Hobby Machinist

Hobby Machinist Article ...

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The official launch of the Hobby Machinist segment on MGB!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, to start off this new segment of the magazine, I thought it might be appropriate to show the readers what I myself use for my hobby machining needs. It’s not much as far as size goes, but it has served its purpose for a few years now. Here are a few pictures of my Taig lathe, with all the accessories and tooling I have for it. The stock lathe is just big enough to allow you to turn a Zenoah cylinder for facing, and using a milling attachment, you can machine the ports, including transfers, intake and exhaust. You must be a little creative when using such small machines though, so be prepared for a lot of trial and error! The precision of the Taig lathe is fairly impressive if setup correctly and well maintained. I use mine for modifying motors sometimes, but mostly for machining my own hardware for my boats. Keep in mind though that for milling large pieces such as rudder blades, this machine is not adequate. Because of its limited travel using the milling attachment, you must move the work piece in the vise several times, and the vise just isn’t accurate enough to make nice even surfaces if you re-clamp. If you are going to mill with this machine, you must be able to do a complete face without repositioning on the vise. You can increase the travel, by moving the vise itself on the cross-slide, this is pretty accurate, but that’s about as good as it gets. As far as turning and milling small pieces though, it is a great little machine for the price in my opinion. One important thing to keep in mind is that the Taig does NOT have threading capabilities.

 

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In future issues, I will try to put together some articles to give readers an idea of what can be done and expected from this type of equipment. We will also have some interesting machining articles contributed from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. from Germany. Andre does some superb work that is well worth displaying in this segment.

Some specs on the Taig Lathe: (info from www.taigtools.com)

GENERAL

 
  • Overall working accuracy 0.0005 in.
  • Max. headstock normality to bed 0.0004 in
  • Max. taper bed dovetails over pins 0.0001 in.
  • Cross slide screw 1/4 - 20
  • Max. spindle speed recommended 7000 RPM
  • Length of headstock on ways 2.625 in.
  • Width of cross slide on carriage 2.000 in.
 
 

CAPACITY

 
 
 
  • Max. turning dia. 4.5 in. (extendable to 6.5 in.)
  • Swing over cross slide 2.375 in.
  • Overall length of bed 15.5 in.
  • Overall length of lathe 16.5 in.
  • Tool bit size standard 1/4 in.
 
 

SPINDLE

 
 
 
  • Sealed precision ball bearing
  • Bearing OD 1.5748 in., ID 0.6692 in.
  • Spindle nose 3/4 in. - 16 (3/4 in. SAE)
  • Spindle hole 0.343 in.
  • Maximum bearing runout 0.0004 in.
  • Max.cross slide normality to bed 0.0004 in.
  • Cross slide dial graduation 0.001 in.
  • Carriage travel 0.600 in. per 1 rev. of handwheel.
  • Pulley type std. 5/8 in. bore multi-stop vee belt.
  • Length of carriage on ways 3.000 in.
  • Bed dovetails 45 deg.
 
 
  • Drill chuck capacity 1/4 in.
  • Distance between centers 9.75 in. (with tailstock).
  • Carriage travel 9.0 in.
  • Cross slide travel 1.75 in.
 
  • Spindle ID taper 15 deg (30 deg included)
  • Max. collect diameter 9/32 in.
  • Pulley size 5/8 inch bore.

 

 

 
 

For current pricing visit their website. Note there are several suppliers of Taig Tools in the US and Canada.

*** Anyone wanting to submit articles on stuff you do with your hobby lathes/mills, please feel free to contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Also if you would just like to submit pictures of your tools, and a short description along with your comments, it will be our pleasure to post them in the magazine. Remember though, this segment of for hobby machines, not full size machines. We might move on to larger machines and they’re capabilities later on, but for now we want to keep it to hobby grade machinery and projects!

 

Hopefully we will have a lot of reader interaction with this segment, and we look forward to seeing it grow!

 

 

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Steve Seebold's Avatar
Steve Seebold replied the topic: #19670 11 years 10 months ago
When I decided to become a hobby machinist, I bought one of these.

8MILLSNIPER007 replied the topic: #19669 11 years 10 months ago
The new Taig's do come with a power feed on the carriage, so threading is possible. Taig also sells a retrofit kit to install the powerfeed onto older machines $99.00 I believe, of course that was a few months ago.
IMPBA3548 replied the topic: #2692 16 years 4 weeks ago
I like to see this kind of thing, it gives real satisfaction to make your own parts, and some for others as well, I dont have small machines anymore but these are what I started with. This type of thing will not only make your parts but teach you other trades that you may need later on in life!

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