Precision and Perfection: Enhance Your Fabrication with a Bench Top Lathe

Improving our fabrication skills is something I know that we all want to do. Sometimes we can accomplish that with practice, other times it involves acquiring new tools and learning how to use them. In this case, I picked up a new to me bench top Lathe. This little guy is a Little Machine Shop model. I realize that it’s small, keep in mind most of the things that we need to do are well under 1” in diameter. That may involve turning a diameter down, facing something to size so that it fits better or even making shims for spacing accessories out.
It’s also important to think about tooling when adding a tool like this Lathe to the garage. It can be overwhelming when it comes to looking at this stuff. I found an inexpensive set of indexable carbide cutters on Amazon that really seem to do the job nicely. You can check them out here: amzn.to/3LKUxLc
In order to accurately cut anything, you need a way to measure it. A set of calipers is probably the easiest way to get started. I prefer dial calipers over digital because they don’t ever have battery issues and I can see more about what I’m measuring. I have a set of Mitutoyo Calipers that I have been using for many years: amzn.to/46cGaaT If you don’t want to spend that much money, a more budget friendly set can be had here: amzn.to/48AsiZn Either way you go, you will be able to learn a lot and apply it to future projects and upgrade when you feel the need to.
To be able to keep track of how far the saddle moves, you’ll need a dial indicator if your machine does not have a Digital Readout or DRO. Here is the set up I use: amzn.to/3ZJ14vu and the Mighty Mag base: amzn.to/3LJM1Mk If I were to do it over, I’d get this indicator set up: amzn.to/3LNZovg
Lastly, you’ll be able to use the tailstock to drill holes. I know that any gearhead has a set of drill bits. I would highly recommend getting a good countersink to chamfer and deburr any holes you drill. Here’s the countersink I would get: amzn.to/3RG4JZh
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