I'm starting a new series on my page with this post. I recently bought a metal working 7X10 mini lathe from Harbor Freight Tools. Their brand, Central Machinery includes a couple of sizes of metal working lathes, as well as wood lathes and other shop equipment.
The 7X10 mini lathe is the smallest of their metal lathes. I would have bought the 7X14 lathe but it is an internet only deal, and tends to take a while to get from what I've read.
The 7X10 means that a 7 inch diameter is the largest diameter piece that you can theoretically be able to work on due to the center height of the spindle above the bed. The 10 is for the longest length piece that can be worked on with this lathe due to the length of the lathe bed, although in practice, the longest practical length is more like 8 inches.
These Lathes are made in China and sold through various outlets, usually under the brand name of the outlet. The basic lathe can be bought with up to a 16 inch length working area over the bed. If you want to work on longer pieces of metal than that, you would have to buy a larger type of lathe.
I have no actual previous experience with lathe work, but I'm a quick learner from watching videos and trying simple things on the lathe. If you can operate other power tools safely, you can learn how to do basic operations on a lathe. From there, you just learn as you go.
I've made a few videos about some of the basics of the lathe for other people who might want to learn about using the mini lathe. There's lots of other videos on youtube about running a lathe, but a lot of them are geared more toward people with some lathe experience.
Here is my first video in this series.
Thanks for stopping by my page to check out this video!
I hope you find it interesting!
