lathe.... anyone has any info

[archer]

Guys,

i dont know whether this is the rite place for this topic....mods pls move it to any section if its wrong...
a friend of mine owns this ...its called 'unimat 1' u can check it out here

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/843d/

this friend of mine wants to pass it on as he needs a bigger one....he asked me if i was interested......being an engg.....i am interested in picking it up....wanted to know if anyone has used it or seen it.....ur opinion abt the same....

it cost abt 16k-17k ....made in germany....
thanx
regards

parag

[Grumpy]

Its the next version up of the `Mini-Mate` which is reckoned to be the smallest lathe in the world`.
Both are `hobby` machines because of their small bed and capacity. Ideal for turning small items but useless if you want to lap a shotgun barrel or something.
There`s plenty of information on the web but it`s supposed to be a pretty good tool for the hobbyist but not a lot of use to an engineer.
The fact that your friend is selling it to get a larger lathe should tell you something.................................
Of course if you`re just building model aeroplanes or clocks - or something - it should be ideal.

[Mark]

Can you cut threads with it? It does not seem as if you can cut threads, which is the main advantage of a lathe over anything else.

I have a small 4" X 24" lathe that is similar in theory to this one. I never use it because of this. I made a power feed for mine from an old smoker rotisserie motor, but you will find the stuff you want to do will be frustrating to make with this machine.

[archer]

Thanx guys,

i am gonna use it mainly for my projects ... not goona use it on guns....it gonna be used on wood and metal ..... i have seen it being used, i thinlk it will be useful for me....

will keep u posted about the developments.


regards
parag

[snIPer]

speaking of lathes - is it possible to rifle a smooth bore airguns barrel?

[jonahpach]

speaking of lathes - is it possible to rifle a smooth bore airguns barrel?

Not with a lathe..

[Grumpy]

"speaking of lathes - is it possible to rifle a smooth bore airguns barrel?"

Yes.......but you wouldn`t want to pay for the rifling bit !

[snIPer]

No and Yes -

[Grumpy]

That`s typical of life generally.
It is a complicated and non-standard set-up because the rifling bit - or barrel ( one or the other ) - has to progress forward at a constant rate whilst turning at a constant rate.

[snIPer]

ok. thanks Grumpy

[to_saptarshi]

speaking of lathes - is it possible to rifle a smooth bore airguns barrel?

The answer is Yes. This how our Indian Air Rifle Makers rifled their Product (Except IHP) and thats probably the only reason of not finding any Indian make .177 caliber from them. 4.5mm Rifling Bit are very expensive and not available in Indian market in compare to 5.5mm. Another reason is, it usually take much time to rifling a smaller caliber than a large one as the entire process is done by manually, using some primitive lathe machine, and Yes this is also the reason of why they are using Mild Steel for barrel making instead of High grade steel.

Regards
Saptarshi

[Mark]

If you are interested in rifling, there is a series of books titled "Foxfire" here in the USA that deal with how mountain people live. It is a very good series.

Anyway, "Foxfire 5" (there are 8 books total) has a very nice section on making flintlock rifles and has a home made rifling machine, showing how the entire machine is made and used.

Modern Gunsmith book 2 by Howe I believe also talks about rifling.

[snIPer]

Anything in PDF format that we can download - there are a few in Google Books but is there anythiing in particular you would recommend