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I am thinking about buying a lathe, and my research has told me that the <a href="http://www.cumminstools.com/browse.cfm/ ... m">Cummins Industrial Tools 7"x12" lathe</a> is a quality product that comes with $150 of tools, making it a more economical choice than the Grizzly 7"x12" lathe, which is $50 more and does not have the tools that the Cummins Industrial Tools lathe does.

Anyways, I think that I am going to need some basic tools and supplies to get this lathe up and running to its full potential. I have heard good things about quick change tool posts, but I don't know which one to purchase. Also, I do not know whether the tool blanks which come with this lathe are adequate, meaning should I buy others?

It would be greatly appreciated if any experienced lathe owner could possibly suggest some essential tools (hopefully not too expensive) that would help the lathe function to its full potential. Hyperlinks to such items would also be appreciated. Thanks!

These guys are reasonably priced in terms of cutting tools.
http://global.kyocera.com/index.html
Just search "cutting tools".

kyocera dont they make cell phones and electronics?

Here this place has a bevy of machine supplies. So many you will be asking witch to buy first. Good pricing to.

Thanks for your help... but I am actually looking for specific tools. I have never used a lathe before, and I do not know which tools are actually helpful and which are not. Also, I do not know if a certain variation of a tool is compatible with this lathe or not.

You need a right hand turning tool, a parting blade, internal boring bar and a variation to the r/h turning tool, the thread cutting tool.
Does the lathe come with a center (live) for the tail stock? If not you will need one of those plus a chuck to hold drill bits.

Edit: i see that it comes with the drill chuck, so just the center is needed.

rmich732 wrote:Thanks for your help... but I am actually looking for specific tools. I have never used a lathe before, and I do not know which tools are actually helpful and which are not. Also, I do not know if a certain variation of a tool is compatible with this lathe or not.

This lathe comes with a basic tool kit, and tool holder on the compound slide. The one your looking at is probly made by Sieg, or Central Machinery. Companys like Cummins, Harbor Freight, Grizzly put thier names on them. It's priced well considering the tools you get with it.

Novacastrian Posted: 12/09/2007 0:06 AM Post subject:

You need a right hand turning tool, a parting blade, internal boring bar and a variation to the r/h turning tool, the thread cutting tool.
Does the lathe come with a center (live) for the tail stock? If not you will need one of those plus a chuck to hold drill bits.

Edit: i see that it comes with the drill chuck, so just the center is needed.

It comes with a live center, mine didn't. I have the 8"X12" from Harbor Freight, paid $549.00 for it. Your probly going to want to check out http://www.mini-lathe.com. (tempoarly unavailable, will be back up soon i hope) You will learn alot about it quickly there. The lathes talked about there are very, very similar to the one your looking at. http://www.HarborFreight.com sells minilathe tool kits for around $30.00 or so.

Make sure your grinder stone is clean and dressed, you'll be gri6nding your own tool bit before you know it. I've allready made my own specilty bits. Good luck.

http://littlemachineshop.com/ is a great source for all kinds of mini-lathe supplies. They have nice compatibility charts on their products so you will know which ones work on your lathe.

I have the A2Z QC tool post and I am very happy with it.

Also a 4" chuck is very nice to have if you want to work on larger stuff. I've got a 4 independent jaw chuck that allows for larger stuff and non-round stuff. If you do end up getting a independent jaw chuck then a dial indicator with a magnetic base is a must. I pretty much always use my big chuck, it takes longer to put stuff in it because it doesn't auto-center, but I don't mind because it gives me time to think about my plans one more time before making the cut.

Well I know one thing that has helped me is a rest for wood turning tools.Some people like using metal tooling to finish out edges on plastic.But I prefer to use hand tools on plastics that need a nice smooth curve.

Sorry for metal lathe purists But I'm a product of learning on a wood lathe

Thats ok goat, sgort87 uses a wood lathe to build his cannons. Anybody that knows gorts work can testifi on the quilty of it.