N00b With Questions

[dabear3428]

Good day all,
I just bought my first lathe, a Vevor 8x14. it has been ground and trued up quite well prior to my purchase. There are a few things i do want to get for it, first being a quick change tool post and a four jaw chuck (So many on Amazon). Also the speed control knob starts the motor at about 300 rpm rather than 50 or thereabouts.
Im asking advice on which tool posts and chucks would fit right up without modification, and is there a low end adjustment for the motor speed? Ive looked out in the ether and there seems to be little to zero info or manuals for these lathes out there. So looking forward to learning ! Thanks in advance!
Mark

is the belt on the h or L pully?

your lathe is much like mine 1.5" spindle bore, 125mm chuck and the belt drive system. i looked long and hard at that one before making a selection, it should be a good lathe. the chucks from what i can find are bored out from 25mm to 38mm and the internal dust cover is ditched. for the 4 jaw i do not think there will be much use for non round stock inside the spindle bore so the available 25mm bore chucks will be ok for me. the compound slide is an issue (not rigid) and i plan on building a solid plinth to replace it with the option of reinstalling the compound when i really need it.
i used an 0XA QCTP and think it is about right an AXA would work also and may be better but cost 2-3X as much, i'm still evaluating mine. what ever you get plan to get lots of tool holders, it is nice to have your tools set up and just drop in as opposed to having the adjust height every time (not as bad as the 4-way but still an annoyance).

so far i have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of what i received it is a little tougher to find compatible parts than say a grizzly but grizzly does not provide the same capabilities at any where near the cost.

 

[mac1911]

OP , not sure how Noob you are ,
Im Auto Repair by trade, Brake lathe experience from back in the day and 1 week in machine shop during vocational high school intro to classes back in 1986
Bought a lathe on a whim for $200 , I have 30-40 hours into this lathe and 5 was making a backing plate. My big hurdle now is budget and material .

Chuck adapter plate for my smithy 1220

Small steps

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[AZ_Viejo]

OP , not sure how Noob you are ,
Im Auto Repair by trade, Brake lathe experience from back in the day and 1 week in machine shop during vocational high school intro to classes back in 1986
Bought a lathe on a whim for $200 , I have 30-40 hours into this lathe and 5 was making a backing plate. My big hurdle now is budget and material .

Chuck adapter plate for my smithy 1220

Small steps

www.hobby-machinist.com

Lol, Mac. Im as N00b as can be. Im retired ET and IT and have worked on Cars my entire life, but not as a trade. Have always wanted to learn machine shop but never was able to and here I am with a mini lathe starting out at age of 74. I thank and appreciate everyone and their answers and advice given me on this site.

 

[mac1911]

Lol, Mac. Im as N00b as can be. Im retired ET and IT and have worked on Cars my entire life, but not as a trade. Have always wanted to learn machine shop but never was able to and here I am with a mini lathe starting out at age of 74. I thank and appreciate everyone and their answers and advice given me on this site.

Take it slow learn the lathe I had my 4 jaw on the shelf for almost. Year before getting around to making a plate.
Original manufacture of lathe had 4 jaw with plate for sale but $300 shipped ….. as a hobbiest working on a negative budget .. im not spending $300 when I have one I can make work.
$300 would be better spent on tools and books.
Heck im having a hard time funding material!
Note : “machining” or “lathe running” is a 2nd hobby. 1st hobby consumes what little hobby cash I get.

 

[dabear3428]

Take it slow learn the lathe I had my 4 jaw on the shelf for almost. Year before getting around to making a plate.
Original manufacture of lathe had 4 jaw with plate for sale but $300 shipped ….. as a hobbiest working on a negative budget .. im not spending $300 when I have one I can make work.
$300 would be better spent on tools and books.
Heck im having a hard time funding material!
Note : “machining” or “lathe running” is a 2nd hobby. 1st hobby consumes what little hobby cash I get.

my first hobby is a wife and yes that is where my budget goes lol

 

[dabear3428]

Lol, Mac. Im as N00b as can be. Im retired ET and IT and have worked on Cars my entire life, but not as a trade. Have always wanted to learn machine shop but never was able to and here I am with a mini lathe starting out at age of 74. I thank and appreciate everyone and their answers and advice given me on this site.

i'm in the same boat, I always wanted to have the ability to make my car/projects parts fit the way i wanted to not the way they wanted to. that lathe is a good starting point, it is a step up from the common 7X12 in all departments but not a huge commitment on your budget at the same time.

 

[mac1911]

i'm in the same boat, I always wanted to have the ability to make my car/projects parts fit the way i wanted to not the way they wanted to. that lathe is a good starting point, it is a step up from the common 7X12 in all departments but not a huge commitment on your budget at the same time.

Believe me, I always wanted to a lathe and a mill. In reality 15-20 years ago if I had the space you could find Bridgeport and older lathes that machine shops were just getting rid of, not quite mint, but generally in good enough shape for hobby use and I considered it cheap back then.
I picked up a smithy three in one for a little more than scrap prices. Got it cleaned up, fix it up use the lathe to make some parts to make the lathe more useful over the last year. I’ve picked up some tools and tooling for decent pricing, but not often enough to get more of what I need, forget material. My God material is expensive when you’re buying a small piece!
The scrap yards around me are no longer selling scrap back over the counter. I don’t know anybody working in any of the machine shops around here. They have very little of useful scraps.
My guess is much more efficient these days or employees grab the good stuff.
When I was a kid there where piles of scrap behind the machine shops. All those shops are long gone

 

[dabear3428]

Believe me, I always wanted to a lathe and a mill. In reality 15-20 years ago if I had the space you could find Bridgeport and older lathes that machine shops were just getting rid of, not quite mint, but generally in good enough shape for hobby use and I considered it cheap back then.
I picked up a smithy three in one for a little more than scrap prices. Got it cleaned up, fix it up use the lathe to make some parts to make the lathe more useful over the last year. I’ve picked up some tools and tooling for decent pricing, but not often enough to get more of what I need, forget material. My God material is expensive when you’re buying a small piece!
The scrap yards around me are no longer selling scrap back over the counter. I don’t know anybody working in any of the machine shops around here. They have very little of useful scraps.
My guess is much more efficient these days or employees grab the good stuff.
When I was a kid there where piles of scrap behind the machine shops. All those shops are long gone

lol i'm raiding my dads scrap pile.