Here's a website with the info for decoding carbide inserts: http://www.4carbide.com/tech.htm -=- Bob

Good Morning All: Having trouble setting up a Homier 7X12 lathe recently purchased. This lathe is turning a taper from tailstock to headstock no matter how much adjustment I make to correct tailstock setover. Is it possible that the tail and head are not set parallel to eachother? Has anyone else run across the same difficulty? Any advice on this problem, with methods to correct it would be greatly appreciated, as this little unit appears to be a good value for the money. Best regards, Nick

Nick, I'm on digest mode so my response is slow coming. First thing to do is pull your tailstock off and ck for burrs, rough spots, etc. after you do the initial alignment ck. Use a small, fine file to ease off. To ck for hi/lo spots, use markup dye [Magic Marker will work also] and a good straightedge on the wear surfaces of the TS. To clean small areas, I use toilet paper dipped in rubbing alcohol - any burr/rough spot will tear the paper. Need to remember to re-oil afterwards as RA has water in it. Might also pull your headstock and ck also if you find anything on the tailstock. The reason why is after you use the lathe, the headstock could settle and your alignment would be off again. That's the problem with the Chinese stuff - in order to keep it cheap, shortcuts are taken. Besides, taking the lathe apart will teach you a lot. Keep some bandaids and hydrogen peroxide around because the burrs can be sharp! -=- Bob Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 07:51:25 -0800 (PST)

With all the talk about bed length, it seems to me the only space that matters is how much space you have between the work piece in a chuck and tool bit in the compound Frankie

Would enjoy hearing opinions from owners of the Micromark 7X14

Good Morning All: After much checking and testing of my Homier 7x12 lathe, I removed the hs assembly, and found the cause of the alignment problem. The locating vee way was gouged out during the machining process, causing the spindle to be out of alignment with the bed assembly. Back to front of the spindle measured a difference of 0.004" difference, and the difference in height between the hs and ts assembly showed the hs to be 0.125" low. A new hs casting is on order, and hopefully, this will correct the alignment problems. I am in the process of replacing the saddle gibs with new ones of brass while waiting for the hs casting,and giving everything a good once over. Other than this setback, I believe these lathes to be a good value for the money, and appear to be quite capable machines. I want to thank everyone for all the help in getting to the root cause of my problem with this lathe (taper turning), and look forward to reporting my progress. Nick

Hello I am an 18 yeard old machinist, I have about 3.5 years as a machinist/machinist in training. I am currently attending college for Precision Machnining Technology. I am used to big old lathes and mills, but I absolutely love machining and they are to big and bulky for my space, I have chosen on the smaller version, possible the Homier 7x12 because its $299 But what is this I hear about the 7x14 micro mark, how much is it, which would be a better buy? Thanks Sean

LMS has several different types of turning tools that take the indexable inserts. My question is, what's the difference between these two types of inserts? TCMM inserts TCMT Inserts Thanks, Brice

Good Morning: Finally received the new HS assembly from Homier, and carefully swapped out the internals from the original. After installing the "new" hs, and squaring it to the bed, I reinstalled the chuck, and proceeded to chuck up a 1/2" 12L14 shaft to test the assembly. Checking the hs/ts height, showed them to be in good alignment. Took a .010" pass off the rod without holding the end in the ts, and even taking a short cut 2" from the hs produced a taper. Am wondering if the bed is twisted, or if I should just scrap this unit for a new one. If anyone else has run across this situation, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts/comments on correcting this problem. Best regards, Nick

Well tonight I order one fo the homier type Lathes (7x12) off of Ebay for $299 since I am to poor to afford anything better, I barely scrounged up enough. lol its my only christmas present and I had to pay half. Oh well, hope I made the right choice... I alreayd have some toolbits and measuring equiptment that I use currently so the bugg has Officially bit me.... did I make the right choice? BTW, during my senior year in on of my machining classes my teacher and a few other advanced students began building a tom thumb type engine, it didn't really have a name. Some guy designed it, we modified it to make it better but it has yet to be finished due to time contraints, although most everything important is done, gas tank, carb, and small stuff is all that is left. We also cut out own gears which was a learning experience. Well sorry I wrote so much :) I will get pics up when its finished, who knows how long...

I recently bought a 7x12 Homier and so far so good. The question I have is when I shut the varible speed knob to off and manually turn the lathe backwards I can feel a restriction. If I turn the electric switch to off it goes away. Its like the electronics are holding it from being turned easily. The main question is will this hurt the electronics? Its a pain to turn off the speed control and main switch just to turn it backwards a turn or so. When it is in reverse the same thing happens. The restriction is felt only in one direction not the direction that forward reverse switch is set. Thank you for any help Ken

If you're new to machining or simply new to the 7x series of mini lathes or mini mill, check out the following resources: LittleMachineShop.com --------------------- LittleMachineShop.com provides us with a "Free Mini Lathe User's Guide". It is an Adobe PDF document containing 35-pages of what should have been included with the mini lathe to begin with. If you want to learn more about your new mini lathe, *read this user's guide*! There is a link to it on the site's home page. This site is also the *best* place to get replacement parts and accessories for you mini lathe and mini mill. The prices are great, customer service is *excellent*, and they ship very quickly. http://www.LittleMachineShop.com mini-lathe.com --------------------- Frank J. Hoose, Jr. provides us with one of the *best* resources out there on the 7x series mini lathes, mini mills, and other machines. The site is intended primarily to help new and prospective owners understand the capabilities, limitations and frustrations of these tools and how to modify and fine-tune them to get results one might expect only from a much more expensive machine. The reviews of the machines and accessories on the site are comprehensive and very well illustrated. Also, I'd highly recommend subscribing to the *Premium Content* section. There you'll find detailed tutorials on Tramming the Mini Mill, Knurling, Boring, Cutting Threads, etc. as well as some great projects in a easy to understand and very well illustrated format. Please read the Safety page for important safety tips. http://www.mini-lathe.com Varmint Al's Mini Lathe Page --------------------- Another great source of information is Varmint Al's Mini Lathe Page. Besides a lot of well written information about the mini lathe, there are some excellent links to other mini lathe related web sites. http://www.cctrap.com/~varmint/alath.htm This is by no means a complete list. Doing a search on http://www.google.com using the keywords "mini-lathe" or "7x10" will provide thousands of links to pages to help you along the way. Also, I highly recommend the following two books: "Tabletop Machining" by Joe Martin "Home Shop Machinist's Handbook" by Doug Briney Although written for the Sherline machines, they offer a wealth of information that applies to any lathe or milling machine. Have fun! - Brice http://www.MiniatureMachines.com

Hi, just found this group and I have a problem maybe some of you can help me with. I have an old Atlas lathe that when the v-belt broke, I replaced it but now I can't get the headstock back in properly. Is there any hints or a place in long island,N.Y. where I can get it fixed.

Hi folks, I've been flirting with the idea of a benchtop lathe for some time, and it would be used mostly for photo/telescope adapters and parts. Most of these do-hickies max out at about 2.5" diam. and a few inches long, and many would be threaded at .75mm pitch, various diameters. Here in Canada, BusyBee is the equivalent to Grizzly et. al. Same machines, different label. So....these are a couple of things I'm wondering about: What is the largest diameter stock I can chuck into the chuck? 3"? 2"? I know the thread range is something like .05 - 2.0 mm, but what are the steps? Or to cut to the chase; can I cut .75mm threads? On a more general level, how do you folks find the quality of the small lathes? Is a lot of tweaking and modifying required, or do they work quite well out of the box? Thanks, Bob

After setting and checking my Homier 7X12 lathe 9 ways to sunday, I am still turning tapers! As carriage is advancing towards the hs assembly, the hs cutting tool starts to chatter, no matter what adjustments are made. Is it possible that the bed it bowed/warped in such a manner that this machine should just be returned for a new unit? I have never run up against such a perplexing problem. All adjustments have been checked and rechecked for accuracy. Unit is solidly mounted on a bench. Has anyone else run across this problem? Any comments? suggestions? short of heaving it into the trash?

Hi, I have ordered a Milling Slide and table from Chronos. Has anyone else fitted one and did you have to do much to get it to fit? It looks a bit different to the "Little Machine Shop" one?? regards Ken

Please see http://www.mshay.com/lathe for all of the details and many pictures. Email me privately with any questions. Thanks, Jamie Harris

Hi, I have a Clarke CL300M 7x12, which I have been using like the old 16x84 that I previously had and the strain is telling! I have replaced the line fuse with a proper strong one that is much easier to change the fuse. It has been running for a little while with a piece of fuse wire dangling until I got a replacement (fire hazard I know!).The old fuse broke off inside! Q1. I have just refitted the power belt as I knew it was running off centre - out and away from the lathe. I used Frank Hoose Jr's advice on setting the motor, but no matter what adjustments I make it stll wants to run right next to the edge. I notice he says this adjustment 'should' cure the problem. Do I detect a little idea that it could be something else? Something bent? There is what looks to me like a slight 'flap' in the straight part between the upper and lower gears, but maybe I am looking for it? It's not hitting anything - I would just like to see it running dead centre. Q2. The new gib strips I have got don't have positioning marks on them. [I polished the original ones too small] Should I put marks into them and does it matter which side is the bearing strip? is there a way of knowing? All help appreciated Regards Ken

I'm trying to run down a connection to a combination machine from some time back. It was a mill drill lathe from Austria , I believe. It was called an Edelstadt but I cant get the spelling right to find it . Couple of extra vowels in there somewhere – they forgot to change it into inches or English or something. Any suggestions? Thanks John O Seattle

Is this the same lathe that Homier.com sells? <http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ite m=1925021736&category=1272>