MX210 D/S MT5 8x16 lathe review

greenail

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I bought a bit of an oddball lathe and wanted to share my thoughts in case someone else is considering the machine. This is essentially the same as the WM210 WM180, MX210, and G0678 other than the MT5 difference.

This is very close to the standard 200x400 or 8x16 but instead of the MT3 chuck it has an MT5. The main implication for this change is that the drive gear on the spindle is 56 tooth vs 40 tooth and the pulley setup will also be more snug though it is unclear what belts are needed. I just broke a belt and I don't really trust the manual the machine came with since the threading gear charts are all wrong. The manual says 5M360 but that seems to be a very uncommon belt type. The grizzly manual for this machine says it needs 5M365 and 5M375 belts. I asked the seller on ebay and they sent me a picture of a 5M375 belt.

When I received the machine it was clearly rolling around the whole trip with a single bolt securing it. It took a big dent in the front cover, bent the gear cover bolt, as well as a few other issues. I should have refused shipment. The seller has been very responsive and claims to be sending replacement parts for everything.

I was able to get the machine started and running but it was filthy with grinding dust and needed to be fully stripped down and cleaned. It did not have cosmoline on it, rather a snotty gelatin type goop which was much easier to clean than the cosmoline.

The first problem I discovered was that the hold downs for the ways did not have any counter adjusting grub screws and looked like they were machined with a dull carp. I ended up squaring and milling them on my mill and tapping 3 m5 grub screws so I could adjust the fit to the ways. Without this adjustment there was at least .125" of slop rocking the cross slide.

The next problem was the carrage lock. It was drilled and tapped cocked around 10 degrees off. I've abandoned the factory setup and need to do a custom carriage lock later.

Many of the castings on the cross slide and compound were extreemly rough. They required heavy deburring, some needed time on the milling machine, and they needed lapping. I ended up installing a OXA quick change tool post and did the compound through hole mod to allow me to adjust the angle of the compound without unscrewing it 90% of the way.

The tailstock was about .25" off and locked up so it had to be fully stripped down. It turned out there was not enough room for adjustment and it required some filing and milling to square up. I also needed to shim it to get the height correct. Finally the locking mechanism required adjustment to get working properly.

I believe the reason I broke the belt was that it was over tight. I was unable to change the belt without going into the back of the lathe to unfasten the bolt on the inside of the electronics cover. There are some blogs on ways to fix this so you can change the speed without this extra work. This seems like a pretty intensive mod and I didn't really need the speed yet so I had put it off. Then my belt broke.

The final mod I did was to put a bearing on the compound slide. The compound is impossible to turn without binding. It is very hard to adjust it without lapping due to the extremely poor milling. Combining this with the very loos bushing fit and you will find it binds on any attempt to turn the compound with one hand. My bearing fix is pretty much a hack and I'm going to redo it when I have some spare time. The machine really is abysmal to use without the angle mod and something to make adjusting the compound easier.

So net net it was a lot of work but I also learned and know feel pretty confident with how the machine works and I have a better sense for what features I would appreciate on a lathe in the future. I do not think I would make this purchase again. As with most things you get what you pay for.
 
Another thing to note is that while the spindle bore is 38mm, the chucks that came with it are less. It came with a 3 jaw and 4 jaw self centering chuck. I just put the 4 jaw on for the first time and had assumed it was an independent jaw. It is not. I'm not sure why you'd need both a 3 jaw and 4 jaw self centering unless you needed to do lots of triangular stock! the 4 jaw seems to repeat much better though.
 
Another thing to note is that while the spindle bore is 38mm, the chucks that came with it are less. It came with a 3 jaw and 4 jaw self centering chuck. I just put the 4 jaw on for the first time and had assumed it was an independent jaw. It is not. I'm not sure why you'd need both a 3 jaw and 4 jaw self centering unless you needed to do lots of triangular stock! the 4 jaw seems to repeat much better though.
 
Hi all,
And especially to Greenail above, because you're probably about 3 months ahead of me and you've just scared me to death with your account of your purchase!
I've become very interested in mini lathes since I saw what's the first 8''x16'' offerings on ebay in the u.k.(via) a German importer. Specifically the 38mm up the spout makes the deal for me, but not if the piece won't go through the chuck. So on reading further from you, I notice that you're looking for a larger chuck. So does a 125mm chuck allow a 38mm shaft through?
Thanks so much in advance for any info on the subject.
A quick further question if I may...have you started machining in earnest with your new purchase yet and if you have...any thoughts on how it handles mild and alloy steels, particularly screw cutting?

This is my first ever journey in to hobby engineering so apologies for my lack of any kind of background knowledge.
Fingers crossed things will improve.

Cheers Pb
 
Hi all,

I've become very interested in mini lathes since I saw what's the first 8''x16'' offerings on ebay in the u.k.(via) a German importer. Specifically the 38mm up the spout makes the deal for me, but not if the piece won't go through the chuck. So on reading further from you, I notice that you're looking for a larger chuck. So does a 125mm chuck allow a 38mm shaft through?

I ended up winning a bid for a 6" (150mm) Chin Yu chuck with an MT5 taper. The lathe is listed as having a 5MT but it does not fit what I was shipped from my ebay buy. I have no other known 5MT tool.

The ID of the 5" 4 jaw self centering chuck it came with is ~ 30mm, the ID of the 6" ebay chuck is ~41mm, the ID of the lathe spindle tube at the gear end was measured with calipers at 38.21mm. I did not pop off the chuck to measure the business end. The "5MT" chuck adapter fat part was 38.1. Wikipedia says the fat end of the 5MT taper should be 44.399mm. I think the ebay part is not 5mt.

A quick further question if I may...have you started machining in earnest with your new purchase yet and if you have...any thoughts on how it handles mild and alloy steels, particularly screw cutting?

I had lots of early experience with some old and very large woodworking machinery and I am somewhat comfortable working on machines in general from that experience. I have very very limited machining experience. I have a grizzly version of the seig X2.7 mill and have used the X2 mill for comparison. I have no other metal lathe to compare.

When I got the lathe it cut like crap. It either was sloppy as hell or it was very difficult to move. What I mean by crap is it would leave strings of variable height. This could have been due to my tool setup also. I have not yet made a toolheight gauge.

Now I'm able to operate it and get a decent surface finish with honed HSS. the smaller diameter carbide cuts pretty well but I ended up printing my own change gears on my 3d printer to reduce the feed speed and it is hard to tell how much of an impact that had vs the other improvements I made. It does require some polishing which I'm typically doing with 320grit and some jewlers rouge on a leather strop.

The biggest rigidity/cut quality improvements:

1. re-machine the saddle bars and add grub screws.
2. add bearing to top/compound slide.
3. lap cross slide and top slide.
4. adjust tailstock nut position

Biggest usability improvements

1. access holes for top/compound slide rotation clamp screws
2. bearing for top/compound slide
3. lapping

The surface finish from top to bottom

1. aluminum T6 3/4 round bar cut after adjustment
2. random bolt used to set tailstock and test first cuts.
3. random rod cut after some adjustment

20181102_095200.jpg


What's a good way to compare my results with somethng else?
 
This could have been due to my tool setup also. I have not yet made a toolheight gauge.
Grab a thin steel ruler or a single feeler gauge. Hold it lightly between the tip of the tool and the workpiece. If it stands vertically, you're on center. If it tips away from you at the top, the tool is set too high. If it tips toward you, the tool is set too low. Back off the cross slide, adjust the tool height, and try again. This is the "old school"/traditional method of setting tool height, has worked for umptyleven years. Maybe not as fast or convenient as a modern dedicated height setter, but requires minimal gadgetry and gives reliable results.
 
Grab a thin steel ruler or a single feeler gauge. Hold it lightly between the tip of the tool and the workpiece. If it stands vertically, you're on center. If it tips away from you at the top, the tool is set too high. If it tips toward you, the tool is set too low. Back off the cross slide, adjust the tool height, and try again. This is the "old school"/traditional method of setting tool height, has worked for umptyleven years. Maybe not as fast or convenient as a modern dedicated height setter, but requires minimal gadgetry and gives reliable results.

Yup, good method but ppl should keep in mind the diameter of the stock used with this method has an impact on it's accuracy.
 
i've been trying to do some threading and I don't know why but I can't seem to get anything to work out but the first thread i tried for a 12mm standard od.

the manual is clearly not accurate as the headstock has a gear with 56 teeth on it. The gear cover has a chart on it but i can't fit the combination for 0.5mm pitch on the banjo. really disappointed in this lathe.

I also discovered the headstock was out about .1m over 50mm. there are only 2 M8 screws holding the headstock down and it was misaligned by quite a lot based on the bolt hole locations.

the last thing i tried was a straight combination of 56 80 30 60 which should produce .35 turns on the leadscrew but the output was closer to 1.75 based on my threading gauge. I can't find a calculator that works for this headstock gear size...
 
out of curiosity - is this the same one? sounds a lot like mine .... Morse 5 taper and 1.5" pass through etc

 
I just picked up one of these. Has anyone figured out what MT fits the head stock spindle?
 
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