Top 5 Best Upgrades and Modifications! Mini Metal Lathe - A Year In Review Part 1

This video is the top 5 upgrades to the MINI LATHE. (MUCH) More information below!

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Stuff from this video:

Stuff on the lathe:

Lathe tools:

Other stuff:

[imautuber]

That chip tray is a stroke of genius and I'm definitely making one !

[yveslegrand]

The chips tray is a must. The carriage lock too. I had no problem with the motor mount or handles. As for the circuit breaker...I had to change the whole electronic. The other mod that is really worth it is the bearings change.

[MakingStuff]

I have a much older version of the same lathe. The handle upgrade is a must. Thanks for sharing.

[mmFlaK]

I got one of those aluminum, button-style quick change tool poasts very similar to yours; it looks identical. Mine was very sloppy and had no repeatability. I went with a steel wedge type tool poast which was about double the cost of the aluminum one, but good quality and repeatable.

I tried a 4x4 peice of rubber roofing material as a ways protector, but its rapidly degraded by cutting oil and will replace it with your chip tray.

[theamateurmachineshop]

Thanks for sharing. Was searching a fix for the blown fuse issue and looks like you have it!

[dmar]

All good upgrades and you've done some neat things but the number one mod would be to bolt it down! That would mitigate any other rigidity issues as well. I'm surprised you haven't done this.

[mctavishmcardle]

like the chip tray - will have to think about adding one of those to the lathe i use. good excuse for a sheet metal project, in which area i am woefully inexperienced

[habiks]

Nice chip tray idea.. gonna do something similar for my lathe

[SharkyMoto]

nice summary. theres a small "mod" i did that you could do too, its just drilling a hole right on top of the gears of the spindle and adding a grease nipple to it, that way i can put some grease into the headstock from time to time, wich hopefully lets the machine run a fair bit longer :)

we need to find a way to rotate the carriage without screwing it all the way back every time. i'd love to do more tapered stuff but dialing it in is always such a huge pain in the ass that i do everything to avoid it.

[peterjones]

I see people saying bolt it down but as you point out that prevents it being portable. A much better idea to make it more stable is to get a couple of 14"~16" lengths of 4x2. Counter-bore to sink in bolt heads and screw original rubber feet to ends.. Mini lathe doesn't tend to rock forwards but does tend to tip backwards. Apart from that, the best mod is to fit taper roller bearings to headstock. HSS tooling will take a sharper edge than carbide but you will need a bench grinder to shape it. The QC toolpost is handy but personally I removed mine and use the old style as tyhere is less tool overhang (I noticed you have compound slide way out a few times, doesn't help surface finish as it tries to 'lift' rear of saddle/carriage)

[aarondcmedia]

My lathe arrived 2 days ago. I have some space clearing activities to do first, but will be looking at the new lathe with your upgrades in mind.

[JimmiePorterAtStuartArts]

Great upgrades. I like the carriage lock - that's going on my project list.

[patwicker]

I have a similar lathe and I agree those are the best upgrades!

[mxcollin]

All great ideas. 👍 I look forward to trying some of those upgrades on my mini lathe.

[fxc]

You could mount a computer fan to aid the cooling of your motor

[Hofstader]

One tip is to mount the lathe onto a table. Makes it much more stable and vibrates less.

[mrc]

Great ideas, I was amazed at how much your carriage moved when you tightened your tool post. ( maybe some shims on the carriage in the future ) .

[charqiberkane]

Good evening: Where have you been? I need more of your intelligence please .... Do not be absent too much, man .... I wish you more and shine more in your skill and thank you.

[joshuahuman]

Me and a friend of mine got one of these lathes and we ended up just shorting the fuse with aluminum foil and just letting the wires going to the chuck safety switch of which i just removed and twisted together the wire to bypass the switch and when ever the wire starts smelling it tells us to let up on the cuts i know its not a good idea but it works for now

[somaodeunier]

Are you happy with the power the motor provides? Is it powerful enough to turn steel?