oh how convenient i was almost about to go to bed a half hour early

I have a mini mill and mini lathe. Whenever somebody asks me if they should buy these tools, I tell them: they're awesome, but you're not buying a tool, you're buying a project!

A little tip, if you look for the aluminum cutting version of the insert (generally they are chrome/silver color), they're generally much sharper than their steel cutting version. For mini lathes/mills, we need this extra sharp edge to bite into steel since we don't have the SFM capabilities of industrial machines that uses these carbide inserts. I find it gives a much nicer finish in general and doesn't wear out that much faster than the steel cutting inserts. Considering they're dirt cheap, it's worth it.

when you used the lathe to upgrade itself i was reminded of this book series called something like "home metalworking from scrap" where a guy builds up from digging a furnace, casting and melting bronze, to building a lathe and using it to make a milling machine. realistically they probably weren't instruments of extreme precision, but if you're really gonna go for building a metal engine you may find it worthwhile to dig up some scans. been watching since the algorithm randomly fed me that vtec video, probably gonna keep watching until im crusty. your editing just keeps improving. good luck!

Vevor should sell these as a kit already as nobody uses them without any mod, assemble once without the inconvenience of dissasembling it. And it would make their statement of "we wont make these any better, as they sell even as crappy as they come" even more true. They dont even have to assemble them anymore! Win-win

Hello everyone and welcome back to This Old Camden...

Okay. The ‘head stock on a rocking chair by the fire’ bit was pretty damned funny. I had a good laugh. Thank you.

I consider myself a DYI hazard. This video brought me joy as it now has equipped me with additional questionable knowledge on how to do things in a questionable way. No, but in all seriousness, this was an awesome video. I love your humor and content.

Angle grinder to shorten the allen key is totally approved! Wonder why the micro-lathe I got came with tapered bearings, while most others on YT are ball bearings. Anyway, replaced them with high quality SKF taper bearings. To seat the bearing without hammering down, put them on the induction oven and heat them to 110 degree celsium. They'll beautifully slide onto the spindle. Lapping the lockrings and spindle spacers flat will improve run-out.

As a machinist myself working on manual and CNC lathes, this was quite endearing to watch. Good job on the modifications! They certainly help.

I bought myself a 1978 Sears Craftsman Commercial belt drive lathe, model 101.28990 12" x 36" for 700$. The seller was asking 1000$ for it but talked him down in price lol. I even still use the old lantern styled tool post holder. Love that thing. And your right about the used lathe market, it is really expensive, I've seen an average from 3k - 10k for Clausing, SouthBend, and Logan lathes. Even though this is a beginner lathe, you will find that this will open a ton of doors for you to make those hard parts you can't find or just any custom part you need. Next comes the milling machine haha. Anyway, welcome to the lathe life friend!

I’ve been actually looking at buying this lathe for a while now! This was a fantastic video, and I’d love a part two for all your other fixes you have in mind for this machine.

watching you hammering those bearing hurt me anyways nice video!

Shars Tool Company has the best goodies, imo. The cross slide always needs attention. That was my first cleaning and mod. I replaced the round 2 bolt tool post holder with a 4 bolt square piece I made from .625 plate. There was all kinds of anti rust gunk on the ways which allowed for massive deflection. Cleaned off the crud, no more deflection and a much cleaner result while turning. Forge On!!!

The electrical cable being a 1/2" short is so me, and made me literally LOL.

This will be awesome! I’m super excited to see what you do with the lathe! The mini lathe I got is a grizzly g0765 mini lathe, and I am really liking it! My “3d printed engine” is not really “3d printed” any more, besides the crank case, but a lathe is such a versatile piece of equipment! Good luck with your lathe!

A useful and simple mod I made to mine was to replace the socket-cap screws that attach the feed handles on the compound and cross feed with button head versions, these don't keep catching your fingers when turning the handles anywhere near as much.

I picked up a full size toolroom lathe for $1000... For a 70+ year old machine it still runs like a dream too.

Excellent video. I’m going to use your video to help me dial in my mini lathe. Thank you for making this.

I have this same lathe but with another brand name. It has been working fairly good but requires oiling and cleanup regularly. I also bought fourjaws of two sizes for it. Those make life much easier if something needs to be turned from both ends.

Inner races of bearings heated in oil make it way easier to fit on a close tolerance shaft. Similar outer races in chilled in dry ice help alot. You need fairly large temperature differential to take advantage of thermal expansion. If you try to pound out a bearing race from some old motorcycle wheel hubs its game over. There was a book written by a guy in the UK that covers tunning this sort of lathe up. Should be able to find it amazon.

would love to see all the next upgrades, cheers

Way to combine the engineering of both countries. From good enough to just good. Always interesting concepts in the videos, similar to other content but wholly unique .

Drill a hole in the table so the power cable doesn't have to travel as far. C < A+B! Loving the lathe related content, keep at it!

Good video! I have a 9x30 and a RF-30 mill, and they are work in progress as well. I am not sure if it ever ends, but it is fun upgrading! Thumbs up and subscribed.

Great project! I really appreciate the cost breakdown at the end.

Vevor stuff terrifies me, yet I have more than a few of their products. I also like to live dangerously.

the way this guy approaches his projects is literally me and I find it hilarious; you got my sub dude

I don't know how it took me so long to find your channel but this is the kind of content I live for as soon as you chopped that allen wrench off I knew I would like you😅

I remember This Old Tony got one of these 'Minila The' and they look fun but do require the upgrades to move them into "Tool" category.

I scraped the ways on my cross slide and carriage, it make the preload on the gibs more consistent and make the cutter more ridged for sure, but it just takes a long time to do.

“I did the only rational thing….” Same moment I thought he’s gonna chop a tool down. That sir is comedy!

I did a group-buy when I got my Lathe and I paid 1/4 of you. My machine also came directly from Sieg and was very well finished. I needed to do some tuning of the ways etc but it performs quite well. I did do the same toolpost upgrade though as the exchangeable holders and adjustable heights are so convenient!

You're a great patriot and people should tell you that every day

Looks pretty good! 😁 I've never used one of these mini-tools; but I've restored a few second hand lathes (Colchester Student & Master types) and getting an 'ok' 2nd hand one into fully running state is probably more cost AND more time.

Thank you for the vid, and the humor. I am a retired tool and die maker from the drawing board and hand cranking days. I'm looking at a small lathe for my small home shop. P.S. Carbide loves rpm, and also not a following approach angle unless you are just finishing with a bevel.

I really loved the editing on this one, had me laughing a fair bit!

Congratulations on your new lathe!

One thing I saw for a workshop upgrade was replace a workbench top with a type of holes surface to bolt things to. Another really important addition to the workshop would be an old popular mechanics design for a drill press using one of those 30-60 dollar hydrolic jacks, scrap metal, and a welder; it works like that cheap harbor freight press while also being homemade :D. My father had to buy a press for installing bearings on his transmission shaft, as he was damaging the bearings trying to hammer them. Didnt know about quenching metal in vegtable oil, and will definitely use that technique in the future. Loved the video :D

Great walkthrough!

Artisan makes KZfaq channel has everything you could possibly learn about this damn lathe

you needed to put electricity over on that other table anyway! :) might pick up an arbor press at hf they arent too bad ,even the full 12 ton press is under 300 with an add on air over hydraulic jack on it. cool upgrades i picked up an OLD Montgomery Ward 04TLC-700A Logan lathe at auction ! it too needs lots of work (just starting on it ) and it takes up about 3 times the room as yours not counting the stand got a qc tool holder for it but not on yet , side tracked by plumbing issues at home LOL . good work and have FUN with it!!!!!

Yes leveling is important, you can induce a torsional twist in the lathe that causes your cuts to be tapered. Also would be interesting to fit it for CNC work

Delicious editing you did here! ❤

The headstock on a rocking chair was master class 🤣

Great video… nice upgrades!

I loved my little 7x lathe. Best upgrades I did were upgrading to a sewing machine motor (1HP) and put on an electronic lead screw.

Cool lathe! I just got exactly the same one. But mine has a small lever behind with Right/Stop/Left feed selection. Putting it into Stop kinda holds the carriage.

For the next upgrade look for a solid toolpost conversion. It gets rid of the shitty compound slide (the thing on the top that you rotate to cut at different angles) and allows you to bolt your toolholder directly to the crosslide. The compound is a major source of chatter so this really helps, and if you need to cut an angle you can always just put the compound back on

i recommend you to install the late closer to the edge clear the handles from the table and its much more comfortable to work with

i got the same one!, it worked way better after a little work. ive done things you shouldnt on it.

Nice. I have an ancient Harbor Freight three in one, that is minimally functional. I actually am going to start making some parts on it next month, so quite the timely video.

No clue why you don’t have more subscribers. You made my day!!

I will watch anything this man puts out.

We need to see how it looks when it's upgraded, WE NEED IT!!!

Cool stuff, there are plenty of guides others have made for improving a minilathe too!

I enjoyed this content, not exhausting at all!

It's normal for carbide inserts to have a spacer between the and the toolholder. It's a piece of soft shim stock so that the set screw doesn't crack the carbide and can comply down for a stronger fit!

Happy snow time. Try to make a multi speed snow cleaner with a compressed air engine (either a piston design,Vankel, that new spinning thing or a turbine.

Mario 64 teleport SFX used very well. 10/10, watched that bit again.

removing the compound and using a solid block in its place is a good improvement for rigidity. Remaking the clamping for the saddle is a good idea, i have two brass pieces shimmed to the right clamping pressure.

Just went on Facebook marketplace and found a Graziano Sag14 Lathe for $3k and it's in good working condition for reference it's about 4x the size of yours😂😂 not meant to be an insult or anything I just find it funny I found a lathe 4x bigger with a 2x price comparatively

I am definetly exited for the engine with parts from the lathe

I love the way you make your videos, the tf2 sound effects definitely were a nice addition for me.

I'm so happy you got a lathe.

My cheapo Chinese lathe arrives tomorrow. I already have the new bearings on order. That seems to be the first thing everyone does. While I'm waiting for the bearings to arrive, I guess I'll try to get the head stock and tail stock to sit on the bed squarely which is another typical problem with these. As questionable as the quality is, it's going to be a lot easier to work with than the tiny Unimat DB-200 I'm using now.

Love these videos.

The whiplash I feel coming from (recently) mostly inheritance machining is... It It's something. Nah but fr, you're where i see myself in a while. Mr IM is where i see myself on a dream

Just found your channel and Subscribed. Very nice lathe

Awesome man. New subscriber ✌🏻

Good job !

We gotta get you some feeds and speeds my man

Welcome to the club my dude. I have the same lathe- few points. The tailstock is a disaster. The motor isn't that bad as long as you don't try 50 thousandths cuts in 4140. Keep the gibs adjusted. When you have the money, buy a better one.

I wish I had somewhere to put a mini lathe 😫 I would turn that thing into a BEAST! 🤩 Angular contact bearings would be perfect

This video proved to me that shims can be useful.

Our boy lookin good as hell

Have you considered cross-bracing the table instead of ( or as an interim solution toward ) bolting the table to the wall? it looks like the legs only need a stretcher or diagonal brace to stop that movement

Inserts have different relief angles. If the holder is for CC inserts and you try fitting a CN insert then you'll get that issue. Don't worry so much about the bashlash on the crossfeed. You will always have some backlash and if you're not attacking brass with deep cuts you'll be fine. People get too obcessed with trying to eliminate things that don't matter. Also, try setting the float on the bearings with the spindle warm. I've seen a newly overhauled machine have it's spindle lock up because the end float was set cold. It was too tight so as the bearings warmed up they put a large amount of preload on the bearings, enough to stop the spindle.

Love it, inspirational.

Good work 🤙

@CamdenBowen where did you buy the quick change tool post from? Is it 0XA/000 size? Great video!!!

Bro love your videos

Hehe, the gun falling out of the wallet was top notch how-europeans-see-americans.

Hey man, nice video! Are you ever gonna upgrade it even more, with stepper motors? Make it programmable? Or no? And does the lathe have a screw cutting feature?

I have the same lathe and for some reason the auto feed never worked right it would skip teeth or something and be just awful. Maybe one day I’ll follow your guide to improve that bad boy sitting under my workbench.

I like the way how you solve problems

This Old Tony did an extenstive upgrade on his where he replaced the plastic gears and that made a huge difference.

Angular contact bearings are the way to go for these lathes and they are the same thickness as the roller bearings and work in the same way as tapered bearings do.

I am looking at a Vevor lathe as well. So what is your review of it? Also how did you know what size bearing to buy? I would probably do the bearing upgrade as well. Good video!

Maybe you can drill grease holes to/and thru the bearing races in the head stock then outfit them with fittings? Bet it'd work.

I used to be a machinist. All inserts should be identical such as with your CCMT to conform with standards. However the screw holes in them can be made differently. I was told change the insert screw for the same make as the inserts and it should fix the issue of it not sitting in the holder.

Oh I wasn't expecting to see another minilathe

From cheap toy to Oh boy? Mister, you're speaking my lingo.

Love this video interesting nice editing the sounds funny and I just saw the BB gun I had as a child hanging up new sub

run angular contact bearings instead, theyre directly interchangeable with the stock bearing... replace the 6 with a 7... ie, 6202 is a 7202... taper rollers dont deal with speed, and are pretty noisy...

Next time you have to install bearings like that, just go to a welding supply store and get some liquid nitrogen. Its really cheap and theyll usually rent you a container to get the LN2 to your shop. Putting the shaft outside in "the cold" does nothing, if you can survive in the temperature then it will not cause metal to expand or contract by an amount to matter.

I bought this exact vevor lathe off-amazon for $500 Mine came with metal gears and fairly precise out the box I had to file and shim here and there but after 3years its still a great mini machine

Cutting your hair was a good idea😂…. I learned a lot. Thank you

For installing your brearings you schould make the parts much more cold/warm. Then they just flip over. Put the parts in die ice zone and warm the other with has torch

It's often a good idea for cheap imports like this to tear them down and clean them anyways. one of the ways they keep the prices low are in assembly and fitment; there's grinding dust, casting sand, etc left behind that ruin the tolerances and will mar up the machines surfaces so you will want to clean them and get rid of any burrs. same goes for any tooling you get for it