Mini-Lathe for Home Machinists (Fox Chapel Publishing) An In-Depth Look at the Different Components of Your Small Metal Lathe, Set Up, Tuning, How to Use the Accessories, & Hundreds of Illustrations Paperback – June 1, 2012

Understanding working with Machine Laith having a good insight lessons that help to not use up of metal at today’s cost

If you are new to the min-lathe world, this is a great book to have. It is less a course, and more a walk through from tuning up your machine, to making some small projects. The book is mostly about the lathe itself, rather than projects, so if you're looking for that, look elsewhere.The variation of the seig c3 is the lathe talked about in this book. This lathe is a 7x12 that is rebranded by many different makers; Harbor Freight, Grizzly, LittleMachineShop, to name a few. It's great from a 'get it up and running' point of view. Good photos (black and white only) on adjusting and tuning the machine out of the box.Only two real criticisms here;First, it's written by a Brit, so there is a munge of different units used, as well as various pieces of foreign currency for scale. Second, it does jump around a bit and can be tricky to follow - particularly toward the end of the book.All in all, for ~$10, you can't really go wrong. This is a great overview of the 7x12 lathe and its operation.

If you own a mini-lathe, this book is nearly a must-have. While you might not use or need all of the information, it will enlighten you about some issues and tricks, as well as solutions for getting the most out of your mini-lathe.While some info is UK-specific, and not always in American English, I don't think this diminishes the value of this book, as other reviewers have suggested. Some of the products he suggests buying do have UK references, but you can get the same stuff in the USA (sometimes made in Britain but available here).There's a bit about rebuilding certain parts of the mini-lathe to make it work better. There are several templates and tooling projects in the book that you can build to improve the utility of your lathe.If you use just a quarter of the knowledge contained in the book, this purchase is worth it.

I received this book today (quick service) and I read it cover to cover in about an hour. First the bad points - it covers the English versions of the popular Chinese mini lathes which means that the author is refering to English companies for upgrade parts and supplies. Many of the items have counterparts available from American companies. This is not a basic guide on how to get started with a mini lathe. The good points - I think it is good value for the price. It provides lots of pointers on working with your lathe while making a number of projects that will improve the quality of the work your lathe can produce. Information on the setup, lubrication of parts that tend to be skipped at the factory and the alignment of gear trains can prevent future problems. I would start with simple projects for a month or two before starting on any of the complex projects if you have not done millwork before. The safety section should be longer with more warnings. Home machining should be fun, not a prelude to a trip to the doctor. The author does have a good discussion of parting off (cutting off a machined part while it is in the lathe) that can save some grief. He suggests that you start out removing the part and making the final cut on a band saw. The section on backward and forward rotation when seporating a part becomes a lot more interesting the first time a part takes off across the room. The pictures are all in black and white and are small while mostly doing a good job. There are a few better books (more expensive), but this has some good projects and is worth the price.

Like the layout. Lots of good info.

This book arrived on schedule. The book covers good information and pictures on using a mini-lathe for turning as well as milling with a milling attachment.

I can't put my finger on it, but I found this book to be utterly useless. Considering that I have used one of these lathes for years, I cannot imagine a new lathe owner using this book. Overall, there is much better information on the mini-lathe on the internet. I was looking for a book that addressed the difficulties of setting up and using the commonly available Chinese mini-lathes. For instance, the best tricks for using dial indicators, adjusting the tail stock, the gibs, backlash, and so on. The author addresses a few issues, but terribly because of vague text and tiny photos. It is mostly about esoteric projects such as making tools from scrap steel and enclosing the back of the apron to keep swarf out of the gears. If you want to know how assemble, disassemble, tune, maintain, and operate the mini-lathe don't start with this book. It contains so few nuggets as to be useless. While the photos are sharp, they are much too small (about 2"x2"), You will be hard pressed to see what the author is trying to illustrate even if you are familiar with the lathe. Frankly my over all reaction to the book was disappointment. It feels like a jumble of oddball projects in which the author buries a very little information about running the mini-lathe. Find a better book or search the web.

Great for a beginner like me.