Noob needs advice on a hobby lathe

[Murdoch]

Hi guys, I am rather new to all of this machining stuff lol.
So new in fact that I don't even own a lathe yet, but I'm going to.
I am a hobbyist who is building an exoskeletal armour based on the War-Machine from the Marvel Cinematic Universe made of steel, aluminum and titanium boasting a full range of motion with lights sounds and servo motors.
Learning the skills of machining and it's equipment is essential for my build.
I do live in a small apartment so a hobby lathe is what I am searching for.
I was leaning towards a Craftex or possibly an Emco. Hopefully something that at a later date I can afford to get a milling attachment for it.
Any thoughts or suggestions on this?

 

[stevehuckss396]

Most of the 9x20 inch lathes are about the same. Jet is the better of them. Harbor freight is the one I purchased and it isn't too bad but needed a few enhancements to do decent work. HF also has some smaller lathes. If you want real small it's hard to beat a sherline.

 

[Murdoch]

We don't have Harbour Freight here in Canada. Our equivalent is Princess auto. I am familiar with their lathes. Thanks for the tip on this...

 

[99Norton]

My present lathe is a larger one but I started with a n Atlas 10" and would like an Emco SL1000 for the small stuff and the fact that the head swivels.
There are a lot of sites devoted to the 7 x 14 and 9 x 20 lathes which are generic with mods up the wazoo so there is a lot of information and spares available.
Can you import direct? You have to do some work in detailing exactly what you want but I buy a bit of stuff off Alibaba and have been very happy with the goods, the price and the excellent service plus saved a lot of money. Con is that you need to know exactly what you want, ask questions etc. Pro is that through a set-up like Alibaba you have consumer protection.

 

[James M Price]

Hello, new to the Forum an I am a "Want To Be" Machinest. Anyhow, I went through the whole "Small" yet not totally Junk Machine, I looked a Sherline, anf the Harbor Freight Models, and happened to "Fall into a Unimat SL DB200 ? with all the attachmentments for lathe and milling change over. I must say, I do not know much about Machining as I am still learning to cut my bits, there is defenatly an part to that. Anyhow I love the Lathe, and there is even a kit out there to convert to CNC which I have been thinking about once I get Fusion 360 "UnderMy Belt". I mainly work with a 6061 Aluminum for my parts. The Unimate can be converted to the Mill position, but I believe I would spend a lot of time re- calibrating, Not Sure. So, for a CNC Mlling machine with the same capabilities of the Umimat or a "Notch Above" My Garage has been slowely converting into special tools and cabinets for Polishing, Powdercoating, anodiving, 2 sand blasting cabinets, and one sand blasting cabinet with by buffer with a 3 wheel converson on one shaft, all on a filtration system, in a 22 "x18" areaI am running out of space so "Size Matters". One more thing, on the Harborfreight lathe, therer are some nice upgrades, that "Looks " like it would help with the common complaints I have seen on Youtube along with a CNC conversion Kit.
Any Suggestions will be highly appreciated
Jim "P"