I'm tired of wishing I had a lathe.

I found this one, link below.

My criteria:

Cut and thread a rifle barrel.
Face, cleanup material.
Cut threads
Make thread and bushing adapters in steel and aluminum up to 2 inch od.

I know this isn't a top quality machine, but will it suffice for what I described?

Is cutting steel even a possibility with this machine? If yes, what tools should i get?

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP5FM57M?tag=arfcom00-20

Have you used a metal lathe before?

There is tooling and better tooling and HHS cutters and carbide
You need a good grinder to sharpen the HHS and a diamond stone for carbide
You should look at a 4 jaw chuck head also, these normally have independent jaws to hold non round work or hold things off center

You can cut steel, but it is limited to light cuts. The ways and the cross slides will need to be kept adjusted of you will get chatter on your cuts

TBH, take the money you would waste on that thing and use it to take some intro classes at a local college or vocational school, play with their equipment, and then you would know what you need and have a better idea when you see it.  Plus you will have a better idea how to use it safely.

Check Craigslist and practical machinist.


Deals are out there. I paid $4k for a Hardinge HLV in like new condition. That's an absolute steal. I just had to fix the carriage power feed motor controls (it was wired wrong) and convert it to run on 120v controls (was 200v). I have maybe $40 into getting it running.


I used to have a little 110v lathe. I wouldn't trust it had enough power to thread barrels. I about broke the tool post off trying to gently face a 3" long, 3" OD piece of 4140. A bigger machine on a cabinet of it's own will always be better and more rigid than one you put on a bench. The translates into better cuts and better consistency.

As a machinist of 15 years, do this.

You'll learn mountains more than you will on your own.
You'll also likely be in touch with folks who have older but serviceable machines for sale. Much more capable and rigid than the one in OP's post.

Agree with above posts.   I knew as soon as I saw the title that any metal lathe from Amazon is not going to be something you want.   I've had a Grizzly G4003 for over 20 years.   Great place to start.   Or a good, gently-used, well-maintained used one of similar features and capability.   Anything less, I wouldn't trust even for doing something as simple as threading a barrel.   And if you're threading a barrel for a suppressor or any other close-fitting muzzle device, you'd better make sure your threads align with the bore, not the barrel.

Hmm ok. That one is not glamorous, but I've never had luck finding anything made within the last 89 years on Craigslist or market place within a hundred miles or more of my place for less than a fortune.

Just trying to get something, but I'll keep looking.

I wished I had got one that size instead of the smaller Grizzly I got. Only have a 14 inch bed. Only because I did not plan on doing larger jobs for myself, until I was able to figure out how to do things, and now I wish I had got a bigger unit.

I am pretty much self taught.  And I am no where near the level as the lowest machinist on this site, but I can make chips and strings out of pieces of metal making them smaller pieces of metal pretty good.

Built several Form 1 suppressors, and reprofiled and cut down several barrels and made many other parts.  A lot of trial and error.  I do have a good friend who is a machinist who gave me some good guidance.

I will echo what the experienced guys above said about tooling.  A 4 jaw chuck is a must, other tools will be needed.  Some of my first projects were tools to hold stock in place, and that helped me figure some things out.

Grizzly like this, or is yours USA made?

I could do this one if they were in stock...

https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-10-x-22-benchtop-metal-lathe-with-dro/g0602z?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAjrarBhAWEiwA2qWdCJd4F6ulXav2YRsv_lR2rfkAODO6jafDl0syKB8sZr9PhM5Wnblu8BoCUjsQAvD_BwE

I'm going to go against the grain and say that lathe is better than no lathe.  No idea how accurate it will be and it will be difficult working in steel.  Might be a good machine to get your feet wet in machining.  It has a suprisingly large spindle bore.  It may be ok, and it may be a complete piece of shit.  You must work within it's capabilities.  I learn by doing.  I have had my lathe for a little over two years.  I have had alot of fun with it.  I got a Precision Matthewes 12x28.  Most on hear will say its not good enough because it not the size of a car and its not "Old American Iron".  It works great for me, and I get some really nice work off of it.  I would love a Hardinge Tool Room lathe, but I just can't fit it in my shop.  And you will need to spend quite a bit on tooling to use the machine, no matter what you get.

The spindle tolerance of 0.01 mm is not anywhere good enough to make acceptable threads for gunsmith work.   Keep looking for something better, or even better take the above advice of taking classes.

https://www.precisionmatthews.com/product-category/lathes/

Precision Matthews

Have you ordered from these guys? My cart is 3100 dollars at the moment.

I have.  Several items, including a lathe.  I drove to their facility to pick it up.  Great people to deal with.

I have a variant of that lathe op. It is great to learn on and very capable for what it is. That being said, I outgrew it really fast. I have a 13" LeBlond for big stuff but the headstock is just too large and the mini lathe is what I wanted to dedicate to threading barrels.

Well long story short, I have seriously the most expensive cheap lathe in the world. The customizing and mods I have done to make this a great precision lathe is something I plan on documenting one day. I love it but in hindsight, a better one from the start would have been a wiser path.

Be careful, or you'll get hard into old iron disease.  Next thing you know, theres a 7,000lb Pacemaker in your shop....and it's the lightweight.

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