Fixing Everything Wrong With My Mini Lathe 

oh how convenient i was almost about to go to bed a half hour early

I have a mini mill and mini lathe. Whenever somebody asks me if they should buy these tools, I tell them: they're awesome, but you're not buying a tool, you're buying a project!

A little tip, if you look for the aluminum cutting version of the insert (generally they are chrome/silver color), they're generally much sharper than their steel cutting version. For mini lathes/mills, we need this extra sharp edge to bite into steel since we don't have the SFM capabilities of industrial machines that uses these carbide inserts. I find it gives a much nicer finish in general and doesn't wear out that much faster than the steel cutting inserts. Considering they're dirt cheap, it's worth it.

when you used the lathe to upgrade itself i was reminded of this book series called something like "home metalworking from scrap" where a guy builds up from digging a furnace, casting and melting bronze, to building a lathe and using it to make a milling machine. realistically they probably weren't instruments of extreme precision, but if you're really gonna go for building a metal engine you may find it worthwhile to dig up some scans. been watching since the algorithm randomly fed me that vtec video, probably gonna keep watching until im crusty. your editing just keeps improving. good luck!

Vevor should sell these as a kit already as nobody uses them without any mod, assemble once without the inconvenience of dissasembling it. And it would make their statement of "we wont make these any better, as they sell even as crappy as they come" even more true. They dont even have to assemble them anymore! Win-win

Hello everyone and welcome back to This Old Camden...

Okay. The ‘head stock on a rocking chair by the fire’ bit was pretty damned funny. I had a good laugh. Thank you.

I’ve been actually looking at buying this lathe for a while now! This was a fantastic video, and I’d love a part two for all your other fixes you have in mind for this machine.

This will be awesome! I’m super excited to see what you do with the lathe! The mini lathe I got is a grizzly g0765 mini lathe, and I am really liking it! My “3d printed engine” is not really “3d printed” any more, besides the crank case, but a lathe is such a versatile piece of equipment! Good luck with your lathe!

I consider myself a DYI hazard. This video brought me joy as it now has equipped me with additional questionable knowledge on how to do things in a questionable way. No, but in all seriousness, this was an awesome video. I love your humor and content.

I bought myself a 1978 Sears Craftsman Commercial belt drive lathe, model 101.28990 12" x 36" for 700$. The seller was asking 1000$ for it but talked him down in price lol. I even still use the old lantern styled tool post holder. Love that thing. And your right about the used lathe market, it is really expensive, I've seen an average from 3k - 10k for Clausing, SouthBend, and Logan lathes. Even though this is a beginner lathe, you will find that this will open a ton of doors for you to make those hard parts you can't find or just any custom part you need. Next comes the milling machine haha. Anyway, welcome to the lathe life friend!

the way this guy approaches his projects is literally me and I find it hilarious; you got my sub dude

As a machinist myself working on manual and CNC lathes, this was quite endearing to watch. Good job on the modifications! They certainly help.

Angle grinder to shorten the allen key is totally approved! Wonder why the micro-lathe I got came with tapered bearings, while most others on YT are ball bearings. Anyway, replaced them with high quality SKF taper bearings. To seat the bearing without hammering down, put them on the induction oven and heat them to 110 degree celsium. They'll beautifully slide onto the spindle. Lapping the lockrings and spindle spacers flat will improve run-out.

Way to combine the engineering of both countries. From good enough to just good. Always interesting concepts in the videos, similar to other content but wholly unique .

I really loved the editing on this one, had me laughing a fair bit!

would love to see all the next upgrades, cheers

Excellent video. I’m going to use your video to help me dial in my mini lathe. Thank you for making this.

Shars Tool Company has the best goodies, imo. The cross slide always needs attention. That was my first cleaning and mod. I replaced the round 2 bolt tool post holder with a 4 bolt square piece I made from .625 plate. There was all kinds of anti rust gunk on the ways which allowed for massive deflection. Cleaned off the crud, no more deflection and a much cleaner result while turning. Forge On!!!

I don't know how it took me so long to find your channel but this is the kind of content I live for as soon as you chopped that allen wrench off I knew I would like you😅

A useful and simple mod I made to mine was to replace the socket-cap screws that attach the feed handles on the compound and cross feed with button head versions, these don't keep catching your fingers when turning the handles anywhere near as much.

Great project! I really appreciate the cost breakdown at the end.

Drill a hole in the table so the power cable doesn't have to travel as far. C < A+B! Loving the lathe related content, keep at it!

watching you hammering those bearing hurt me anyways nice video!

The electrical cable being a 1/2" short is so me, and made me literally LOL.

I scraped the ways on my cross slide and carriage, it make the preload on the gibs more consistent and make the cutter more ridged for sure, but it just takes a long time to do.

Good video! I have a 9x30 and a RF-30 mill, and they are work in progress as well. I am not sure if it ever ends, but it is fun upgrading! Thumbs up and subscribed.

I will watch anything this man puts out.

Delicious editing you did here! ❤

Great walkthrough!

No clue why you don’t have more subscribers. You made my day!!

Inner races of bearings heated in oil make it way easier to fit on a close tolerance shaft. Similar outer races in chilled in dry ice help alot. You need fairly large temperature differential to take advantage of thermal expansion. If you try to pound out a bearing race from some old motorcycle wheel hubs its game over. There was a book written by a guy in the UK that covers tunning this sort of lathe up. Should be able to find it amazon.

Congratulations on your new lathe!

Yes leveling is important, you can induce a torsional twist in the lathe that causes your cuts to be tapered. Also would be interesting to fit it for CNC work

I love the way you make your videos, the tf2 sound effects definitely were a nice addition for me.

We need to see how it looks when it's upgraded, WE NEED IT!!!

Great video… nice upgrades!

Looks pretty good! 😁 I've never used one of these mini-tools; but I've restored a few second hand lathes (Colchester Student & Master types) and getting an 'ok' 2nd hand one into fully running state is probably more cost AND more time.

For the next upgrade look for a solid toolpost conversion. It gets rid of the shitty compound slide (the thing on the top that you rotate to cut at different angles) and allows you to bolt your toolholder directly to the crosslide. The compound is a major source of chatter so this really helps, and if you need to cut an angle you can always just put the compound back on

I enjoyed this content, not exhausting at all!

I did a group-buy when I got my Lathe and I paid 1/4 of you. My machine also came directly from Sieg and was very well finished. I needed to do some tuning of the ways etc but it performs quite well. I did do the same toolpost upgrade though as the exchangeable holders and adjustable heights are so convenient!

I have this same lathe but with another brand name. It has been working fairly good but requires oiling and cleanup regularly. I also bought fourjaws of two sizes for it. Those make life much easier if something needs to be turned from both ends.

Vevor stuff terrifies me, yet I have more than a few of their products. I also like to live dangerously.

It's normal for carbide inserts to have a spacer between the and the toolholder. It's a piece of soft shim stock so that the set screw doesn't crack the carbide and can comply down for a stronger fit!

I'm so happy you got a lathe.

I am definetly exited for the engine with parts from the lathe

Our boy lookin good as hell

I loved my little 7x lathe. Best upgrades I did were upgrading to a sewing machine motor (1HP) and put on an electronic lead screw.

Love these videos.

I picked up a full size toolroom lathe for $1000... For a 70+ year old machine it still runs like a dream too.

I remember This Old Tony got one of these 'Minila The' and they look fun but do require the upgrades to move them into "Tool" category.

Happy snow time. Try to make a multi speed snow cleaner with a compressed air engine (either a piston design,Vankel, that new spinning thing or a turbine.

The headstock on a rocking chair was master class 🤣

Mario 64 teleport SFX used very well. 10/10, watched that bit again.

My cheapo Chinese lathe arrives tomorrow. I already have the new bearings on order. That seems to be the first thing everyone does. While I'm waiting for the bearings to arrive, I guess I'll try to get the head stock and tail stock to sit on the bed squarely which is another typical problem with these. As questionable as the quality is, it's going to be a lot easier to work with than the tiny Unimat DB-200 I'm using now.

you needed to put electricity over on that other table anyway! :) might pick up an arbor press at hf they arent too bad ,even the full 12 ton press is under 300 with an add on air over hydraulic jack on it. cool upgrades i picked up an OLD Montgomery Ward 04TLC-700A Logan lathe at auction ! it too needs lots of work (just starting on it ) and it takes up about 3 times the room as yours not counting the stand got a qc tool holder for it but not on yet , side tracked by plumbing issues at home LOL . good work and have FUN with it!!!!!

Cool stuff, there are plenty of guides others have made for improving a minilathe too!

Cool lathe! I just got exactly the same one. But mine has a small lever behind with Right/Stop/Left feed selection. Putting it into Stop kinda holds the carriage.

Thank you for the vid, and the humor. I am a retired tool and die maker from the drawing board and hand cranking days. I'm looking at a small lathe for my small home shop. P.S. Carbide loves rpm, and also not a following approach angle unless you are just finishing with a bevel.

Bro love your videos

i got the same one!, it worked way better after a little work. ive done things you shouldnt on it.

Good work 🤙

Good job !

i recommend you to install the late closer to the edge clear the handles from the table and its much more comfortable to work with

Just found your channel and Subscribed. Very nice lathe

Love it, inspirational.

I like the way how you solve problems

Nice. I have an ancient Harbor Freight three in one, that is minimally functional. I actually am going to start making some parts on it next month, so quite the timely video.

Awesome man. New subscriber ✌🏻

Oh I wasn't expecting to see another minilathe

Have you considered cross-bracing the table instead of ( or as an interim solution toward ) bolting the table to the wall? it looks like the legs only need a stretcher or diagonal brace to stop that movement

What were the dimensions of your new spacer? I have the same lathe and want to make the spacer with it before i upgrade bearings.

@CamdenBowen where did you buy the quick change tool post from? Is it 0XA/000 size? Great video!!!

Is it possible to get links or part descriptions for what you purchased?

Would you post links or info on the bearings and tool holders you used?

One thing I saw for a workshop upgrade was replace a workbench top with a type of holes surface to bolt things to. Another really important addition to the workshop would be an old popular mechanics design for a drill press using one of those 30-60 dollar hydrolic jacks, scrap metal, and a welder; it works like that cheap harbor freight press while also being homemade :D. My father had to buy a press for installing bearings on his transmission shaft, as he was damaging the bearings trying to hammer them. Didnt know about quenching metal in vegtable oil, and will definitely use that technique in the future. Loved the video :D

The whiplash I feel coming from (recently) mostly inheritance machining is... It It's something. Nah but fr, you're where i see myself in a while. Mr IM is where i see myself on a dream

thanks for the extensive video! I have been contemplating an old machine or maybe a vevor, i think i will stick with looking for an old machine! Cheers

Hey man, nice video! Are you ever gonna upgrade it even more, with stepper motors? Make it programmable? Or no? And does the lathe have a screw cutting feature?

Maybe you can drill grease holes to/and thru the bearing races in the head stock then outfit them with fittings? Bet it'd work.

Inserts have different relief angles. If the holder is for CC inserts and you try fitting a CN insert then you'll get that issue. Don't worry so much about the bashlash on the crossfeed. You will always have some backlash and if you're not attacking brass with deep cuts you'll be fine. People get too obcessed with trying to eliminate things that don't matter. Also, try setting the float on the bearings with the spindle warm. I've seen a newly overhauled machine have it's spindle lock up because the end float was set cold. It was too tight so as the bearings warmed up they put a large amount of preload on the bearings, enough to stop the spindle.

This all worked out so well, I'm tempted to say you followed a guide online for most of it. 😉 How long did all of this take? The video seemed so short for the amount of progress ha.

Dude you’re such an animal! Awesome video!

So, from the time you sat it on the bench, how much time and money was spent?

Finally he posted again.

Artisan makes RU-vid channel has everything you could possibly learn about this damn lathe

this old tony did a video on a very similar mini lathe to replace the gears with metal ones, as well as a few other tweaks.

Love this video interesting nice editing the sounds funny and I just saw the BB gun I had as a child hanging up new sub

removing the compound and using a solid block in its place is a good improvement for rigidity. Remaking the clamping for the saddle is a good idea, i have two brass pieces shimmed to the right clamping pressure.

Great video as always. All hail the algorithm.

What about the drawers behind the lathe you just bolted down?

Welcome to the club my dude. I have the same lathe- few points. The tailstock is a disaster. The motor isn't that bad as long as you don't try 50 thousandths cuts in 4140. Keep the gibs adjusted. When you have the money, buy a better one.

I am looking at a Vevor lathe as well. So what is your review of it? Also how did you know what size bearing to buy? I would probably do the bearing upgrade as well. Good video!

A granite countertop offcut might work as a more stable base. Its pretty flat too, I saw the trick on the homemodelenginemachinist forums once.

You're a great patriot and people should tell you that every day

My congratulatheons! 😸

We gotta get you some feeds and speeds my man

noticed... you're polishing the bit on the stone... you're waving it in an arc, that intentional? new project, angle guide?

“I did the only rational thing….” Same moment I thought he’s gonna chop a tool down. That sir is comedy!

I wish I had somewhere to put a mini lathe 😫 I would turn that thing into a BEAST! 🤩 Angular contact bearings would be perfect