If you want to single point screw threads be aware that many small lathes aren't set up for screwcutting and/or only cut a very limited range of pitches. You may need to make a list of threads to be cut and then select a suitable lathe.

Andrew

I have not been impressed with the Proxxon stuff I have bought. Their cheap lathe has an aluminium bed while the expensive one is stupidly expensive and I think I recall some bad experiences people on here have had with it (or maybe the cheap one). And it doesn't have that many features you don't get in a generic mini-lathe.

That Osaki lathe looks rather like the generic mini-lathes from other suppliers. I think people have had good experience with these generally, they have cast iron beds and depending on the exact model and supplier a good speed range. Several people on here have bought machine tools from Arc Eurotrade (see advert on this home page) and found them a very good supplier (usual disclaimer). Have a look at their SC2 machine.

Ian

plenty of choice available within your budget in the generic Chinese mini lathe market – various suppliers advertise on this site. Bear in mind you will have to have some budget for tooling as well – at least 20-30% of lathe cost as a start.

You won't get much of a mill for your quoted budget, I have had some of those at the small end SX1 or SX 2 class of machine and found they are just about OK with non ferrous and a pita for anything harder. You may need to budget between 1 and 2 times your lathe budget for a new machine compatible with the capacity of a mini lathe, the lower end being OK if you are sticking to small stuff. It seems manual mills just need to be that much bigger and stiffer to do decent work otherwise you are in for a lot of handwheel twirling.

Second hand is always an option. You need to know what you are looking for. It can also be a bit of a long and drawn out process and in the end the savings rarely turn out to be that significant for the smaller stuff. Avoid old British iron in the smaller sizes, unless it is immaculate with all tooling etc. or unless you enjoy the tedious prospect of lengthy refurbishments.

Edited By Martin of Wick on 22/03/2020 15:26:01

I suspect the Warco WM180 or lookalikes are at the entry level that will do what you want tho not always conveniently as changing gears for screwcutting is not that quick and it won’t do LH threads nor is there any easy way of mounting material on the cross-slide for simple milling (tho both these can be overcome with various modifications) – if you intend to do much screw cutting then a machine with a gearbox makes life easier but check it will do the range of imperial (BSF) and the more common these days metric threads.

The 1.7m will be barely enough to fit a lathe and a mill with its table, side by side

Most model engineers before the '70s didn't have a mill and just look at all the superb models and other jobs made without one. By putting your meagre mill money into the lathe budget you can get a more capable lathe that can do some milling with a vertical slide.
One advantage of a second hand machine (that is still fully operational not the back of the shed for 30 years kind) is that it will often come with the basic tooling you need.

You do need a bench grinder, about £45 so you might as well get that right away as you can always sharpen your pencils on it if nothing else. Both I and my Men's Shed have this.
Don't put aside more that £20 for tooling. You need to put everything into the lathe as you can later on find another £20 for a tool but you can't go out and buy another inch capacity for the lathe.
The only tools you need for the lathe are 1) 4 jaw chuck 2) tailstock drill chuck 3) one 1/4 in square HSS toolbit used off ebay – it has 2 ends so two tools in one.
A 3 jaw chuck is nice to have, preferably with both sets of jaws.
It will take you a few weeks to outgrow the above meagre tooling giving you time to save up for the next phase.

On day one you don't need steadies, collets, insert tooling, sets of tools, carbide tools, quick change toolposts, quickchange gearboxes, sets of tools (yeah I know I said that already but you didn't listen last time).