8X12 Lathe in sad shape

[swarf]

Morning Gentleman,
Anyone know of replacement parts or who makes the HF 8x12?
I have a Lathemaster same size. Not sure but I believe they are made by the same company.

 

[SmithDoor]

I would make my own replacement .
What part are you looking for and can you post a photo?

Dave

Morning Gentleman,
Anyone know of replacement parts or who makes the HF 8x12?
I have a Lathemaster same size. Not sure but I believe they are made by the same company.

 

[swarf]

Hi Dave,
Nothing in particular. Just wondered if the manufacturer sold spares.

 

[trlvn]

Which is better, Citric acid or Vinegar?

Given the quantity and depth of rust, I'd say this is a candidate for electrolysis:

https://www.wwgoa.com/video/electrolysis-rust-removal/
Craig

 

[William May]

Morning Gentleman,
Anyone know of replacement parts or who makes the HF 8x12?
I have a Lathemaster same size. Not sure but I believe they are made by the same company.

Get a Grizzly Machine Tool Catalog. They have downloadable manuals. Determine the part you need, and order it from them. They actually STOCK parts for all their machine tools. Most of their machine tools are better than Harbor Freights.
The lathes are basically the same as anything at Harbor Freight, except Grizzly specifies much better tolerances for their machines.
(We had a Chinese lady who joined our local machinist's group, the Southern Arizona Model Engineers. She was a grinding specialist. By this, I mean she knew EVERYTHING to do with grinding to precision tolerances, in ANY way, shape, form, or factory setting, from bench grinding to crankshaft grinding to spacecraft turbo-pump shaft grinding, she knew it ALL.)
She told us that Chinese industry produces many grades of the very same machine tool. Harbor Freight is at the bottom. Grizzly is near the top. It's the same bed and headstock, but different buyers specify different tolerances for the machines they order for sale, based on what the selling price will be.
So just find your lathe on the Grizzly website, download the parts manual, and install Grizzly parts on your lathe. Each time you do that, your lathe will improve.

She also scolded us for buying cheap Chinese machine tools:
"Why are you so stupid you buy that crap!" To which our reply was "We buy what we can afford, to do the job we need". So this is a universal world problem. Buy the best you can get, from a reputable company like Grizzly. They stand behind their products, they stock parts and support, and they have manuals and tech data for everything they sell. The good news is their spare parts fit all the standard cheap Chinese lathes as well as their own products.

 

[swarf]

Thanks.

 

[olyn]

Morning Gentleman,
Anyone know of replacement parts or who makes the HF 8x12?
I have a Lathemaster same size. Not sure but I believe they are made by the same company.

I think SIEG makes many of their mills and lathes.

 

[dmock99]

Little Machine Shop has some parts: Replacement Parts: Lathes, 8x12/8x14 - LittleMachineShop.com

 

[William May]

Morning Gentleman,
Anyone know of replacement parts or who makes the HF 8x12?
I have a Lathemaster same size. Not sure but I believe they are made by the same company.

Compare your lathe to a Grizzly machine of similar size. Grizzly has all their manuals and parts books on-line for download. If yours looks like a Grizzly machine, then download the manual and parts book, and pick out what you need and order it from Grizzly. Harbor Freight parts support is abysmal. Grizzly has them in stock in Missouri and can ship the same day you order the part.

 

[harborfreight8x12]

Morning Gentleman,
Anyone know of replacement parts or who makes the HF 8x12?
I have a Lathemaster same size. Not sure but I believe they are made by the same company.

Hello Lathe Nut. I have documents for you for the LatheMaster 8x14 (aka 8x12). I used to purchase parts from Mr. Robert Bertrand at Lathemaster in Baton Rouge Louisiana but I see that he has closed his doors. At least all the bearings are easily available.
When I purchased my 8x12 from HF I went hunting online for the true manufacturer and found the company but can no longer find it. It is not Seig or Grizzly, but this lathe was sold as a 250mm x 500mm, but only sold in wholesale lots. If this company shut down this product line it would explain why HF and LatheMaster no longer carry it. In case anyone is not sure, the Harbor Freight 8"x12" metal lathe and the Lathemaster 8" x 14" are the same identical lathes. HF's was red, Lathemaster's was white.

 

[harborfreight8x12]

Morning Gentleman,
Anyone know of replacement parts or who makes the HF 8x12?
I have a Lathemaster same size. Not sure but I believe they are made by the same company.

Hello Swarf. The few spare parts I can still get for my HF 8x12 are from Little Machine Shop, and that is limited to the toothed belt. The company that made this lathe only sold wholesale quantities and I can no longer find it's website. Bearings are readily available online if needed. Do you have the Lathemaster operator's manual? Kind regards, Al

 

[harborfreight8x12]

Update on the source of the Harbor Freight 8x12 and the Lathemaster 8x14. See attached PDF. Best regards, Al.
Bench Top Lathes - Lathes & Turning Machines - MachineTools.com
PS - A close look at the switches will confirm that it is our little jewel.

 

[swarf]

Hello Swarf. The few spare parts I can still get for my HF 8x12 are from Little Machine Shop, and that is limited to the toothed belt. The company that made this lathe only sold wholesale quantities and I can no longer find it's website. Bearings are readily available online if needed. Do you have the Lathemaster operator's manual? Kind regards, Al

Yes I got the manual when I purchased the lathe. Chinglish is a funny thing to read.
Thanks

 

[lathe nut]

stevehuckss, you speak as an expert on what needs to be done with the Lathe, I have no need for that at this time and I am not as knowledgeable as you are of course, but I want to use this lathe as a lathe, very much disagree with you on your opinion that it is not worth repairing, you see that I see a finished lathe.
harborfreight8x12 Thanks for more information on the lathe, I am sorry to hear of the loss of your wife, something we know will happen us or them, after many years of a relationship it must be hard to be alone, glad that you have a family that can see you though the tough times, I hope to go first.
William May Thanks for that information will download, thanks for that information, learned something again today, yes, the grinding would make a difference, but it is like you said what we can afford.
dmock99 Thanks I like dealing with them.
trlvn, I think you are right, I have everything to make one just need to get what it takes to add to the water.
SmithDoor looks like only the belts and the Motor is missing one capacitor.
animal, I did post a pic in photos, will look to see if it showed up, or try again.

 

[tim9lives]

Lathe Nut. I’m in New Orleans. And yep, living down here is a struggle. Seems like the hurricanes are hitting harder every year.
Anyway, as far as your rust, Evaporust is great stuff. But it’s expensive. Another very affective and cheap derusting method is the electrolysis.
Washing soda and a battery charger and it really works great.

 

[lathe nut]

tim9lives Tim, thanks for that info. I do have all but the powder on hand, will give that a try, after the last two that were seven days apart and almost a year just to get the house finished not counting the shop and the rest of the things, would have been left up to me I would have sold as it and moved away, been though a lot of them but these two really drained my battery.
Fellows who have commented on the 8X12 lathe I want to thank all of you for the help, information and suggestions and especially harborfreight 8X12 for the information on the lathe, I will keep posted on what is done and see it to the end, thanks again, all, Joe

 

[tim9lives]

Regular baking soda will work also. I used Arm Hammer baking soda just last week. I did throw about a teaspoon of salt into the gallon mixture just to decrease the electrical resistance of the solution. It derusted the item pretty good in my opinion.

 

[lathe nut]

harborfreight8x12
I finally started to take the lathe apart, everything come apart fine and the bed cleaned perfect, I used a stiff wire brush well and then a light sand with some 2,000 grit sand paper, put the primer coat on tonight, I took it complete apart, guess I can see possible why they might have stopped selling it, has a flame harden bed and very well make, can take it apart easy but there is a lot of parts and all adjustable to rule out wear, have a couple of 8X10"s they don't near have the quality and adjustments that this one does, I will post picks of progress, question have you cut American or metric threads on yours, thanks again for your help, Joe

 

[harborfreight8x12]

Awesome. I'm looking for your posts. Yes, I did cut American threads and they came out perfectly. I only made the 'magic bolt' trick, for me it's just too easy to use a tap and die instead of doing the change gear setup. Our 8x12 is a beast. In my research on the smaller mini-lathes many of the owners stated that the 7x10's and 7x12's were basically 'kits', but once set up and tuned were perfectly capable and robust machines.
Kind regards, Al

 

[Madsciguy]

You could try black strap molasses (not cooking molasses). Immerse in one part molasses with 9 parts water. Let it sit for 2 weeks and then cleanup. I have had good results on 100 year old farm machinery. The chemical process is called chelating. Good luck!