TOPIC:

So, when do you start taking orders for machined parts?





... seriously

This is a nice feature - you can rotate the headstock to make tapered cuts

tamiya wrote:

Looks like you will be a handy man to know

Martin wrote:

So, when do you start taking orders for machined parts?





... seriously

In my experience (and eddrick's recent experience backs it up) that making RC bits for fun & profit has two major drawbacks - it's not fun & there's no profit in it

one offs are a must though

thats a really nice machine nice manufacturing skills id be very interested in seeing anything else it can do

Oh me like that machine much, nice vintage quality.
Was having an eye out for the unimat 3 but that one is sweet :thumbup:

Jonny you have here one of the best Tools. Like I said you, my has his since more than 30 years and it work always nice
Your children could use it when they will be grand father or mother.

My only matter is that my father's one is a little too short for rims

waterbok wrote:

Oh me like that machine much, nice vintage quality.
Was having an eye out for the unimat 3 but that one is sweet :thumbup:

A Unimat 3 was initially my first choice as the design looks a lot more modern, the SL was my 2nd choice (as long as I could get a later one), but it's worked out well as the later models don't have the rotatable headstock.

A DB model was a distant 3rd choice because of the shorter distance between centres, the earliest ones apparently had some design flaws, such as the handwheels moving the cross slides the "wrong" way.

Further back still was the Unimat 4, from what I've learned its basically as the Unimat 3, but made in Taiwan & quality was nowhere near as good.

The Unimat PC (which can be hooked up to a PC/laptop for rudimentary CNC looked interesting, but the Lego Duplo crossed with cheap inkjet printer looks, added complexity, plastic gears & seemingly complete absence of spares & addons put me off. The Unimant SL Basic (same thing but with manual controls) looked a bit pointless.



TBH A lathe meeting my needs (one I can use sitting down without reaching/stretching) is always going to be a compromise, but I think I've done quite well - the only thing I'm really missing is that it's going to be difficult to find/make a ball turning attachment - there's only 12mm to play with between the top of the cross slide & where the top of the cutter needs to be

Jonny wrote:

the only thing I'm really missing is that it's going to be difficult to find/make a ball turning attachment - there's only 12mm to play with between the top of the cross slide & where the top of the cutter needs to be

Thanks, thats a good point I have to take in account, as I still want to do my M38 hex conversion and make replacement rear axles.

There are some unimat 3 on offer on ebay and online classifieds.
Ranging from rusty ones starting at about 250€ and up to ok looking ones mainly around 680 with several extras.

edit: how about mounting the ball turn thing on the side off the crossslide that should gain some extra room.

Vintage info

waterbok wrote:

Jonny wrote:

the only thing I'm really missing is that it's going to be difficult to find/make a ball turning attachment - there's only 12mm to play with between the top of the cross slide & where the top of the cutter needs to be

Thanks, thats a good point I have to take in account, as I still want to do my M38 hex conversion and make replacement rear axles. ...

It's probably an unfair criticism for me to make - a micro lathe is never going to have a large capacity swing over bed, if it did it wouldn't be micro any more I have seen lifting blocks for the SL that lift the headstock by approx. 25mm (I guess), I haven't seen them for the 3 & I don't know if the different design would accommodate them.

waterbok wrote:

...There are some unimat 3 on offer on ebay and online classifieds.
Ranging from rusty ones starting at about 250€ and up to ok looking ones mainly around 680 with several extras.

That sounds a bit high - on eBay UK, clunkers seem to go for the equivalent of 150 to 250 EUR, with nice ones 300 to 450 EUR, sellers who will post them getting the higher end.

I just found that the 3-jaw chuck I bought as a replacement for the off centre one on the Hobbyking 6in1 has the same thread = 12mm x 1mm This is a good thing as I can set up one with the jaws reversed to save on faffing about time.