mini-lathe.com  

Sold by a number of vendors for around $300 to $500, these versatile and inexpensive machines are  are a good choice for model makers, experimenters, inventors and just about anyone else who is interested in metalworking or has a need to fabricate small precision parts. These lathes are miniature versions of industrial metal working lathes and are quite different in design and use than wood working lathes, but they can certainly be used for shaping wood, plastics and other materials, especially if very accurate dimensions are required.  If you follow the links on the navigation bars above, you will find a great deal of information about these lathes and related topics.

Note (03/01/03)  specific features of these lathes are continually being changed and improved by the manufacturer. Therefore, some of the older information on this site may no longer be accurate. For example, the lathes made before 2000 had a somewhat crude motor speed control with a minimum speed of about 100 RPM. Early experimenters determined that the minimum speed could be reduced through some tweaking of the controls, but this is no longer necessary since the speed control on the newer machines is much improved and has a minimum speed of about 40 RPM.

If you have never run a metal lathe before, or it's been many years since you last did in your high school shop class (back when high schools still had shop class!),  you can find some helpful information on the Introduction, Getting Started, Operations, Tool Grinding and Adjustments pages. If you are considering purchasing one, check out the Versions pages and the Product Review pages. The Features page describes the Harbor Freight 7x10 lathe in considerable detail. Be sure to read the Safety page for important safety tips.

This little lathe has a lot of potential but has some shortcomings that you should be aware of before you decide to buy one - see the Features page for more information.  Fortunately, there is now a great deal of information available on this lathe on the web, so you are not on your own if you encounter a problem. I am happy to report that the quality of these lathes seems to be steadily improving. While you will still may find some minor defects, the great majority are now ready to use out of the box after cleaning off the packing grease. See the Getting Started page for details.

One of the best sources of information is the 7x10 interest group, a very knowledgeable and experienced group of guys who are always ready to welcome and help newcomers. Discussions are by no means limited to the 7x lathes so feel free to ask any question even remotely related to machining and you will get plenty of good advice. The group has grown from around 200 members in 1999 to over 2000 in 2002. With this growth has come a great increase in the number of messages, and a trend towards more off-topic messages. By consensus, the group has determined that the off-topic messages help to keep the group alive. Unfortunately for newcomers, however, it is now necessary to wade through volumes of off-topic messages in order to find the machining-related content. The 7x12minilathe group is a spinoff of the 7x10 group, limited to on-topic discussions. While not nearly as active as the 7x10 group, nearly all of the postings are on-topic.

Check the Home Shops links on my Links page and you will find lots of great tips from other mini lathe owners.