Should You Buy A $40 Mini Lathe? - Mini Lathe Review

G'day everyone. Ever since I started looking for a mini metal lathe for the workshop, I was aware of a more affordable mini wood lathe that was also being sold. I have always been more interested in metal work so I never bought one, however in the 3 years since I first saw these, the price has come down significantly and the design has improved. They now sell these on ebay for around $40. I have been wanting to try out wood turning for a while now, so I was happy to buy this product to see what a $40 mini lathe is like. Seeing how well my mini metal lathe performed I was hopeful that this lathe was a hidden gem in the market. Cheers.

Disclaimer: This review is not sponsored in any way Banggood or any other company, the lathe was purchased by myself.

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
0:54 - Unboxing
1:19 - Lathe Specs and Features
4:53 - Making A Tool Handle
8:25 - Motor Issue
9:28 - Conclusion

[trainliker]

Even a cheap limited tool like this can have a purpose for finding out if wood turning might be of interest. And if so, then upgrading. My lady friend and I long ago bought a cheap sheet metal based wood lathe for her retired father. He liked making things, and we thought he might like wood turning. It wasn't as cheap as this one, and a little larger, and it had a 110 volt motor, but still about the minimum you could buy at the time. We also got him started with four pieces of interesting unusual wood (purple heart, zebra wood, and such). He made some things and enjoyed it. Pretty soon he built his own workshop shed, bought a quite large floor model wood lathe, and then had to have a band saw of course, and some more things, and enjoyed the hobby for many, many years making all sorts of things. So it can provide a taste of what wood turning is. And the worst that can happen is that you are out 40 bucks. What is that, about the cost of 8 or 10 of the fancier cups of liquid from Starbucks?

[artisanmakes]

G'day everyone. As a disclaimer this review is not sponsored in any way Banggood or any other company, the lathe was purchased by myself. I also regret that I was not able to test this lathe as a disk sander or mini table saw due the the motor issue. It wouldn't surprise me if this lathe would as a makeshift disk sander if the proper arbor was made, however I would be somewhat uncomfortable using it as a table saw. It may be a project for the future. Also I didn't get it in during the review but for the shots where I was turning the cutter handle, the tool rest was as close to the work as it could be. Also the term Micro Lathe may be more apt here to describe this machine, but I was a little unsure. Hope you enjoy the review. Cheers

[chox]

They are normally used for making acrylic and wood pen blanks, rings and small items for model cars and boats.

[aryah]

I have 1 of the aluminum types and I got it with a asurion warranty because of this video. But it still hasn't died. I might mess around and make myself a tool like you did because mine came with some tools that literally get shaved down by the wood. I can see the material change shape before my eyes as I try to use it. Believe it or not... I used the blade from a $6 ebay knife (the blade cracked because it was a $6 ebay knife - so I literally just held the broken "damascus" blade and turned several tampers with it for my tobacco pipes. I love it.

[amanofmanyparts]

I've owned a wood lathe for a couple of decades that cost around the same _price_ (adjusted for inflation). It's close to a metre long and employs a Black & Decker electric drill (other brands may fit) as a power source. 550 watts is the oldest and least powerful of my mains powered drills! I've not had much use of it as, long ago, the tailstock centre jumped off and skittered off the end of the workbench and disappeared into the local wandering black hole, so I dismounted it until the tailstock turned up.
Fast forward several years and, while reorganising the underbench shelf to fit new-to-me tools, I found it in a box that was over 300mm back from the end of the bench! The lathe can't go back as that space is now occupied by my Chinese 7X14 mini metal lathe, but I still have half of my workshop to play with for when I need to turn wood instead of metal.

This one seems to be best suited to turning 'softer' woods such as balsa. Technically I know it's an _hardwood, but ...

[thedevilinthecircuit]

The problem with these little hobby motors is twofold; the brass/bronze main bushing on the output shaft does not support radial loading imparted by lathe operations. These motors do work for small drill presses, however, because loads are axial. The other issue is the voltage-regulated speed: low speeds generate very little torque. High speeds provide necessary torque, but they also generate excessive friction on the cutting tool faster than it can dissipate heat, and the work burns.

[mjremy]

Thank you for your honest review. Its clearly only good for small jewelry projects like ring carving, if that. Maybe plastic carving! If the motor is not reliable, there is nothing else to be said. Its a dud. I saw this on Amazon too and was tempted, so very grateful for your review. Many thanks!

[kyivstarnet]

Great simple tool. One should be able to make it by himself. Bearings for the chuck and live center, larger size, long toolpost and motor rpm adjustment are must have.

[michigurloaxaca]

I got this to make 1:12 table, stair and chair legs and it's perfect!

[slartimus]

Until the reveal of the motor going tits up, I was going to suggest that another starter project could be a knob, handle, lever, whatever to replace that hex bolt for the tool rest, so you could stop having to clean it out to get the key in whenever you wanted to adjust it.

Still, not super surprising when you showed the chuck mounted on the motor shaft, which looked to me like it was likely to have some _major_ runout. Yikes. Still, it was cute - I was actually pleasantly surprised to see a live center mounted into a ball bearing; that was _way_ more than I'd have expected - and it'd be interesting to see if you could cheaply swap parts out to get something more reasonable.

[davidsachs]

The problem of wood dust in the hex bolt can be solved by putting a small price of masking tape over the hole in the bolt after tightening but before operating the lathe
Suggestion could apply to any tool

[cavemaneca]

So basically a novelty. Interesting design for it though! It's surprising you can get something that works at all for that price.

[Borgedesigns]

looks like with an upgraded headstock it would be a pretty reasonable little option, upgrading to a belt drive with a sewing machine motor would be ideal

[pedroclaro]

It’s small. Good for starting out and testing the waters. Could make a chess set with it, small handles for tools like chisels and such, rings, drawer knobs, wooden nails, dowels, and all sorts of stuff for miniature projects.
For anyone who’s actually into woodworking and already has a couple tools, I’d recommend spending a bit more and getting one of those 200€ ones. Still, this mini tool has its place.

[smartonedt]

Great video mate. First time watching your content. I think the motor died because its rated for 12V shown @ 3:57 . when you go above the rated voltage the contacts suffer if this is a DC brushed motor

[Ulfhildx]

I have one of these and with a few upgrades you can have yourself a nice little lathe. I think I have around 100$ in mine. I make wood rings on mine and it’s perfect for it.

[sailawaybob]

My wife bought me one for Xmas I wanted something to more less play with and see if it drew my interest. It actually does work I bout some wood dowels cut them down and made some handles for my files lol . Third time I used it the power box failed so I dug through my electric junk and found a power supply but the current doesn't adjust so ordered a $12. Current control box so we'll see if that fixes it. Think she paid $40 For it so I never expected much.

[Smallathe]

It's a toy... I suggest you get a sewing machine 100w motor. I've been using one on my minilathe for quite some time and it works well. It costs around 20usd.

[markfryer]

Pity that the motor gave out so soon. Still that is what a tool review is for.
Mark from Melbourne Australia

[RJ]

I believe it burned up because it's a 12v motor (4:00) and it comes with a 12-24v power supply. Anything faster than the slowest is over volting the motor. You said even on the lowest speed it's still too fast, for sanding. That's probably the maximum speed that motor is supposed to go. Good review and I think I'll take the advice and just skip this. I have some neat old vintage motors that would make a fun project building a small wood lathe.