Wanted WTB: Unimat 3, BEGGING for help.

[Bigmich]

Looking for a unimat 3 lathe, ideally with the mill attachment.

There has to be some old timers here with a machine they hardly use anymore. Why not sell it to a depressed young American male with a bleak sense of what horrors his future holds? You aren’t going to live forever, when you die some jackarse from an estate company will sell off your toys to someone who’ll speculate a few more bucks out of it (I know, I’ve been trying to buy an Unimat 3 off ebay for months now.)

Anyone with a sense of humor and a bit of compassion for those younger than them, you know… helping the hobby survive into the next generation… have a Unimat 3 they’d be willing to sell to someone in Michigan? I can pay shipping. If you’re close by I’ll rent a car to come pick it up.

Please, I‘m literally begging. Isn’t that what the old folks like to see, a broke down millennial begging for help. I need a damned lathe and mill to do any kind of machining. I hate being alive with nothing to do with my hands. Hate it. If no one helps out in the next couple months I’ll use my meager savings to buy a large calibre handgun and just check out like all my younger friends have done.

Unimat 3; would be nice if the ‘toy’ lathe was actually affordable once again.

 

[stevehuckss396]

Holy crap! Makes me wish I had one. Are you dead set on the unimat or would a sherline work for you? Also widen your search to the 7x10's and you will greatly increase your chances of finding something.

 

[minh-thanh]

There are many ways to keep yourself busy and you has homemade engine without depending on the lathe.
Make a stirling engine...with a glass tube
Search Google or youtube if you are interested .

 

[animal12]

You might give a look at a Taig lathe
https://taigtools.com/product-category/micro-lathes/animal

 

[Steamchick]

I have had 4 lathes with a 3" swing, all older than me! (well maybe, a Myford ML3 was dated 1950s! - Just like me.). I Now own a Unimat SL (1950s~60s?), and a Chinese 8" swing lathe (10 years old - from new).
Really, apart from being a bit bigger and touch more accurate/precise - and huge by comparison with 1HP motor - the Chinese lathe doesn't really do much more than the others. SO widen your search beyond Unimat and you'll sooner find something that suits you. - Even a modern "cheap" Chinese machine will make the stuff a Unimat 3 can make..
K2

 

[dazz]

Hi
Take a look on lathes.co.uk and see what you are missing out on by limiting your choice to one.
There are plenty of choices out there. Many are better and worse than Unimat. The thing is that a rare lathe/mill Unimat is likely to be more expensive than a separate mill and lathe, because they are so common.

The only reason people have so many problems with cheap Chinese stuff is because they look for the cheapest price. Like everywhere, the Chinese manufacturers are perfectly capable of making really good stuff, but it costs more. I have found if you pay more, you get more. Not something that is generally true for western suppliers.

With any sort of mill, the expense is the tooling and accessories. So the smart thing to do is find a mill with lots of accessories included because they are usually the most $$$ and difficult to find separately. Tooling is easier.

 

[Johan Maritz]

Now that is very wise advice from Dazz. One tend to forget about the tooling and accessories. That can amount to more than the actual milling machine.

 

[Bazzer]

Bigmich

Unimat 3's are very nice machines, with very few downsides IMO. I have one with the milling attachment but will not sell it as my Granddaughter and I are going to do some work on it soon.

I would look at the following machines.

Sherline - very nice machines with an extensive range of accessories.

Proxxon PD250 and 400 - I have not personally used these lathes but I am using other Proxxon bench top machines and they are very good. There are some serious reviews of the Proxxon lathes on Youtube and the results look very encouraging.

B.

 

[ShopShoe]

You might also look at the TAIG machines:

http://www.taigtools.com
For a low-budget approach, you can buy kits and components to build your own configuration.

You can also find these on ebay and etc.

I have recently bought a taig lathe for a second shop area and I think it will perform as expected, taking into account what it is and what these small machines are really for. I am eventually planning to write up and post my experiences, but "Life gets in the way."

--

My FWIW advice is not to let your dreams and plans keep you from starting a new path. I spent a lot of time waiting to get my first lathe because I was wanting something large and suitable for automotive engines even though most of the time I needed to make small bushings, washers, tool parts, and so on. Once I decided I really wanted to "just start," I bought a small lathe and started making small projects and learned an awful lot in the process. So, find an entry point and start making things, then you'll get past the present roadblock.

I'll also second the thought that connecting to other hobbiests may lead to your acquisition of things you need. Some of the people I know in the hobby communities have pointed toward things that are just not out in the public. I even have a relative who has business cards that say: "I like old cars, old boats, and RC planes." These he distributes to people he meets and often lead to more "barn finds." Even if he doesn't buy everything he comes accross, he has lots of great stories about people he has met.

--ShopShoe

 

[mrehmus]

Holy crap! Makes me wish I had one. Are you dead set on the unimat or would a sherline work for you? Also widen your search to the 7x10's and you will greatly increase your chances of finding something.

The Sherline is a very good lathe and tooling and spares are readily available and that is very important. I am able to hold 0.0005" accuracy over 3" on my Sherline. When parts are small, it is the tool I use rather than my 10" Logan.

 

[BDSjr]

Would that be a dbl-1000 ?

 

[Bazzer]

DBL-1000 is a nice lathe but not as stiff as a Unimat 3 due to the round bar bed on the one that you show.

 

[BDSjr]

Would that be a dbl-1000 ?

DBL-1000 is a nice lathe but not as stiff as a Unimat 3 due to the round bar bed on the one that you show.

Possibl,y i do not think turning steel on a small lathe was very easy especially of larger sizes

 

[Bazzer]

You can turn steel, titanium, stainless steel etc on small lathes but the cutting tools are more important.

Take a look at these video's

(59) Cutting Steel (12L14b) - YouTube
(59) Cutting Titanium 2 (Heavy cut) - YouTube

All the good small lathes will do this type of cut.

B.

 

[aarggh]

Bigmich

Unimat 3's are very nice machines, with very few downsides IMO. I have one with the milling attachment but will not sell it as my Granddaughter and I are going to do some work on it soon.

I would look at the following machines.

Sherline - very nice machines with an extensive range of accessories.

Proxxon PD250 and 400 - I have not personally used these lathes but I am using other Proxxon bench top machines and they are very good. There are some serious reviews of the Proxxon lathes on Youtube and the results look very encouraging.

B.

Completely agree about the Sherline, exceptional machine!

I have some Proxxon gear and they do make beautiful and generally very well designed tools, but the really big letdown for me is the ridiculously useless motor duty cycle on most of them. Do the PD250 and 400 suffer the same design issue, or they can run for longer periods?

 

[Hopsteiner]

Holy crap! Makes me wish I had one. Are you dead set on the unimat or would a sherline work for you? Also widen your search to the 7x10's and you will greatly increase your chances of finding something.

 

[Hopsteiner]

This lathe would be much better for you and less frustrating then a Sherline or Taig. This was just listed on Facebook Marketplace. It’s a South Bend lathe.

 

[animal12]

Might be easier to help if we knew the Op's location .
animal

 

[minh-thanh]

https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/hello-from-michigan.34221/#post-379881
The problem is that there isn't response from the questioner, and I don't know if all the lathe suggestions will help the asker ?! .

 

[SmithDoor]

Possibl,y i do not think turning steel on a small lathe was very easy especially of larger sizes

You can turn steel, titanium, stainless steel etc on small lathes but the cutting tools are more important.

Take a look at these video's

(59) Cutting Steel (12L14b) - YouTube
(59) Cutting Titanium 2 (Heavy cut) - YouTube

All the good small lathes will do this type of cut.

B.

It is just important on large lathe as a mini lathe.
But bad grind on mini will not work.

Dave