How much real precision can you get out of a small mini-lathe

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>>1184160
pic related style of grinder

you'll get as much precision as you've got patience.

>>1184174
yeah

-tighten up gibs
-spend time squaring & securing the work in the chuck
-checking for vibrations/suppressing them

>>1184181
I'm just wondering if it would be valuable for my little home shop, I would absolutely like to be able to grind hardened surfaces precisely.

>>1184181
>>1184184
I also don't want to get grinding dust all over a good lathe.

>>1184184
on the surface grinder/cylindrical grinder the dials are in tenths and can hold that because of how rigid they are ect

you can grind hardened shit, but it wont be as good as a cylindrical grinder, and you wont get down to .0002 or anything
but it will be fine for home shit no doubt

>>1184160
If you grind something on these machines, don't do it without heavy vacuuming while doing so!! The dust is poison to any precision tool. If you can avoid it, avoid it.
After grinding, carefully and meticiously clean any nook and cranny. Use lubricated tissues on the bed to catch some of the dust.

>>1184160
level the lathe properly and you might get a good presicion .
My lahte for example has a deviation of 0,05mm in 15cm long bar. That's not good.
should be around 0,03 per meter to be good.

>>1184311
0.05 is like 2 thousandths of an inch

most lathes have a half-thousandth of run-out in the spindle (old lathes, the kind on the affordable used market) and if leveled can usually actually cut parts a half-thousandth over a foot (12 inches)

I've personally turned down the OD and was within a half thou on my 1950s pratt and whitney, so it's not uncommon.

0.002" is terrible by those standards

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>>1184311
Do you know if the runout is in the spindle?

Put an indicator on the chuck and push on the chuck. If it moves there's some play in it, you can also put an indicator on the spindle nose and check runout there.

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Piss on that Grizzly lathe. For that money you can get a lifetime quality industrial tool and cutter grinder which also do cylindrical grinding.

Example is a sweet LeBlond my bro bought for 500 at auction. We are mechanics and hobby machinists who learned long ago to go industrial instead of burning time and money failing to go industrial then being pissed off. That also applies to welding.

We don't use riggers. Note the downward-facing orange channel bolted to the machine base with allthread. Then note the green channel castered outriggers. Allthread is used to lift the orange channel upward with a wrench. Easy as fuck and very safe against tipping. We've moved lathes and Bridgeport knee mills this way too.

Grinder is happily running off a VFD inside his container shop.

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Same rig moving a Bridgeport for my professional machinist bros. No forklift and a soft yard made this the way to go. Now they are converted and fabbing their own setup to move a lathe from the same building, which is nice because I'll get my outriggers back. Mill sits on angle to permit pallet jack insertion for final positioning if needed. It makes no sense not to make your machines fucking easy to move, so we do.

Get the machines you want. This mill was only 800 bucks and there's nothing wrong with it. We score because we plan ahead. The channel is scrap but I'd buy it if I had to. Keep your machine moving kit and add to it as you go.

>>1184342
>No forklift

fuck that bridgeport weigh literally 1 metric ton
got my mill for free and spent all the money on transport+forklift + new motor and VFD

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>>1184349
>fuck that bridgeport weigh literally 1 metric ton

It was no fucking problem to move! No hernias, no drama, and even the allthread was lying around their shop. I bought my allthread so that was about 25 bucks with nuts and washers but it's moved several machines.

That green trailer BTW isn't some chain store lightweight. The owner is a welder and machinist who custom built it so tough that the rails don't deflect when you crank down on the tiedown straps. It's moved a couple of machine shops worth of equipment.

Don't be impressed by a mere ton or two or three. This isn't dangerous like machinery skates, and the leverage of four nuts (one per corner) is ample to lift a mill and exquisitely controllable.

Congrats on your free mill though!

Pic is my round ram Bridgeport on the same dolly. Shows angle base better.

>>1184376
wait what...

$25 for some allthread? Shit I should be turning allthread on my lathe.

>>1184376
How far away do you usually go for auctions?