mills/lathes

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joe_crash
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mills/lathes

Post by joe_crash »

Not being able to mill baffles reduces my form 1 build to basically sourcing pieces, and assembling, not building, a silencer. I was wondering if there are any opinions if some of the cheaper lathes like the 7"x10" or 7"x12" mini lathes from Harbor Freight would be adequate for making baffles, out of either aluminum, or SS. I can't afford something like a Grizzly mill, but could probably swing a HF Chinese made mini metal lathe - would it be adequate to milling baffles? I don't know for sure, but I don't think it can be outfitted for CNC work, but size wise, it's big enough (I think) to make baffles, and while I doubt it has the power to make a monolithic baffle stack, I would think it could turn out M or K, or stepped cone baffles.

Anyone use one, or is familiar with machining to say whether it would be a good investment to make a few Form 1 builds?

Thanks!

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-x-1 ... 93212.html

Sorry for the inadvertent double post, tried to delete one of them, couldn't do it.
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fishman
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Re: mills/lathes

Post by fishman »

joe_crash wrote:Not being able to mill baffles reduces my form 1 build to basically sourcing pieces, and assembling, not building, a silencer. I was wondering if there are any opinions if some of the cheaper lathes like the 7"x10" or 7"x12" mini lathes from Harbor Freight would be adequate for making baffles, out of either aluminum, or SS. I can't afford something like a Grizzly mill, but could probably swing a HF Chinese made mini metal lathe - would it be adequate to milling baffles? I don't know for sure, but I don't think it can be outfitted for CNC work, but size wise, it's big enough (I think) to make baffles, and while I doubt it has the power to make a monolithic baffle stack, I would think it could turn out M or K, or stepped cone baffles.

Anyone use one, or is familiar with machining to say whether it would be a good investment to make a few Form 1 builds?

Thanks!

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-x-1 ... 93212.html
i bought a sherline lathe for making two form 1s. its not a powerful machine so cuts must be light and its very time consuming. its also very small, anything bigger than 1.75" requires riser blocks for the headstock and toolposts, reducing the rigidity of the machine. its a very high quality machine though. their 17" models start at $700 msrp. if i wasnt a college student on a budget with nowhere to store a big machine, i wouldve got something bigger. Not ideal for silencersmithing by any means, but it gets the job done cheap.
I imagine that harbor freight lathe would work but I wouldnt trust the quality of a machine from there.
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NChobbymachining
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Re: mills/lathes

Post by NChobbymachining »

I made 1 on a 7x12 lathe from HF. Its good enough for the job, just very slow going and it takes some time to learn. My lathe was $450 with their 25% off coupon. It has step baffles, a threaded tube, and threaded caps. It works, it just takes forever and isnt super accurate. I sold it to get a 10x30 which is more powerful and can handle barrels but the 7x12 certainly got the job done. Also, go with the 7x12 over the 7x10 because the 7x10 is more of a 7x8. The 12 is 4 inched longer.
joe_crash
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Re: mills/lathes

Post by joe_crash »

Thanks, it's good to hear that someone else has run into the same obstacle but managed to get the job done with the less expensive machine. i wish I could afford a Grizzly, or a larger lathe than the 7x12 (The 7x10 and the 7x12 are almost the same price) I know I will be limited in what I can do, but at least I know I'll be able to actually build a silencer as opposed to just assembling one - and if I'm going to spend the money on a form 1 I want to actually build it; if I'm just ordering the tube, end caps, adapters, and baffles from a solvent trap site and the only "building" involved is drilling a few holes, well, that just doesn't sound like it's "build" to me. If I were to go that route I may as well buy the completed silencer in the 1st place, I'd probably save money. (I'm looking to go with a rimfire silencer 1st - and Rebel Silencer's new SOS-22 looks really good at $99.00. I have seen several videos on it on YouTube and it appears to be very quiet, there decibel ratings were sub 120, and the popular complaint - that it's only baffles screwed together and that they would loosen up when heated from shooting doesn't appear to be true - at least from what they have told me when I asked them (Rebel).)
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T-Rex
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Re: mills/lathes

Post by T-Rex »

I'm on this lil guy until I get my other lathe setup.
It's an Atlas 6x18.
I did an integral, w/ an OAL of 17"+, on it, including female threads on the exit end.

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kingstrider
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Re: mills/lathes

Post by kingstrider »

The imported mini lathes have a lot of limitations but can be made to turn out accurate parts. Check out the videos on youtube by Practical Renaissance. He uses a mini lathe to make baffles, muzzle brakes etc.
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bakerjw
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Re: mills/lathes

Post by bakerjw »

As I always advise. Buy the biggest lathe that you can afford and store. My first was a Craftsman/Atlas 12"x36" that I picked up for about $900.00. I sold it and bought a Hendey 12"x36" 1 ton monster.

The key is to watch craigslist and be patient. I am doing that right now as I look for a small lathe. The Hendey is great for medium to large pieces but it'd be nice to have something for small work too.
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curtistactical
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Re: mills/lathes

Post by curtistactical »

bakerjw wrote:As I always advise. Buy the biggest lathe that you can afford and store. My first was a Craftsman/Atlas 12"x36" that I picked up for about $900.00. I sold it and bought a Hendey 12"x36" 1 ton monster.

The key is to watch craigslist and be patient. I am doing that right now as I look for a small lathe. The Hendey is great for medium to large pieces but it'd be nice to have something for small work too.
A 12x36 Atlas was my first lathe too.
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HankB
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Re: mills/lathes

Post by HankB »

The use of mini-lathes comes up from time to time. I have one myself - a 7x14 from MicroMark - but haven't built a suppressor with it. But based on the size of the parts, I'm sure I could.

Here's a link to a previous discussion of Chinese mini-lathes . . . the main take-away is that they need some tweaking out of the box, and will never be on a par with a full size, quality lathe due to both power and rigidity limitations.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=85053&p=768062#p768062
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fishman
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Re: mills/lathes

Post by fishman »

HankB wrote:The use of mini-lathes comes up from time to time. I have one myself - a 7x14 from MicroMark - but haven't built a suppressor with it. But based on the size of the parts, I'm sure I could.

Here's a link to a previous discussion of Chinese mini-lathes . . . the main take-away is that they need some tweaking out of the box, and will never be on a par with a full size, quality lathe due to both power and rigidity limitations.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=85053&p=768062#p768062
the American made Sherline lathes are high quality machines, they're accurate right out of the box, however, they're still very small machines and they're more expensive than the Chinese ones.
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