http://www.cnczone.com One of my favorite new sites. This is a "Must See" |
Bob Campbell has a nice webpage and sells plans and parts for some very nice CNC Routers. He also is a dealer for Alibre Design which is a super 3D Parametric Modeler which I own and use. He also is a dealer for Visualmill and several other packages for CNC, Cad/Cam. click the link below to go to Bob's site: |
You might also want to check out my new Phase II Rotary Table set with adjustable tailstock and dividing set. |
I have had a nice weekend getting more familiar with the the 8x14. So far I have found no bad habits from it. I have spent quite a bit of time threading this weekend and at first I thought the gear changing was a little tedious but a quick call to Bob solved that. As with most new thing's I was doing it the hard way. Now a complete gear change takes about two minutes. Installing the gear for changing the leadscrew direction now takes about 3 minutes. There is no adjustment necessary, just a little tight to get the wrench in . The lathe cuts aluminum and brass very smooth with no chatter even when taking heavy cuts. I have not tried cutting steel yet but will try it this week. I want to make some gear hobs from drill rod per the Jose Rodriguez method demonstrated on his tape which by the way I highly recommend. |
Go to my Homepage |
http://www.lathemaster.com for further info. Bob is a really nice guy to work with. I ordered my machine and had it with-in 4 days. |
My Lathemaster 8x14 Lathe |
I purchased an 8x14 over a year ago from Bob Bertrand of Lathemaster. I had previously purchased a 9x20 from Bob and when he told me of the new more refined 8x14 I decided to take a chance even tho the money was earmarked for another project. I am very glad I did. This lathe is the most refined machine of either the 9x20 or 7x12's I have seen or owned. This machine comes out of the box ready to use. I did decide to take it down for a full cleaning and inspection. I did not find a single burr on any of the ways, gibs or dovetailed surfaces that needed to be deburred. The only thing I found was one small section of the screw in the cross-slide that felt like a little grit. That cleaned up quickly and I continued the cleaning and inspection of this little machine. |
This is my lathe right out of the box. (Note only very slight packing grease. |
This photo shows a size comparison with a Grizzley Mini-mill sitting beside it. Quite a bit larger than a 7x12 both in physical size and weight. 200# out of the box. The shipping container weight was 310#. |
Shot of the saddle, rest's, ect... as they came mounted on the lathe from the factory. Still no cleaning has been done. |
Finally getting cleaned up. This shot shows the "Very nice" dual prismatic ways. |
Another shot of the bed, saddle and cross-slide. That's a 4" 3 jaw chuck. The lathe also comes with a 5" 4 jaw chuck mounted on a back-plate. I have yet to try this chuck out but when I do I will report on its performance. |
Shot of the compound with the toolpost off. Toolpost accepts 1/2 in. bits. Dials all the dials are nicely engraved and easy to see. I have installed a Phase II QCTP on this machine and have been very pleased with it. (see photo below) |
Close-up shot of the compound screw and dial. The quality of the screw is very nice and much smoother than either my first 9 inch lathe or the Grizzley 7x12. |
Very high quality steady and follow rest's. Standard provided accessories. |
Full size tailstock. Accept's full length MT-2 Arbors with no cutting needed. |
http://www.lathemaster.com for further info. Bob is a really nice guy to work with. I ordered my machine and had it with-in 4 days. |
5" 4 jaw chuck and faceplate included.. |
This site has been visited |
Go to my Homepage |
Last updated: 11/3/04 |
I have had a nice weekend getting more familiar with the the 8x14. So far I have found no bad habits from it. I have spent quite a bit of time threading this weekend and at first I thought the gear changing was a little tedious but a quick call to Bob solved that. As with most new thing's I was doing it the hard way. Now a complete gear change takes about two minutes. Installing the gear for changing the leadscrew direction now takes about 3 minutes. There is no adjustment necessary, just a little tight to get the wrench in . The lathe cuts aluminum and brass very smooth with no chatter even when taking heavy cuts. I have not tried cutting steel yet but will try it this week. I want to make some gear hobs from drill rod per the Jose Rodriguez method demonstrated on his tape which by the way I highly recommend. |
10 tpi threads in Aluminum and 16tpi in brass. I cut threads at 10 thou's per pass and finished with two passes at 3 thou's. . |
You might also want to check out my new Phase II Rotary Table set with adjustable tailstock and dividing set. |
I got my Leeson DC Motors and Cycletrol Controllers to convert my 8x14 CNC Lathe and my 9 inch lathe to Variable speed. Thanks to Steve Bedair for the tip on where to get the controller. Treadmill motors can be bought at American Science and Surplus. |
I would like anyone visiting this page to understand that information on this page is "my personal opinion only". I am simply sharing my experience with various equipment and projects. If you have questions concerning anything related to this or other pages on my site, please contact me at the above link. Deciding on which machine to purchase can be a daunting task so I recommend you research all options available to you before you purchase any tool. There are pros and con's to all the machines available. Machining can be dangerous to life and limb so be careful. |
Thanks to all visitors and the numerous emails asking about this machine. Mabe I need to buy stock in Bob's company as my web traffic and email's are certainly increasing lately. To answer the questions most frequently asked. 1: "Yes", I still like the machine after 6 months of use it performs great. 2: I have no regret's in the purchase and believe I made a good choice. 3: I don't subscribe to the 7x10 Yahoo group and won't again because they just like to slam me and my opinion. 4: Yes I like Lathemaster alot but have "no" connection to the company. 5: There are now quite a few of the 8x14 lathes out there and I get alot of very good feedback from users. I think that the little machine has proved itself quite nicely in spite of the negative feedback it has gotten from the non-owners on some of the un-named forums. |
Phoebe |
I would like to thank each and everyone who has contacted me about Phoebe. Phoebe has gone to Heaven to be with her sister Scarlett. We will miss her and think of her every day. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support in this difficult time. God Bless and our warmest thanks, Alan and Lana Trest |
Very intresting link not lathe related but still worth a look: |
Bob Campbell has a nice webpage and sells plans and parts for some very nice CNC Routers. He also is a dealer for Alibre Design which is a super 3D Parametric Modeler which I own and use. He also is a dealer for Visualmill and several other packages for CNC, Cad/Cam. click the link below to go to Bob's site: |
Favorite Links: |
Very comprehensive mini-lathe site> Great!! |
Steve Bedairs site: Good info on retrofitting lathe to a DC Motor and Speed control set-up |
Lots of stuff here folks. Good info on Mini-lathes and also alot of resources for shooters and reloaders. One of my favorites. |
Want to see the best accessory you can get for your lathe: I have been turning alot of small brass rod and since I got this 5c Collet chuck all I can say is "Wow", this chuck will absolutely astound you at the quality and accuracy. After minimal time cleaning cleaning up the face of my spindle I got .0001 run-out per my indicator. That's pretty darn good in my book. I'm sorry for the quality of the photo's but I have been having problems updating my site recently. I will have "Alot more" on the Superb quality chuck shortly. Also, sorry for the grubby shot, it does not do it justice, its just gotten alot of use and I wanted to get a quick photo up on the site> contact Bob at Lathemaster while he still has these in stock. |
Comming Soon: Video of the 8x14 Lathe in action: I hope to have some downloadable video's showing the capabilities of the 8x14 lathe. Check back soon. |
http://www.cnczone.com One of my favorite new sites. This is a "Must See" |
This looks to be an intresting addition to your library. I have one on the way and will be writing a review soon. |
New Link : Check it out |
