# Harbor Freight Mini Metal Lathe



## jedgerton (May 19, 2010)

On Memorial Day weekend, Harbor Freight will be reducing the price on their 7"x10" mini metal lathe to $350.  I know this lathe is very small but at that price, I'm thinking it will allow me to find out if I would like to start turning some metals.

I'm looking for comments or suggestions relative to this lathe or this sale.  Also, I'm wondering if anyone has experience using the 20% off coupon from Popular Science on such a purpose.  Do they usually accept the 20% off coupon on sale items or is that reserved for full price items (assuming they have any 

John


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## jocat54 (May 19, 2010)

John, I have that metal lathe and I like it. You will need to clean and make some adjustments but for what I do with it it works out really well. I have made a few of the mods mentioned on minilathe.com and they help with convience of use. It is small and the distance between centers is shorter than 10" so when you put something in the tailstock there is not much room left over. But for me it works out just fine.

Good luck


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## creativewriting (May 19, 2010)

John,  I was on my way to get that lathe myself until a friend sold me his Griz.  After searching the net I read every review on the HF 7 x10 from shop teachers to hobbyist and for the most part the reviews were good based on the price.  I got a 7 x 12 and the space is tight especially with a large bit in the drill chuck.  In one of the reviews it mentioned the 7 x 10 is actually a 7 x 8 based on the bed length and loosing 2" with the tail stock.  I don't know if this is true or not but when I read it it made sense.  John mentioned minilathe.com and there is a world of knowledge on the site for cleaning, tuning, and general maintainance.

After you make a couple things you will want something larger and with more "bells and whistles", but it will get you started and through the learning curve. 

Good Luck!


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## thetalbott4 (May 19, 2010)

I have a 7x10 and I cant tell you how much it has improved my capabilities. Here's the thing though...be prepared to spend a good amount of time making modifications to the lathe and a decent amount of money getting accesories (which is actually fun as hell). They are short on room but dont fret because for $150 you can get a new bed for it that is 6" longer. Yes, people will say "why not just buy a bigger lathe to begin with?" Because if you find you dont need the space or dont like using a metal lathe (no chance) you havent put out that much more money! imho


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## jedgerton (May 20, 2010)

Scott,

I can tell we think a lot alike on this subject.  I've under purchased on tooling before but more often than not, I find the lower cost alternatives work just fine for me.  I don't even mind it if I find that I could have saved money by purchasing more in the beginning.  If I purchased the best I could afford on most things, I would have wasted a lot more money and I wouldn't have gotten to try so many things.

John


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## thetalbott4 (May 21, 2010)

John- I actually got my lathe free from my brother. Well, it was a trade. I helped him out with some work and he gave me the lathe he never used. Doesnt get much better than that. Anyway, during some research after getting the lathe, I found out that the 7x10, 7x12, and 7x14 lathes are all the same except bed length. Then I found that littlemachineshop.com sells the 7x14 bed for $150 AND it is actually 6 inches longer than the 7x10 (strange math in china). If you havent already, go to mini-lathe.com. I need a skull stretcher when I go there....so much info, and links to worlds more.


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## ldb2000 (May 21, 2010)

I have the 7X10 and it does what I need it to do . I don't use it for making parts as much as I do for making things like taps and bushings . It is a little under powered for working with metals like stainless steel but it does work . 
I bought it because of the price . There was a Managers sale and I used a 20% off coupon and a gift certificate and the final price was $150 + tax .
They do accept the discount coupons on sale items , at least the one by me does .


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## holmqer (May 21, 2010)

thetalbott4 said:


> Then I found that littlemachineshop.com sells the 7x14 bed for $150 AND it is actually 6 inches longer than the 7x10 (strange math in china). If you havent already, go to mini-lathe.com. I need a skull stretcher when I go there....so much info, and links to worlds more.



Oddly enough the math in China is fine, is the math in US marketing departments that is suspect. The 7x10, 7x12 and 7x14 not sold by Real Bull are all made by Sieg Industries. Their respective Sieg part numbers are

C2-200 : 7x10
C2-300 : 7x12
C3-350 : 7x14

In all three cases the numbers after the dash is the distance between centers in millimeters which when divided by 25.4 gets you to 8, 12 and 14 inches. So per the Seig specs, the C2-200 is a 7x8 and it get sold in the US as 7x10

http://www.siegind.com/product.php?id=19

http://www.siegind.com/product.php?id=17

There is a slightly bigger 8x16 that only one company in the US sells (Travers)
http://www.siegind.com/product.php?id=16

The Real Bull lathes are made by a different Chinese company


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## RonRaymond (May 21, 2010)

Don't know anything about the lathe, but HF will accept % off coupons on sale prices...just make sure that it is a sale price and doesn't need it's own coupon.  You can't use a % off coupon with another coupon for an item.

By the way, HF was closing out their 4"x5" mini-lathe a couple weeks ago for $72.  I thought about getting it just to play with, but I thought about it tool long!


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