Justification of Lathe/mill
Curious as to what, other than airgun related items, a mini lathe may be useful for.
I hate to admit, but I’m quite ignorant on the subject. Here is what I *think* I know.
A mini lathe/mill/combo thing costs roughly $600-700. How much more in bits/extras would one need?
materials… where and how do you get stock aluminum, delrin, etc?
Learning curve…. how hard is one of these to operate and actually make something with?
Bottom line…. Is it worth it for the occasional part, brake, or project or is it more cost effective and easier to just let the pro’s work on it…..? Perhaps there are other projects one could do with these that I am unaware of…?
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Great reference to this being another hobby.
I think you could be making SOME kind of part in an afternoon on either machine but days/weeks/years getting better and faster and making less and less mistakes.
I personally think it is worth it because I LOVE to make experimental stuff and if I had someone else do the work it would have cost me $1,000’s whether it worked or not.
Material sources:
– already mentioned http://www.onlinemetals.com GREAT source…
– EBAY…GREAT source for anything I got some really cheap Titanium, Delrin, Aluminum, Barrels, bullet moulds, 600lbs pure lead 😯 , I also bought A LOT of tooling for cheap too(100’s of reamers, end mill bits, drill bits, taps/dies, lathe cutting bits and assorted other tooling) etc. etc. etc
– Local metal recycler is INCREDIBLE source as they sell by the lb! I have gotten ALL kinds of stuff from the one in my city. I’m guessing it’s about 75% off getting it from a metal retailer maybe even cheaper?
Jim.