New Toy

[mdsalemi]

"Inherited" (in quotes because my 99 year old father is very much still with us; in fact he went to YOGA class today!) a new "toy" but in reality, it's hardly a toy.
It's a UniMat miniature machinist's lathe, model SB200. Extremely high quality, made in Austria.
Guess these used to be somewhat popular in the lost art of "model making" or some such.
Needs a bit of cleanup, some surface rust on some parts but all seems to work.
A solution in search of a problem.

[wwheeler]

We had one at our MFG plant but has been a long time since we used it. Nice thing to have.

[Pawel66]

Sincere congrats to your Dad!

I also inherited a tiny lathe from my father in a very similar way! Used it for... model making . I was into tall ships models.

[mdsalemi]

Back in October, I was restoring an older Raleigh (Made in England) bicycle with these mechanical rod brakes. One of the fittings that held the rods together was missing. I ended up fabricating one quite crudely (but it worked) with a bolt, a vise and a drill. Took me three tries.

It would have been SO MUCH easier with this unit!

It has all the books and manuals with it so I should be able to get it up and running and play with it. My dad also has a lot of carbide cutting tools from his machinist days, center drills, and all kinds of other tools of a machinist. Maybe this coming summer.

[Jonny B]

Michael,

You could contact the Craftsmanship Museum here in SoCal:
https://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/

This is a hidden gem of a place in Carlsbad, CA. I have been there a number of times, and they have a nice selection of the small lathes as you show. They may be able to give you some assistance in cleaning, re-assembly, use, etc.

Take a glance through the web site, they really have some amazing items.

[Bonnyboy]

If you are looking for a lathe that isn't worn out and it doesn't have to be super accurate, Harbor Freight has a mini lathe that sometimes goes on sale and if you are a rewards member you can pick them up fairly cheap.   I have seen a few used ones in the marine classifieds / craigslist / facebook marketplace as people get them but never actually use them so they get sold. 

I have seen them go for as little as $200 used.   The quality is a bit iffy but for many items they should be just fine if you are respectful of the chinese quality. 

https://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-x-10-inch-precision-mini-lathe-93212.html

[WRe]

https://youtu.be/PD1OcNZ6UjE

[wwheeler]

This will be a great resource for micro mills and lathes including the Unimat . https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_category.php?category=1963256895

Little machine Shop is a great place. I have a HF mini mill and buy parts and tools from LMS.

BTW, I visited the Craftsman museum while at The Pagoda event in San Diego. Unbelievable is an understatement. You should visit the website at the very least. The scale model of the Corsair is an eyepopper! 

[mdsalemi]

I am looking forward to "play" with it one day later this year.
By contrast the Harbor Freight model looks considerably larger!
Since Dad gave it to me (I think it's been sitting in the box since the 1980s) the price was right.
Nothing appears to be worn on it. Just a little cleanup needed.
There's a set of new belts, too.