Mini Lathe - How I Made Money with a Mini Lathe and YOU can too! 

well it's a lathe ru-vid.comUgkxN9zrzkkhnjUF5PQbuA_B1gYdsfCu9k6z but it wasn't what i would have anticipated. Headstock, tailstock, carriage apron are manufactured from aluminum now not cast iron. The spindle diameter for the bearings is too small allowing for a few play in the spindle so I am using some blue Loctite to take out the play.

I really like the idea of a more unified "maker" community on RU-vid that's not just 3d printing

I Did find this very interesting, I have a small lathe, CNC router, my current day job will be closing doors, still a few years too young to retire. I find your videos inspirational at a time when I will take all I can get,, thanks again,

"it's hard to compete with the Chinese" that slave labor and currency manipulation is a real pain, aint it?

I agree with the statement about the demand for small runs of small parts. I'm a watchmaker by trade and use a smaller lathe than this. Those who are able to machine small parts accurately will have no lack of work once your reputation is established. I currently have a 3 to 4 month backlog of restoration work.

But to who or to where did you sell your parts, I can make parts all day long but if I can't sell them what good is it?..

I have had my HF mini lathe for over 15yrs and have NEVER had a problem with the plastic gears. For the last 4-5yrs I have used it as a second operation machine for a small Delrin part I sell (I don't have to do a tool change on my big lathe). It has paid for itself many, many times over. Stay within the capabilities of the machine, and you'll have no problems.

Great video! I like when people talk about capabilities of the “cheap Chinese lathe” rather then it’s short comings (of which there are plenty). I think they are great for small projects and to learn machining. Sure I coulda gotten a 10” used craftsman for what I paid for my 7” new, but it would have been used. I figured I wouldn’t necessarily know what was bad machining and what was worn out machine.

I'd be interested here too - I'm just getting into the maker scene properly - although all I have at the moment is a wood lathe, (broken) bandsaw and a welder plus a whole bunch of mechanics tools. Subscribed and watching with interest!

My 2c for anyone looking to make money out of a hobby lathe: First c: A new hobby lathe from any manufacturer isn't made for production runs. Consider the used market. There are some fantastic lathes and milling machines to be bought if you know what you're gonna be doing with it. If things don't work out, you can always sell it for minimal loss. Best case scenario, you can restore it to better than factory, use it for a couple of years and definitely sell it for a much higher price. Second c: Learn to grind your own tools. Drill bits and facing/turning/parting tools wear out very fast in a production environment. Forming tools made for a production run can increase productivity several times over. No need to change tools often, no need to re-calibrate or re-setup your distances with every tool change. A piece of high speed steel is a fantastic material when shaped properly for the job. Grinding your own tools will save money, time and even more money over time :) I'm no expert, but I've bought and restored several older machines. One in particular, a small but sturdy 1992 Weiler RDU-260-38, came with two lever operated slides on which you could mount tools at each end of the slide. The slides themselves looked like mini chinese lathes :) It also had adjustable endstops for all moving parts so you get very repeatable results. The pièce de résistance on this fella was definitely the 6-barrel lever operated tailstock turret. It took 3/4" weldon-shank tools, so you could mount drill bits, end mills, whatever other tools in whatever orientation you wanted and not have to worry about them going out of alignment. Price? $450 and about a hundred hours of greasy messy restoration work.

The trick is to find something that there is a relatively small demand for that no one else is supplying. Next you need to find the people that want that thing or actually the other way around they need to find you. I'm retired now and just do machining for fun. I'll make odd & end repair parts for old stuff but there isn't much $ in it. My business, that I retired from, was full of CNC equipment. Programming was mostly automated. We could do one offs way faster than someone in their garage. But the real $ was made doing multiples. When I started out (pre CNC) I had machines fixtured for fast change over. No measuring, all fixtures mounted to the same bed plate. A few things required go/no go checking before assembly. When you design your product, think about how you can eliminate steps, do away with fasteners if possible. Don't be afraid to out source what you can't make efficiently. Better yet out source all the parts, sell kits. Above all, have fun.

This man speack truth. Some little market or demand could be a big money business for a little shop

My buddies dad made 300-500k/yr making discontinued Sea King helicopter parts for the Canadian military,, basically drill tiny holes in ball bearings and make a flat spot the jig he used was made on a tiny lathe like this you had to screw the ball bearing down into a jig that looked like a bolt and a nut that didnt go all the way through with the ball bearing in the bottom on center then use the pre drilled guide holes to drill the ball bearing.. seemed like withcraft to me at the time but he tossed me a tiny bag and told me the contents were worth 5k....

"Little Machine Shop" has metal gear kits for the present Harbor Freight mini lathes. I had their mini lathe and after some mods and tweeking, it turned out to be a very good little lathe.

It would be great if you could run one of the parts you were explaining to us, with your added fixtures, thanks

Look for vintage products that no longer make parts, preferably things that have a big collector base, enough to make a decent amount of sales but not enough some place in China will start undercutting you. I found a good niche in certain vintage chainsaw brands. Not going to make me rich, but provides decent secondary income.

Very interesting topic and WITH A TWIST... business advices... posibly a "life saver" for guys like me: long term unemployed with the experience as machinist but too AGED to get a job (it is what I deduce due to the constantly rejected experiences seeking for a job)... Thats why I look for an idea, something to do with my creativity and knowledge... Again... BIG THANKS from Costa Rica!

Thank you. You sparked my imagination.

I purchased my 90 mm Orion refracting telescope about 15 years ago. I wish I would have known you were doing such things then. Now it pretty much collects dust.

LOL I just watched that video as well the other day. I love hearing RU-vidrs I watch and subscribe to talk about other RU-vidrs I watch and subscribe to! It makes RU-vid feel like a big family😊

Just found your channel and subbed! What you've described is EXACTLY what I want to do when I retire from my 9-5. Currently own an old but accurate P&W bench lathe and companion mill; no 3D printer yet.

Well, my watching of lathe videos and my watching of astronomy videos have crossed paths. It's a sign I need a lathe!

Your mini lathe looks sturdy. what year is it from? It is very important that the head bearings will be conical.

So, if I got it right, one can make money with a mini-lathe by making stuff that people want? Revolutionary!

I wanted to thank ou for you video. I may have been one of your astronomy customers doing occultations with your adapter. I just bought a mini lathe 7"X14" and would like to make my own adapters. Good tips on the workflow and working with Delrin rods.

I loved hearing your story. I trying to develop a micro business based on cnc, lathe and 3d printing to generate some income but it is difficult when the market is saturated, it may be a matter of finding a highly specialized niche. The difference I am in a third world country, tools are very expensive and the market is a bit different.

I have used the plastic gears since 2011. But yea, now that they are gone I’m switching to metal.

I bought my mini lathe off of a tool truck. It's amazing what you can do with these machines. I added a geared motor too,to my lead screw for ultra smooth cuts.and dividing plates to the back of the headstock. Mounted a Dremel tool on my four-way tool post. The possibilities are endless what you can do with this machine,,, thanks again.

I’d be interested to see how to discover niche markets that the hobbyist can profit from.

I’ve got a small lathe (6x18) and I have made and sold a few motorcycle parts. Didn’t make a ton of money but then again I wasn’t really trying to. I needed a part for my bike so I bought some stock and after I was done I realized I had enough stock left over to make about 10 more of the same part. So I did and sold them all. Kind of neat. I agree about finding a niche though. Find something that is useful to a certain group of people and that isn’t already readily available. Good stuff!

Nice, clever stuff!

Great video. Thanks for the inspiration! I used to make aluminium spinners and engine mounts for radio control aircraft using home brewed jigs...no cnc! They came out beautifully. When that market dried up, I went in to making piston rings and pistons for obsolete cars, trucks and stationery engines. Machining is a wonderful hobby. I have a Atlas 12 x 36 lathe and a Taig manual mill.

Interesting video. My main job is watch repair. On the side, I've been making earrings from Aluminum bullet casings. Mostly 9MM & 380. I was using basically a "toy" lathe and it finally died. Upgraded to a 4x6 bench top lathe. Spent $400 on it. It already paid for itself. December was a great month for me. I probably paid for that machine in less than a week. But, production isn't the fastest. Polish, cut, debur, cut seat for stones, clean, and assemble. Which also includes epoxy application and dry time. I was thinking just the other day how can I use the lathe for other things to make money. I feel like I found your channel at the perfect time! Subbed!!

That pawn shop part is a Face Mill you would use on milling machine's

I mentioned to my boss getting a bench lathe to my boss just to face parts off to size after running them in my Mazak, at most taking .02-.03 thousands off of stainless or alloy steel parts that are at most around 1.0-2.0 in diameter, typically smaller. Many time's I'm just removing the nub from a part that's cut to length. We are job/production shop, so I figure this would save me a set up and a second op on the batches of parts I run, or grinding them by hand, on work orders that are a couple dozen to a couple hundred in number. I could just pop the parts into the bench lathe against a stop as soon as I take them out of the Mazak, then run the power cross feed of the bench lathe across them. He said it's not a bad idea and to find some models for him to look at. Is this a good idea? If so, which models do you think I should look at, besides these Sieg machines? I'm aware of Sherline and Jet. I could probably convince him to buy a nicer bench lathe. The advance of a bench lathe, I reason, is it's cheap and easy to set up compared to a three phase machine.

Industrial Engineering certificate presented. Nice work.

You mentioned This Old Tony. You now have one more Subscriber. And a thumbs up. I have one of these lathes. I just don't have a garage, you can call home and ask my (ex) wife. (CD). :-)

You stated metal gears option? I've owned a 7x14 mini lathe for 6 years. Never had an issue with the plastic gears that came with the lathe. The Main Spindle Bearings however I found to be a Major Issue. I changed them out for a proper set of SKF Tapered Roller Bearings. Adjusted and erh,...? well,.... Fixed the Saddle , Compound and Apron. The Lead Screw and Split Nut where/are uh...? Special? After that I Re-Machined the Fixed Cover and Installed Brass Bushings for the Quadrant End Gearing Shaft. (Otherwise the Steel Gear Shaft rotates/wears on the Aluminum Fixed Gear Cover.) Then I was able to machine a decent ( Non-Knuckle Dragging) Chuck Key for the 3 - Jaw Chuck. Yeah the mini lathe can get a .050" - .060" D.O.C. on Hi-Carbon Steel with o.k. Dimensional and (SFPM) Chip Control. But the Mini Lathe needed Upgraded and erh...? Fixed? In Order to actually get o.k. results. Now the Tailstock on the Mini Lathe is one of my current projects, The Tailstock's Spindle has a some weird issues. Aye, Captain of Industry A Good Chinese Quality......You Buy!

The entire thing is the lathe. It's confusing when you're not specific about the tailstock, headstock, etc. I'd like to see you make one of these parts, or others. Not necessarily from a simple how-to-operate-the-lathe standpoint, but from the setup and fixturing perspective as a means of you achieving production efficiencies. In trade school we learned to use the die and tap under power on the lathe. While the part is held in the headstock chuck, the tap is held center by the tailstock and with a center. A wrench is held onto the flats of the tap and held against the compound rest to prevent it from turning (a die handle will do the same thing) The spindle is jogged while the handwheel of the tailstock is turned to apply constant pressure. Having gone to CNC, it's not something I've done since. However, I am interested in getting my own manual lathe so I'd like to see how your methods compare. Clearly, the fixture for the die is a superior method as it will both stay together and operate without human intervention, but I wasn't sure exactly how you did the tapping. I am looking forward to your new route. Home shop production is something I am interested in, particularly in the fixturing and business. Very valuable and interesting. It will be a rarity. Thank you for sharing.

That Copolymer cost more than aluminum. What's it dipped in blood or something?

I watched the "this old tony"'s video last week and I am now watching yours but what is more interesting is I am in the amateur astronomy business (product development for a big company) and I know exactly what adapters you are talking about. Things changed a lot since QCUIAG times :) cheers.

ok, my 2c...Firstly...think about it...the plastic gears are cheap right...look at what the lathe is trying to do. Before just turning it on an making some chips one has to give some thought into adjusting a machine to suit the machines configuration. To say plastic gears are rubbish is just ignorant. There is plenty of benefit to plastic gears, theyre quieter, theyre cheaper, you can purchase them individually (if you need) and if your pushing stock too hard and break the gears, then its a lesson learnt that you need a bigger lathe....before you break/bend something else, like i dont know, perhaps the spindle...or the motor belt.... plastic gears are totally fine for a machine this size. Moving on, looks like you may've forgotten that these dont have the tolerances that would make turning them into cnc a pleasant dream?...they need a LOT of tuning and fiddling/scraping/blueing before theyre anything close to being good machines. You can easily sink a thousand on tooling for these lathes, just to get some basic layout and cutting tools...allbeit theyll be tools worth using, but theyre small lathes...most tooling thats second hand is either junk or been poorly handled or thrashed....yup thats a sweeping generalization. But then you buy something that you think is a bargain and its another lot of money thrown at it...and for what? so you dont have to wait a couple of weeks for it to ship in from china for 3 bucks... Before anyone thinks they can go out and buy one of these, set it up in their garage and make some money, think about what skills you have and what it is youre trying to solve. Guaranteed that owning a little lathe wont just magically make you money, but once you spend a few years learning a bit of metal machining, youll enjoy solving a few problems. Not saying theyre not enjoyable or worth having, i really like my mini lathe. Just saying that be aware that solving a problem in your chosen hobby field does not necessarily equate to making money from machining off a mini lathe.

I would be very interested to see more stuff on your channel. Thanks for taking the time.

I've been wanting a mini-lathe to make speciality astronomy equipment like diy eyepieces and maybe some worm gears but I didn't want to drop $1000 on a piece of junk so I've been hesitant to buy one.

When doing a home business would you recommend starting off with a few or all because I literally am ready with 10 3d printers cnc,mill,lathe,laser engraver,metal casting and software but I am having serious problems getting my cnc going it's a cheap Chinese 3040 but i got hybrid stepper motors nema 23 I think those are too much for that small table anymore have any input

I sold a few camera braces (~30) for the Autel XSP Drone. I'm not sure if, after everything was said and done, it was worth it. I was at the max of 15 bucks that I could get for them. Between the boz, packing, shipping costs and the effort to make many trips to the post office to ship I just don't know.. I've picked up a couple of small design and print runs for stuff in the home appliance space. Again from my limited exposure, I'm just not sure it's worth it for me. Perhaps you can convince me otherwise ;~}

How do you price your labour w/o turning off customers? Also, any tricks to making accurate time / cost / quote estimates?

First what I did on the same late machine I changed the head for 115mm and give you another dimension. I had to do it because I was building steam and vacuum models most just engines .

Wow I continue to be amazed at all the tools you have! Would you consider making a small part out of metal? I have already done the CAD and made a working prototype on my 3D printer, first out of PLA and then PETG since where it is used, it may be exposed to more heat than PLA will hold up to. It printed in less than 5 minutes. I'd like to offer this option to my customer. He was wanting metal, but settled on what I could offer. I can email you the file in just about any format to review if you'd like. Thanks for all the awesome videos!

Great food for thought!

where did you sell those products. it seems hard to reach enough people in the market for sutch a specific product.

I picked up a mini cummins lathe (Basically the same as all the chinese stuff out there today) for 200 bux, with tooling. I was not looking for a mini, but at 200 bux I thought, man, thats worth it no matter what I decide. Anyhow, I have not turned a single part on it as I have found videos about running true, how to fix a chuck that isnt and how to make a part run true when the chuck isnt true - plus a lot of other videos just on set up and problems to solve, etc. I have been having fun learning that and still, havent spun a part yet. Thats because I aint ready :) - Now I thank you for your inspiration. I have a problem though. I have plastic gears. I have seen people selling metal ones, but I wonder if that is the way to go? I have not seen an older lathe - ones with metal gears - do you have a resource? Do you recommend getting the metal gears and installing them? What about a newer mini-lathe? Any recommendations? - Thanks for taking the time to make these videos!

Nice to see you back my friend. Check out the DJI Osmo Pocket camera. It is awesome. Merry Christmas.

Interesting video. Working on setting up for a small product mfg process. Already have a couple of older lathes. What is the size ( numbers) on a "C" size camera adapter? I think the die for that thread would be expensive. I'm using a Sherline mini lathe at the moment.

So you are cutting making adapters and optical connectors out of aluminum - do you also anodize them?

Great video....very useful

can anybody tell me what modal is being shown? it's the perfect size for my tiny shed XD

Good luck in 2019. Good info. Thanks

How to make a short story long

I’m looking to do something similar, making special fishing equipment, I see that large tap and die, I assume it’s not a pipe tap and die, where did you find those larger standard threads, I have seen them once in a while for 300+

when tony waves his hands at his lathes, weird things happen :)

Fantastic video! If I wanted to get a lathe very similar to this one, where would you recommend buying?

I'm interested in the money making aspect. There are plenty of technical how to videos out there but there's really not much out there about marketing and selling small run specialty items. I for one have no idea how to even begin to get some exposure for a gadget that I produce. I think it's a great video idea. I subbed

Is there any online website that gives theoretical instructions on how to operate Lathe, drilling, shaper and Pressing machine ?

TL...DR make small things

How get job.. At home. Use miling machine?.. Simple project use kovensional miling.or lathe.. I from malaysia..

did u tap with the lathe too.. ? how did u go about holding a tap that large.. did u run at low speed.. enough torque..

My mans sounds like Carl Wheezer lolol

I have heard & read that the mystery tool is called a "spot-facer".

Cut the chit chat and get to the point!

Why does his voice remind me of Peter from family guy

Can you make gears with that?

I don't see the 500 pound, all steel, bench that Tony said this needs to be attached to. :/

Its a shame they don't do a Capstan lathe for that model.

But will it build a space shuttle?? Hahahahahahahahahaha Can it make Pop Corn?? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

She has me for the first few minutes but he's kind of jumping around. I almost feel like I jumped off a cliff. Out of parachute

I think you need to rename your video to efficient workflow instead of how to make money.

On your link it is $899 AND I went digging to see about the gears: Question: Are the gears metal or plastic? Answer: Plastic. By Frank Lewandowski on November 28, 2018 Thank you for contacting us. These gears are made of plastic. By Toolz Unlimited Seller on November 27, 2018 Plastic By david m ulrich on November 28, 2018 Plastic they brake easily By Amazon Customer on November 27, 2018

Ok, I just ordered 10,000 lathes from China. Now what?

Ha

DIY3DTECH.COM You have a nice voice. You are smart. You have a great subject! You have great ideas and you want to share them. That is a very noble thing to do. Go back and listen to yourself. You jump about a bit and add some superfluous information which is distracting. Stay on one idea. Support the idea and describe that idea with a few sentences. Then go to the next idea. Take a pause between sentences and especially ideas. The paragraphs if written. You might try making an outline of what you want to share. There are thousands of folks looking for a way to make a buck. Anyone that can help honestly is a Godsend! We need you!

No I don't get the ideal,,your confusing as hell

Not really an accurate title... takes too long to get to a point.

"AGAIN" X 2345. ........ and again....... and again...