PlasticWeapons Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Anyone here have suggestions for an alternative miniature (watchmaker's) lathe? One fella had a refurbished Unimat SL 100 lathe but he was asking $500 for it. Would have been great for my modeling needs if it weren't for the price. :) Thanks for suggestions. Ryan F Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The 3rd Placer Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Unfortunately "price" will be the drawback on many of these machines. I have a Micro Lux lathe and it is great, it was not much more than the one you describe "new". I would check into new before buying a refurb. These $500 plus machines are suberb at making those 3 cent parts that you need for your projects:) Ryan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aeroengineer1 Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 This is my first post here on the boards, but I must say that I really enjoy the forums here. Now back to the topic at hand. I had a Unimat lathe, and sold it for $500 and went and bought a Taig lathe. The lathes are made here in the US (about 20 min south of my house). I really like it. It is much more capable than the Unimat, but can do the small stuff just as well if not better. Their website is www.taigtools.com. Adam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vjhl2000 Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 first get "Tabletop Machining" book http://www.sherline.com/bookplug.htm some miniature lathes http://www.clisbyminiaturemachines.com/ 250 USD http://www.thecooltool.com/index_e.php beware the Unimat 1 is made of plastic better ones http://www.sherline.com/ ( I got one of their lathes ) http://www.taigtools.com/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
j-fever Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 I used the Sherline one for alot of small projects, very good! The Unimat ones are not very good and overpriced. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aeroengineer1 Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 I used the Sherline one for alot of small projects, very good!The Unimat ones are not very good and overpriced. I beg to differ as to the usefulness of the Unimat lathes. They are very useful for their size. There are not too many lathes that are portable like the unimat, and have the milling features. I loved mine, and could do some pretty accurate work with it. I just outgrew it. As for the price, all jewelers lathes are expensive. You are paying for a low volume product in a niche market. Adam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.