What kind of lathe are you using? I’ve gotten a hankering to try building whistles and possibly flutes as well, and would really prefer to work in wood and delrin as opposed to PVC or copper, although I’m starting with those until I get a better handle on the whole process. Anyway, should I pursue this to the point of working with wood, I’ll need a good lathe, but probably won’t have a slew of cash to pour into one. From what I’ve read, it looks like a lot of builders use metal lathes.
Do you know anything about the lathes from Sherline? I’ve seen a couple of these on ebay for not too much. Also, I’ve run across this page about mini-lathes, and they look promising. I realise that these lathes would not be long enough to make a pratten’s on, but they should suffice for d and c whiistles and three or four joint flutes, don’t you think?
While this may all be wool-gathering, and is certainly speculation at this point, I’d like to do the groundwork, research-wise, so I can make a good decision should the day ever arrive to write a check.
I’d appreciate any thoughts or recommendations you have. Thanks!
I’d suggest you work out how you’ll be doing your boring first, as this may very well affect what length lathe bed you’ll need, as well as the spindle nose capacity you’ll want.
Metal lathes are generally required, especially for making reamers. The bigger the better to a point.
Many makers use top of the line Super 7 lathes by Myford of Sheffield with all the quick change bells and whistles. Mine originally came from one of Rod Cameron’s assistants. A new Myford here in the States can run in the $7-10K range. However I have seen a few on eBay recently go for $2-3K.
Older used lathes such as South Bends and Atlases can be had considerably cheaper. Until I picked up the Myfords I worked on an old and worn out Atlas (aka Clausing) 6" lathe which was barely adequate for reamer making but fine for turning flutes. There are a few different types - mine was the one with the flat ways, identical to this one:
Avoid the Dunlap ones; they are too small (same with the Sherline). The Atlas 10" lathe was made for WW2 production and some parts such as a steady rest are hard to find. The 12" is fine. When purchasing, make sure you get at least the 3 jaw chuck - otherwise fitting one can be spendy.
Another handy tool is a milling machine. The Mill/Drills such as those sold by Grizzley are fine - a knee mill is better. I have an old Clausing knee mill that I use primarily for drilling fingerholes - but rely upon its robustness for milling the cutting flute out on reamers. Rod uses his for roughing out block mounts.
Hello Dow,
I use a mini-lathe identical to the one you have referenced. It is made in China and cost about $500. It is a very good value and suitable for maching smaller pieces from any materials. I use it for making 3-piece pvc flutes up to a low C in size. I have a photo of my mini-lathe with commentary posted here on the flute forum not long ago. http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=36608
At present I’m using a 10" South Bend which is just adequate (a little bigger would be nice)
My first choice for cost/utility is the 10" 'heavy" South Bend which has a better (bigger) spindle bore. (I am switching over at present, having found one at an auction) This should then give the advantage of being able to pass work through the spindle and effectively lengthening the lathe. (there are extra long beds out there as well, but hard to find).
Once you have a lathe, many accessories, including a milling fixture can be built using the lathe itself.
Used Atlas lathes have gotten too expensive to be worthwhile, in my opinion, I just think they’ve become way overpriced for what you get in most cases. They are easy to work on, but many of the parts are pretty cheesy to begin with.
I think these days, a new chinese made lathe is the better way to go, if you’re on a tight budget. They typically take up much less space than an Atlas lathe as well, unless you luck into a good deal on a cabinet mounted vertical pulley version.
My only concern with the Myford lathes has to do with parts costs and availability.
Fortunately with the Myfords, one rarely needs to buy parts! I haven’t needed anything for mine in years, except chuck jaws. Blue Ridge Machinery stocks some, as well as parts and Accessories for Atlas, South Bend, Logan etc.
Some of the Chinese made lathes are pretty cheesy. The “Smithy” brand is perhaps a good choice - with the overhead mill you have some milling capacity.
Geeze, well if you need to get rid of your puny little standard Southbend 10", you know who to call
I agree, if you can find a good used Southbend in your area, they are nearly bombproof workhorses which can handle virtually any task you could ask of a lathe. Perhaps not as nice as a newer Myford, but really good, reliable machines. Parts are readily available as well.
BTW Dow, I suppose I should state, for the record, that while I’ve regularly used 4 different Craftsman/Atlas lathes, 3 Southbends, and one Rockwell, I have not had the pleasure of working on a Myford, so any comments I make on Myford lathes come without having any direct experience with them.
I did have the opportunity to do a very small amount of work on another maker’s chinese made lathe, a 7"x12" I think,and it seemed fine - nothing exceptional mind you, but at least as good as the Atlas lathes I’ve worked with, and in many ways better. However, I can’t speak to the durability, ease of repair or the availability of parts issues.
Probably should have mentioned on the whistle forum as well…there is an article around somewhere on turning up a new spindle with the bigger bore and “converting” the typical South Bend to a “heavy”
One of the things I miss about the 6" Atlas was that chucks and the tailstock weren’t that heavy - I could pull the tailstock off for reaming with one hand. Not so with the Myford - everything is heavy, especially the tailstock. Also, the spindle support on the Myford on the slide kind of sticks way out - meaning that one can’t get right up to one’s work, unless you crane yourself over - which is hard on the back if you do it for a lifetime. Thus I have relied on a 2X magnivisor. Which has then had the unintended effect of making me more farsighted - now I can’t focus on anything closer than 1’ away, whereas it used to be mere inches from my nose. That could also just be ageing. Eventually I will modify the cross slide on my lathe so I can get closer.
Some helpful minimum requirements:
for reaming - you need at least 1/4 to 1/2 HP and the ability to belt down to about 250 RPM. For wood turning, around 1700 is good. Morse 2 tapers in head and tailstock will afford inexpensive tooling, a 3 jaw chuck.
The old style toolposts on these lathes are pretty inadequate - I prefer a quick change toolpost set - the ones that they sell for Myfords work well with other lathes and are reasonable in price.
I use a Atlas 10X36" lathe, with flat ways. Good little work horse. One thing to note on the Atlas lathes, you can still get parts for it through Clausing. You can also find parts on ebay. Southbend would be a better lathe, but the Atlas works fine. You should upgrade the tool holder to a quick change tool holder. You can get those on ebay also.
I reciently got a Taig mill for cutting the blocks and key ways. The bed is 18" so will accomidate the Pratten models. I was looking at getting the Grizzly but the Taig is American made (rare these days…)
Hope this helps.
I have been turning the tenons on a low C pvc flute body this afternoon. I haven’t had any experience with the larger lathes mentioned since my machine shop class in high school. Since one of the specialties in my home town was mold making and precision tooling, our high school had been given some very nice lathes for the students to use. However, one of the things that I appreciate about the mini-lathes is that they have a variable speed motor, allowing you control the spindle speed quite easily while the machine is running. With my left hand on the speed control knob/ on-off switch, I can go from a fast turning speed, to a creep as I near the end of the turn, and to a stop with just a small movement of my hand. As I remember from the older lathes that I used, they were not that easy to control. You needed to disengage the feeding screw in order to stop the feed. Having good control is important, even if you are just trying to turn a tuning tenon on pvc pipe.
I have ordered a JET 9x20. It got good reviews from some of the woodworking/metalworking sites. I haven’t gotten it yet. It will be some time before I make anything musical – I’ll have to learn the ins and outs of this machine and also turning wood on a lathe, which I’ve never done before. Should be a blast.
Good choice Charles! I read a review on the Midi lathes and Jet was the best. Did you get the variable speed control? I heard that belt changing is a hassle on these machines.
Good luck!
Thanks, guys, for all of the great information. I’ve now got a somewhat better idea of what I’m up against as far as a lathe is concerned. Maybe by the time I’m ready for one, there will be something used around close. In the mean time, I’m chopping up PVC and having a ball, and after all, isn’t that what this should be about?
To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure if this one has the speed control – I don’t think so. For turning wood, though, I presume I’ll set it to high and forget about it. I’ll just have to change it for making reamers.
