like a pretty big job, but one I've got to tackle... I have the bed extension but have put off installing it!

Great upgrade Buddy! It seems you're a lot like me. Mechanically inclined. Work in machine shops, engines, transmissions and experience in the electronic/computers areas as well. Loved the detailed video.

I'm in total awe of your mechanical skills. Amazing. Any 'tubelicious' projects in the pipeline? Always a treat too!

I just did the change over and your video was a big help. Thanks Bunches

Am I the only one that is wondering why the measurement was from the face of the chuck jaws to the face of the tailstock, rather than with the chuck removed, an MT3 centre fitted in the spindle and an MT2 center fitted in the tailstock quill as that is how it is actually measured to get the "between centers" measurement. Agreed the "usual" working distance between the chuck and tailstock is diminished because of chuck depth (measured at the furthest projection of the jaw towards the tailstock) and tailstock live-centre depth, but that is not the "between centers" measurement, that is the "working distance" when fitted with a chuck.

Great video. Nice upgrade.Nice work. Thank you for sharing.

Good video, Thank you for the step-by-step Process That is very helpful when it comes to other people doing the same project.

A note re the lead screw: If you have the rubber seal where the lead screw passes into the control box (you can see it at 10:30, right below the corner of the head stock), be sure to transfer it to the new lead screw *before* mounting the lead screw! He forgot to do that. Oops! 🙂 I'd also recommend using blue Loctite on the screws for the rack, lead screw bearings, change gear arm stud, motor mounting plate (to the motor), & the head stock. And lightly oil the bed & underside of the head stock so they won't rust.

Buddy that was a great job. Enjoyed it and believe after watching that i can tackle that job. Thanks a lot your directions were really good. Appreciate it..

Simply outstanding Sir!💖👏👏👏👍👍👍👍👍

Great video, thank you for sharing.

Impressive work.

Wonderful job thank you

Excellent! Thank you!

Very nice upgrade, Buddy, and your mechanical skills are amazing. Thanks for taking the time to make the video and sharing it with us. Looking forward to the next one. I bet you could work wonders with an old Quickie-500 RC racing engine. 73 de K7RMJ Frank

You're lucky, it took 2 years to get mine because they kept selling out and it's first come first served, no reservations. Great video though! I got my tool post (sliding gib type) from little machine shop also. I made sure it wasn't the piston type for the very reason your talking about.

I made the same mistake with the tool post. Little machine shop has a cross slide that's been shaved so that you can run a standard AXA tool post on em. It's way better.

Great job on this.

Awesome Job 😊

Great video,great job, good upgrade to your lathe

VERY NICE UP GRADE

Always look for a lathe that has at least a distance between centers that is twice the swing of the lathe for the reasons shown in the video.

The 7x16 mini lathes sold by Little Machine Shop and Micro Mark not only are longer, they also include a brushless DC motor that does not require a noisy gearbox. The tailstock also locks with a lever, no wrench is required. It's best to start off with something good, instead of doing a partial fix on a piece of junk.

1. Cut the thread first (or last) 2. change the tool & tool post around & cut the rest Bada bing bada boom.

Turn your toolpost 180°and turn the tool around I. The holder so that in effect the shank is being pulled towards the work rather than pushed. That should give you the clearance that you need but you'll lose it at the chuck end of your job instead. There's no rules just ways that cause inherent precision to work for you and of course safety.

Take lots of pictures during disassembly. It's stupid proof for re-assembly! Great video sir.

a goodie....and so: subbed with a thump up.

31:30. How about replacing that bottom portion for the carriage with a plate you can install needle bearings into so it rolls smoothly?

Thank you sir

What's that old joke about jacking the mirrors and sliding a new car underneath...? Fun. Appreciated. Thank you.

Great info.. i not even have one but want 2 buy

For accuracy, the compound slide should be at 45 degree when cutting. Hundreds of videos on RU-vid show everyone using the compound at 90 degree. This would solve some of the spacing issue and also improve cutting.

Great video. Lots of good information Thank you

Great video! I'm seriously considering this upgrade to mine. I wasn't sure if the cricket was at your place or mine!

This upgrade is expensive but worth it if you have a small lathe, it must be a godsend now. Great rebuild to a longer working bed Buddy. Sure think your future tweaking of the tail stock parts will make things easier. The Chineseum tool rest post is really poorly designed in every way.

I wonder if the plastic gears are the "weak link" in case something binds up.

LMS has a wedge-type QCTP. I haven't tried mine but it feels solid.

LoL by the time you are done Buddy the only thing that will be original Harbor Freight will be the Label. Well done. 73 Joe

What was done

Great job It appears to be easier and less costly less time consuming then trying to fix an existing frame issue that many on RU-vid have spent many hours of hard work lapping the underside of the bedways. It appears the upgrade is well made and very precision. Have you checked the accuracy of the ways, top to bottom and thickness?

Anybody remember the article on how to take a second bed and modify it to mount to the original bed to make a bed extension and how to use a second leadscrew to extend the leadscrew. I bought a damaged mini lathe and pulled the bed and leadscrew to mod it but then life got busy and never got it finished. now I can't find the article anywhere. They also had a riser block mod for headstock and tailstock to turn bigger diameter items. Can't find any of the old modification articles on these mini lathes.

set the cross slide at 90 degrees going in and out on the apron

Was it necessary to remove all the gearing from the head stock. Couldn't you have just unbolted the head stock at that point and lifted it of Thanks i concur with the others great video Thanks

10" is between fixed centers. Wedge style tool post is way better.

Any thoughts on why it is that there are only three mounting bolts for the head stock instead of four . the right rear corner of the head stock has no mounting holes. i just received my 16 inch extension from LMS and it too only has the three mounting holes for the head stock. Thanks again .for the Tutorial

Wedge Gib Type Quick Change Tool post holder at aliexpress for 42 euro's about 52 $ us

what I don;t understand is why aren't all the bolt/screw holes pre-drilled at the factory, unless that bed fits different models with different bolt patterns.

Does the kit have a part number? I didnt find it on Little Machine Shop.

Too bad that longer bed was not just standard in some models. Big cost to change. I did notice you did not say anything about removing that paint on the bottom of the ways. That really needs a smooth surface for the cross slide hold down (gibb) to run on.

and then how about 1hp motor, and create a cement foundation with four studs buried into cement

Sir. What is the diameter of the hole that passes through the rear of the head stock and through the center of the chuck jaws? I would want to buy steel rods and cut off only as much as needed from a finished project while the project was locked in the jaws..... rather than cut off a section and then put it in the lathe and end up wasting the material that was needed to lock a project into the jaws securely. I've always stopped short of buying one of these because I never knew if these were open all the way through and what the hole diameter was. Thank You.

R.S., did you use the blue lock tite to keep those screws? or is that not necessary? Also is that motor mount home made? great video!!!!

Seeing that you took all the head off, you should have taken apart the head and greased the bearings!!

Did that new motir mount come with the new bed or did you order that as an optional upgrade Thanks😊

Do you think going 699 for 8x14 or 809 for 8x16? You have one and would know better than I if those two inches is worth that price difference.

What would happen if you turned your compound rest 90 degrees clockwise?

this lathe is in metric not imperial measurement, so making any modifications in imperial instead of metric is mistake

I need new gears in the head stock also

I need one of these kits bad but little machine shop is sold out

Are them plastic gears, l hope not. The price of this lathe calls for good metal gears.

Máy này bác bán bao nhiêu USD vậy bác

Where is this lathe made, in China?

Hi there, nice up grade, check out Steve Jordan u tube mini lathe saddle up grade, done this myself and works superbly .lots of other good stuff also.

can you make cones ?

@22:02 Wrong hole!

WATCHED VIDEO BUDDY''im glad i did,,,i own one of these, and thats my complaint, same complaint to short of a throw'''now im good and ive already orderd the same kit''''thank you buddy''''KD5UTU'' JAMES.

Great, the tool post Is a piece Of crap. Right on! Great job..

ld rather have the clap. l watched all, its really a good deal, l only have $475 in my laithe.

Antonmursid🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🇲🇨