Bought a mini metal lathe - now what

[Bonnyboy]

I was at a garage sale last week and spied a wooden crate with metal banding around it sitting under a bench and the words "benchtop lathe" on the box.    I ran home and got the Harbor Freight catalogue and the numbers matched.  anyways I bought it cause it was just so cute.   For the life of me I can't think what I would use it for unless I want to make lots of washers.   

Has anyone made anything for our cars with a mini lathe?   I never took shop in high school and never used a lathe before but thought its time.     

Any ideas? 

[ja17]

How about some better material shifter bushings!

[cfm65@me.com]

Hi Ian,
You won't believe how soon you would find little things to turn and how soon you would become quite handy with the lathe.
I think the biggest 'problem' is space, but if you bought it, I suppose you have the space.
For starters, I bought myself a meter x 1 inch length of aluminium rod, mild steel as well as a length of nylon rod. My first project was to replace the nylon rollers on my Pagoda door travel stops and the hood travel rollers on my E Type. I have even turned some wood.
Regards
Chris

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hi Ian,

It be fun to do stuff once you get into it. There are quite a few video's on the Internet to get you going. As Chris mentioned some items for your Pagoda can be made that do not require close tolerances. Good luck and happy machining :-)

Here ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MUxivrx_MU

Dieter