Lathemaster 8x14 Mini-lathe

Here is my new bench design. It is 36x24 and 32 inches tall. The sides and base are 2x6 lumber and the top and bottom are 3/4 inch exterior plywood (6 ply). The legs are 4x4 timbers. The legs are unpainted because they are treated lumber and are still "wet". I will paint them when they dry out. This bench is heavy and stout. I used 32 - 3/8x3 lag bolts into the corner legs. Total cost for materials is ~$60.00 from Lowes.

Here is the partially stripped down 8x14 lathe bolted to the new bench. The machine is advertised as ready to run out of the box. I recommend that any imported machine be stripped down and given a thorough cleaning before use. I found only one minor detail that needs modified or altered.

The sleeve bushing mount for the threading turns indicator is not properly sized. This is easily fixed with a new sleeve. In this picture I have loosened the mounting bolt at the top to the point where it needs to be. The gib adjustments for the half nut protrude too much at the bottom for the stock bushing seen in the picture.

I have made a longer and wider bushing. This is the first project on the new machine.

The indicator only needs to be mounted (or engaged) when cutting threads. The new bushing makes a rigid mounting. Otherwise, I found nothing else in need of fixin'.

Here is the 8x14 setting on my main bench next to my 7x12 Grizzly. The saddle and apron are not on the 8x14 but you can get a sense of the size difference. You can see there is a lot more iron in the 8x14. It is from this bench that I carefully moved the the new lathe to its own bench. I will re-install the Grizzly back in its original location for now. The future of the Grizzly is a little uncertain at this point. It is still a great lathe and I have invested in converting it to inch threads and fitting it with a Phase II QC tool post.

Here is the bottom side of the 8x14 saddle and apron during clean up. You can see the castings are quite rough. Perhaps crude is the more proper term. The person dabbing on the yellow paint is no artist! I also assume this is probably not the world's highest grade of cast iron. There seems to be a lot of carbon present when wiping down. The machined surfaces do look good. Only time will tell me how they wear. The carbon may actually help make it a good wearing surface.

Here is another angle on the saddle where the rear gib can be adjusted. Note the oil grove on the top (bottom here) of the glide rail. This is the surface that rides on the flat hardened way and appears to have had some hand scraping. The bottom of the cross slide is also hand scraped.

Here is the apron side and you can see two oil holes in the top (bottom here) of the V groove. There is no gib on this side but the right hand guide (just under the split nuts) is adjustable. The surfaces that require machining are well done. You can see the felt wiping pads at each end of the V groove.

Here is the saddle and apron right side up and mounted on the lathe bed. The saddle is massive (compared to the 7x12) and is rock solid. This thing is impressive if you don't worry about the yellow paint on the bottom side.

The brown splotch on the top of the saddle is a bit of cork padding that was used when the follow rest was mounted here for shipping. I was finally able to get it off with "Goo-Gone" but it took a little work. Notice all the oil ports on this top surface. They are the six little round brass colored spots.

I am setting the tailstock offset back to zero after taking it apart for cleaning. This shows how close the centers can get with the saddle in place. Good design. Check out the additional oil ports.

Here is a close up. The dead centers are MT#3 left and MT#2 right, the same as the Grizzly 7x12.

The cross feed screw is 10 TPI. Here on the scale you can see the 90 and then back to 0. The markings are a tad close but the action is silky smooth. I'll see how this all feels as I make the first few cuts.

This is the compound dial. The threads on the screw are 20 TPI so the divisions are 0 to 50. Movements on both screws are very smooth. The compound is slightly stiffer. I love all the oil ports!

This is just another angle. Not much going on here.

Here is a close up of the tail stock. It is a slightly different pattern than the one shown on the Lathemaster web site and also on Alan Trest's web site. Looks like the factory may have several suppliers for castings. It's hard to see but there is a scale with zero reset on the collar behind the hand wheel.

Here is the backside without the chip guard in place. I will definitely be working with the guard in place.

This is the real business end. Six possible speeds by moving the belt around. Be absolutely sure the power is off and can never be turned on when working inside this end. Best to pull the plug than to pick your fingers up off the floor. That motor is a TEFC (Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled) 3/4 horse power, capacitor start, capacitor run powerhouse. It is not anywhere near similar to the variable speed DC motor on the 7x12. This thing starts at OVER full power and runs at its full power potential always. A finger in a belt or gear will not even slow it down. Please keep the cover closed when running.

Note the two 1/2 inch diameter bolts in the base. They go through the pan and through the bench top. There is one more 1/2 inch bolt at the other end of the lathe bed. Do not operate this lathe until you have it securely bolted down. Notice how narrow the base is compared to the overhang of the motors and gearing. The 1/2 inch bolts are overkill for strength but they fit the existing holes very well. My lathe is very secure mounted this way.

You can see that the new bench is a perfect size for this machine, The original bench in the rear will have the 7x12 placed back in its normal position. I have more to do on this installation, such as set up some lighting and a place for accessories. What I like is the all around access on this very heavy (190 pound) machine. Note again the size of the saddle on this machine.

Another look at the rear before I put the shield back on. The color looks white here but it is actually a light green.

Here is the lathe full assembled except for choice of head. There is a secret to the picture above. I'll have pictures of the accessories later.

At this point I am perfectly satisfied with the overall quality and features of this lathe. I feel this machine is worth the price I paid. I will have to put some time on it before I say anything as far as speeds and feeds and other operational requirements. I don't think fixed speeds will be a issue for me. I do have some secret <oops!> thoughts of a three phase motor and VFD drive. That is a far away project for another day, but rather easy to do.

I had a chance to use this five inch 4-Jaw when turning down the brass gear hubs on the Upsur project. It is nice to have a head of this size in a 4-Jaw. My last 4-Jaw was a three inch and even though perfect for small parts such as the gear job, this head can do the same work accurately on small parts.

The three screws in line here (one large two small) all screw into the L block below. You can see the end of the L block in the photo above, next to and under the wiper pad.

I had set the two smaller screws tight (I dislike loose bolts) thinking the L block might be some sort of guide on this side of the bed. The big bolt puzzled me why it was there. As I said above, tightening it did NOT lock my carriage.

I took the bolts out and examined the L block again. (Tricky when you don't take the carriage off!)

This is the block. It is one solid piece. The two small holes to the left are blind, but tapped to the bottom. The larger hole goes through and is tapped through. I ran a metric tap in this hole to clear all paint from the threads. The saw cut is as deep as you can see in the picture. There is no way this part can flex at the cut line. The partial block to the right of the saw cut (with the big hole) is machined slightly shorter than the longer block to the left. Aha! Leave the small screws loose and the big screw pulls the block up tipping slightly depending on the looseness of the small bolts. Now it locks the carriage.