Copyright 2000-2002 by Frank J. Hoose, Jr. Home
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Copyright 2000-2002 by Frank J. Hoose, Jr. Home
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Lathemaster 8x14 Micro-Mark 7x14 Northern
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Opinions expressed are those of the author or the quoted source. The author is not an employee of or agent for any of the vendors referenced in the text and does not sell or represent any of the products discussed. Vendors may provide products for review purposes and may provide sponsored support through advertising or links.
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(Last updated 10/22/02)
When I began this page, around 6/00, there were only 3 or 4 versions of the 7x10 and 7x12 lathe that I was describing, Since that time, the page has grown to include many other lathes ranging from 7x10 to 9x20 in size. This plethora of choices makes choosing the right lathe for your own needs a little harder. Vendors including Grizzly, Enco, Harbor Freight and Samuel Machinery offer larger and more expensive lathes. If you have the need, the money and the expertise to safely use one of these larger lathes, they may be just right for you. However, I have limited mini-lathe.com to lathes costing under $1000.
The Harbor Freight 7x10 and the Grizzly 7x12 still are excellent choices for their price and, more recently the Homier 7x12 at $299 set a new standard for value. Enco, MicroMark and Northern Tool also offer variations of the 7x10 or 7x12 and all of these dealers are dependable and reputable. All of these lathes are manufactured at the Sieg Factory in Shanghai, China.
There has been a fair amount of confusion about the actual and relative sizes of the 7x10 versus the 7x12 lathes. The following summary posted by Zone_369 on the 7x group should help clear this up.
Lots of confusion is generated by people who measure the length of
the bed casting on lathes, The length from the end of the bed
casting to the spindle housing is not the way lathes are measured.
[The correct method is to place a dead center in the headstock and tailstock
and measure between the tips with the tailstock at the end of the ways FH]Here is are the details of the models imported.
The HF 7x10 is a SIEG C2 Model 200
The distance between working centers is 200mm / 7.88in (NOT 10in)
The length of the bed is approximately 10in
The HF is NOT a 7x10 lathe it is a 7x8 lathe, and many posts here
talk about that.
The Grizzly and MicroMark 7x12 are a SIEG C2 Model 300
The distance between working centers is 300mm / 11.82in
The length of the bed is approximately 14in
The Grizzly is not a 7x14 lathe it is a 7x12, also there is some
embellishment in the metric conversion.The new MicroMark 7x14 is SIEG C3 Model 350
The distance between working centers is 350mm / 13.79in
the length of the bed is approximately 16in
This is a completely new model, the new C3 is not a stretched C2
which is why it has a new model number. If you look at the feet,
they are almost twice as wide as the C2. The C3 also weighs 15.4lbs
more than the C2(model 300) that is a lot for two inches.
Something to think about, the length of the tailstock is about 2in.
Here's an interesting summary of the various lathes posted by JW Early on the 7x10 interest group:
This machine [HF 8x12] no matter what they say has no relationship to the 7x series machines. It is a reduced in size and very much reduced in spec version of the 9x machines. It has all of the lacks and faults of the 9x without any of its good features except for weight.
I have been studying small lathes since the early 60s and have owned many of them from different companies. My first lathe was and is a South Bend 9" model A that I bought used in 1968. My second lathe was a Taig which we ended up using to grind and true tires for 1/12 and 1/8 RC cars. My third machine was a Unimat SL which was mostly used for trueing comms on slot car motors and turning other small parts. My fourth machine was and is a generic 9x20 that I bought in 1989 while a friend was using my SB in his repair shop. My 5th and on machines are 7xs and I find them more than satisfactory for light machine work in all materials. I bought the first 7x to take the place of the Unimat which I had sold in the early 70s when I gave up model car racing. I was looking at machines slightly larger than it in the 5 to 6" range but very put off by the price and lack of features on the Prazi and Emco-Maier machines.
While wandering through HF I saw the 7x which I had also seen at Enco and in ads from Atlas and was originally put off by the low price. After looking it over for several months I wandered in one day and found it on sale for $329 and said why not the price is just to good not to try it. After getting it home and cleaning off the red goo I started playing with it to see what it could do and was most impressed with the low/high geared spindle, the fact that the belt drive was taken to a layshaft keeping the belt loads off of the main spindle which is a problem for all other small lathes and the standard tumbler reverse for the lead screw which is not even an option on any other small lathe made today.
The only problems I have had with the 7x machines and they apply to all the other machines in its size class also is tool chatter and dig in from compound slide flex. I fixed this on the 9x with a heavy 4 bolt clanp that came up to just below the bottom of the slide and gave more rigid support to the whole compound. The 7x has a different design and this fix would not work on it.
I discovered the fix for this while fitting the 39083 QC tool post to my machine. First to use the 39083 at all I had to remove .250 from the compound base to get the tool holders to adjust low enough to center my 3/8" cutters. This removed about 1/4 to 1/3rd of the chatter, it was still there but much reduced.
Next to gain more turning diamater for larger workpieces I moved the mounting point holes .875 twords the front of the compound base giving me that much more turning capacity times two. With this mod compound flex and thus chatter was reduced so much that it was no longer a concern. While making the new cross slide feed screw (7/16-20 LH) for the 9x out of 303 SS on the 7x12 the threads cut as easy as if I was doing them on the SB.
With these small simple fixes my 7x machines are now as useable and much more portable as my SB or a Logan although not as capable of heavy work as these larger machines they complement them very well indead. So if you are considering small lathes, also consider this, there is a gap between the 7x machines and the 9x machines that is filled with many machines that are either very lacking in specification to them or lacking in specification and way over priced as well. This also applys to mills as there are a lot of them out there and there are good values and then there are high prices.
So what's the bottom line? Which lathe should I buy?
(Last updated 12/25/05)
I started with the HF 7x10 (P/N 33684) in Fall of 1999 and was very happy with it, all things considered, but I soon found myself yearning for the longer 7x12 version. The 7x10 and 7x12 are pretty much identical - just about all of the ones sold by various vendors in the U.S., and even most of the non-U.S. models are made by Sieg Industrial in Shanghai, China.
The big difference between the 7x10 and 7x12 models is the length of the bed. The standard way to measure the length of a lathe is to insert a dead center into the headstock spindle and another one into the tailstock ram. With the tailstock all the way to the right, the distance between the points of the two centers is the nominal length of the lathe. Measured this way, the 7x10 falls short of its advertised length: it is really a 7x8, while the 7x12 is truly a 7x12.
This is an important fact to know when purchasing a lathe, because the 7x12 is actually 50% longer than the 7x10. This extra four inches is especially noticeable during drilling operations, where standard "jobber" length drills in diameters of 3/8" or more, will often be too long to drill into the end of a workpiece - a very common operation.
For this reason, I strongly recommend a 7x12, rather than one of the 7x10 (really 7x8) models to any new purchasers unless your workshop space is really limited and/or you work only on very small parts. Both styles of lathe are usually of very similar quality, since they are made at the same factory, so the bed length is the the main difference between them.
Among the 7x12 lathes, my vote for the best bang for the buck currently (12/05) goes to the Cummins 7x12 (P/N 5278). It is attractively priced, is usually in stock, and includes some extra accessories such as the steady rest, traveller rest and faceplate as part of the deal. The Grizzly 7x12, (P/N 8688) is always a good choice, due to excellent customer support, but you can expect to pay a little more for it.
With the introduction of their 7x14 lathe (P/N 82710) in Fall of 2002, Micro-Mark provided us with another tempting choice. This lathe is available in the U.S. only from Micro-Mark and is well worth considering if you have a few more dollars to spend (585.95 as of 12/25/05). It offers the following features not shared by the 7x12 or 7x10 lathes:
If you have the extra bucks, the Micro-Mark 7x14 is an excellent choice. It's a really nice lathe that combines the best of low cost and big-lathe features.
For the price, any of the 7x lathes from Enco, Micro-Mark, Northern Tool, Homier, Grizzly or Harbor Freight and Clarke in the U.K. is an excellent value and all of these vendors are reputable - you won't go wrong with any of these machines. For more information, check out the comparison chart at LittleMachineShop.com
Mini-Lathe Mini-Mill Bandsaw Grinder Anodizing Lapping Links Safety Premium Content
Mini-lathe: Accessories Adjustments Capabilities Chucks Dial Indicators Features
Getting Started Glossary
Introduction Materials Modifications My Shop Operation
Reviews Sieg
Factory Tool Grinding
Troubleshooting Tuning Versions
Versions: 3-in-1
Tools 9x20 Class Lathes
Busy
Bee 7x10 CH-350 Chester Conquest 7x12
Clarke
7x12 Cummins 7x12 Enco 7x10
Grizzly 7x12 Harbor Freight Homier
7x12
Lathemaster 8x14 Micro-Mark 7x14 Northern
Tool 7x12 Other Options