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My Machines
In addition to the common hand tools and small electric drills etc I also have a few larger metal work machines. With that my possibilities to make what is deemed necessary increases quite a lot - and it is fun.
The Micro Lathe MJ-189
It is surprising how many small objects are round and thus hard to make without a lathe. That was the main reason for acquiring my first lathe, a Unimat 4 copy called MJ-189. The MJ-189 uses the same range of accessories as the Unimat but to a smaller price.
As skills and work advanced, more and more accessories were purchased and now it was possible to make those small and medium sized bits that was needed. It was even so fun that toolmaking became a new hobby branch. Nowadays it is not this little machine that does the job, it is the larger SIEG C3.
More about the MJ-189.
The C3 Mini Lathe
A few years after getting the first lathe my knowledge and skills had increased and at one point in time A C3 machine was available at a veru good price. Thus I became the owner of lathe number two, a SIEG C3 which is in the same size as the legendary Myford.
This machine is so much bigger that the accessories bought for the MJ-189 very seldom can be used with this one, but with some adaptations quite a few can be used on both lathes. This machine will be enough for anything I would like to make as I see it now. It is a good and versatile machine that also can be improved upon.
More about the C3.
The Mini Mill SX1L
Having a lathe in ones workshop is good but the more one can make, the more one realises how good it would be to have small mill as well. Another suitable occasion came up and a SIEG SX1 was bought at a local mail-order company to a good price.
Fairly soon it became evident that the short original milling table was just that and was then quickly replaced with a long one making the machine an SX1L. Thereby the capacity was increased quite considerably. Since then it has proven more than useful and toghether with the lathe a very good base for my shop.
The Bench Drill Press
Using an accessory stand for a hand held drill turned out to be far too wobbly and weak so a small bench drill press found its way into my shop. A purchase of course dictated by a low price. Also this came up at a good price and now it is part of my shop.
Properly handled it manages surprisingly much and with good precision too. Of course it demands maintenance to do it, but so does all machines.
The Bench Grinder
Last in the line of machines is the bench grinder. Purchased for under 100 SEK (~10£) it is currently set aside for upgrade to tooling grinder. The reason is that the kund of supports and jigs are not completely decided upon yet. many solutions to evaluate and perhaps to combine to get what I want.
Anyway, there are two discs for grinding, one green disc for TCT tools, and one white for HSS tooling. The white is placed to the left. So far everything is OK and all stuff is in stock. The only thing to fix is the guard on the left side as the white HSS disc is twice as wide as usual. When solved it is just a re-assembly to make it work again, but them comes the grinding supports and jigs ...
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