TOPIC:

My Hobbyking "6 in 1 Mini Machining Tool" finally arrived ... I say finally, as despite paying 36.36 GBP for Air Mail, it took THREE WEEKS to get here. I wouldn't have minded paying that if it had got here quickly, but Hobbykingking sat on my order for 2 extra days before telling me they'd despatched it - then waited another 5 days before doing so It then spent 5 days in the air, 4 days waiting to clear customs, then another delay thanks to Royal Mail taking 4 days to give me the information I needed to pay the Import VAT - and their fee - which I would have avoided if the shipping cost was even slightly lower

Moving on ... "6 in 1" is a bit optimistic if you ask me - the sanding option is a bit lame, and "wood turning" and "turning" don't add up to two IMO ... I'm surprised they didn't call it an "8 in 1" tool, as as handheld drill & sander is also theoretically possible

It's also claimed that you can change the too type "in seconds" ... I supposed this is true in the sense that there are 7,200 seconds in the two hours it took me to put it together as a lathe - but now I'm a lot more familiar with it I think it would be possible to change things around quicker. I did buy it strictly to use as a lathe, but the milling machine idea does appeal ... maybe I'll buy another one.

Cost, including shipping, import VAT, Post Office fee, and some extras (meant for the genuine Unimat) came to 123 GBP. I also spent another 15 GBP on some cutting tools - more on those last two later.











Tools - large screwdriver looks good - but what looks like a properly heat treated tip is in fact black paint over bronze. Tips of the Jewellers size tools might as well be made of cheese.




Assembling & fitting the motor unit:










to be continued ...

Tailstock had a nasty bit of flash stopping it going together...










I quickly realised that the lathe layout as illustrated in the manual (which seems to be a direct copy of the Unimat unit ) would seriously limit the size of the bits I could turn, as the jaws of the chuck would foul on the bed... there were 3 spacers in the kit, so I could lift the chuck, tool holder & tailstock up by the same amount. There weren't enough joining pieces in the kit though, so I had to order a spare Unimat one - these are two pieces rather than 4, and are far superior in terms of ease of fitting and abiltiy to hold the parts square. Unimat stickers are a bit naughty, but the component labels really would have helped in assembly - the manual is very poor & disjointed.





I also used a leftover bit to brace the motor/chuck unit...






The cutter supplied in the kit blunted very quickly (tearing plastic off ratehr than cutting), the set of cutters were the smallest I could get (6mm / 1/4") but are too big. They will fit down the centre groove of the tool holder, hopefully that will work out.




So far I've knocked up a quick set of body posts, a hub & machined down some plastic gears ... overall I'd have to say it's better than doing things entirely by hand, but is slow (impatience, or sometimes just bad luck, is rewarded by the thing stalling, the cutter ripping into the work piece & it ripped out of the chuck), accuracy is indifferent, especially on the accuracy of drilling centrally, and it does tend to resonate unduly, resulting in swirly patterns ... overall, it's less than a third the cost of a decent modelmaking lathe - but I have yet to be convinced it's worth it.

So far I'm not impressed by this thing's ability to make things that are round, or have a hole in the middle ... the shaft the chuck runs in appears to be straight, but the chuck itself is visibly well out of round, and the jaws close up slightly off centre, meaning the workpiece is running even more off true ... as I bought this initially to fettle new gears (which requires some precision ) this is a bit of a problem. I'm sure it's also contributing to the tendency to grab at work & fling it across the room

I've found a chuck of similar size & function with the right 12mm x 1mm thread, hopefully this is a lot better made

www.rdgtools.co...html#a2198

The base of the lathe looks very similar to the extruded aluminium profile used by Special Purpose Machine Builders - e.g. Minitec , Bosch etc.
Worth thinking about replacing the base piece? That one looks like plastic - ally would be stiffer and reduce resonances.

In fact I bet it would be possible build a lathe entirely out of Bosch profile or similar.
If nothing else it's worth getting a catalogue - it's real Big Boy's Meccano!!

Thanks Martin - the long "bed" piece (& the shorter bit I'm using as a brace on the motor end) are in fact alumimium profiles, wall thickness is c. 2mm

Yes Martin, I've thought about it a lot! The only thing stopping me clagging my carpets with swarf is the fact my lathe is too heavy to drag upstairs (600kg ish) so I'm using that as an excuse to not build an "indoor" one!

Jonny, where did the tooling come from? - they look like brazed carbide tip tools, & if so, I highly doubt they're getting blunt on plastic (I often grind up cap screws as tooling for machining plastic, & that doesn't dull). 1st off, check how hard the tips are - a file won't even mark carbide, or proper HSS either, unless the files are really posh ones.
More likely, the centre-height setting of the tool is either wrong or not secure - the cutting edge should be a gnats under the centreline of the chuck (Say 0.2-0.5mm). Higher & it won't cut, lower & it will dig in. Best way to check is to take a face cut & see what size the "pip" in the middle ends up. If there's a dimple (No pip) it would suggest the tool is too high. If there's a big pip, the tool is too low. Check the toolholder is rigid/secure.

Also, if the various slides have gib-strips (For adjusting clearance/play in the slides), check them to make sure they're tight enough - they should be just loose enough to allow the bits to actually move.

The "whirly" pattern cutting is showing something's loose, normally this is a symptom of shot/loose headstock bearings, but loose slides or tooling can also cause it. You'll probably find it's worse at some speeds than others (Belt resonance makes it worse if it's headstock bearings)

Having soft stuff out of the chuck is normal, you need to take lighter cuts if it's doing that (Plastics are terrible for it due to the amount of give/creep they exhibit) - I would've thought 0.1-0.3 on the diameter, 0.1 on the face, per cut, would be about right for delrin gears in a tiddly chuck. You can try tightening the chuck more, but you're likely to just squish the part before you stop it coming out. Best stop & check tightness every now & then.

Looking at the tailstock ram, are you sure the hole up the middle isn't a morse taper? Beg/steal/borrow a 1MT drill or sleeve - I bet it'd fit...

Does the machine have variable spindle speed? If not, see if you can get a speed controller for it, it would make a big difference, especially with plastics (Which need to be cut with slow spindle speed to avoid melting).

I would hold-off buying the mill version until you figure out what's causing you problems with the lathe first - mills have to be really rigid to work properly, less so lathes

HI!... I'm not a fan of all the plastic on it. I'd rather spend the money and get something like this for a hobby lathe.

www.micromark.c...,9615.html

That one's about with various paint jobs & manufacturer's stickers. I wouldn't pay RS/Sealey/Draper/Warco/Clarke/Chester prices for it though. There's a slightly bigger one that can be had for around 400gbp from Amadeal in the UK (Harry123UK?) but the seller's a bit of a pain unless you turn up waving cash. They're really popular with the model engineering lot, & there's loads of accessories/mods to be had for them. A tad overkill for just plastic toy car bits, but then hacking up metal on a lathe is an enjoyable pastime in its own right.

I've had more than my fair share of lathes, & to be quite honest you're better off buying something full size second hand if you've got the space & will use it enough to justify the outlay. These cheapy machines tend to be lacking in the longivity & hardened slides department - they're great for a few hours then the wear/breakages start to become a nuisance. As with most tools, depends what you're gonna do with it & how long you need it to last.

HI!... Ya I know what you mean. I wouldn't mind having the one I posted as a small hobby lathe. For my garage I'd rather have a full size one like we have at the shop I work at. It's from the late 70's and is in really good condition. No one ever uses it and it just sits in the corner. I would like to buy it but the boss won't sell it.

1st job is to buy something you can shift lathes with ie a truck & hiab/hoist, then the world's your oyster - full size machines never make a lot of money due to the expense of moving them. The first couple of big lathes I had cost under 300gbp cos I was able to go & uproot/transport them. I've got a Colchester Chipmaster at the mo (I've downsized...). I't done very little work, on plastics only, landed in my shed for 800gbp!