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Does anyone make any small steam engines that would be appropriate for this model, at this model's scale? Don't tell me that you didn't look into this! I'll bet you did! 🤔 Very nice job!

How much do you want for your Unimat? For the right price I'll give it a good home! That's an after-market motor. Is it brushless and variable speed?

Y.T.... I see what you are saying, however. I have large lathes and need no more. I want something that fits in a small box that will be used for nothing but small, not so precise model parts. Big and precise parts will continue to be machined at the factory/shop on the industrial grade lathes.

Use "Birchwood Casey's 'Tru-Oil'." Give it two or three light coats of Tru-Oil, just until it starts to take on a sheen when dried, and then sand it with 400 grit sandpaper to knock off the glossy sheen and make things look proper. It'll work just fine over oil-based stains and give great character to the wood! 😉

Yes, I've seen how to adjust the Unimat for taper, and 'also' how to remove runout to within .0005" imperial. Not so bad. Not much different than trimming out the head on a Bridgeport mill after rotating the head. It's just one of those things that has to be done no matter 'what' machine one uses.

I'm not understanding what you are saying. Are you saying that I should 'not' by a Unimat? Are you saying that I should 'reconsider' my choice of lathe manufacturer?

Looks pretty good to 'me'! What is it that you don't like about it? How's about posting a repeat image of ol' Billy so we have yours and 'his' close by to look back and forth at?

I'll continue to shop...

With scale rope in hand... "Hold my Beer and watch 'THIS'!" 😲

You can easily do small work on a large lathe. I do this at work all the time, however. I want something small, for small parts and home use. Something that I can easily lift up and set on a table for use, then put it back in its case, for storage, when I'm through using it. Can't do that with a full-sized industrial grade lathe! 🫤 The Unimat SL is looking pretty good to me right now!

Please visit my "Go Fund Me" page and donate 'GENEROUSLY'!!! 😏

The seller of the Unimat sent me a video, with sound, so I could hear 'and' see the machine run. It looks quite smooth, no blurry wobble... but it's definitely a bit noisy. Sounds like the bearings either need to be re-packed with grease or possibly replaced with new bearings. I've contacted a source for new bearings... just waiting for a response.

I'm actually eyeballing a used Unimat jeweler's lathe right now, wooden case and a handful of accessories included. Not sure if I'll ever want to cut threads, as so far I haven't yet had the need to do that. I typically use taps and dies when threads are required. I'm reading everyone's posts and simply trying to narrow things down. Keep the banter going and I'll surely land on something for certain real soon! Thanks for all of the feedback, so far!

Well said David! Small, occasional parts of medium precision will be my only use of such a lathe. I have large, accurate lathes at work, but they are no fun. I want a lathe to make small, not extremely precise parts while watching TV and relaxing at home with my 'unprecise' hobbies. Brass or steel cannons, wooden stanchions, aluminum doodads, etc. Fancy, 'yes'... 'precise', not so much! 🙂

Very impressive, and 'also' quite informative, Julie! Something tells me that you also probably know what E=mc² 'truly' represents! 😏

What do you 'love' about it? Elaborate, please!

I want a lathe. There are lots of them out there. Some are good, some are bad... and prices are all over the place. I'm not interested in a wood lathe as I already have one of those. I also don't need a $3,000 dollar metal lathe. I'd never get my money's worth out of something like that! Have any of you guys bought any of those cheaper table-top 'Amazon' lathes, Proxxon, etc.? I'd like to know what your firsthand experiences have been with your machines. Please, don't respond with "I've seen," "I've heard," etc. I've seen and 'heard' too! I want to hear facts from people who actually own and use these machines.

Mike, take a look at this. There are a lot of videos out there about sharpening scrapers, but this is my favorite. A little more work than a lot of the methods shown, but I prefer doing it this way.

"Beautiful!"

Super-sonic reports vs surface area and velocity can be quite violent indeed, however. The indirect damage, via a small body (cannonball), simply travelling at supersonic speeds would be minimal indeed. Such a small object simply flying through the air might burst a delicate eardrum if zipping within an inch or so of someone's ear, but I doubt that much more damage would occur. Could cannonballs fly that fast in the 18th century? 'Yes', they actually 'could'... but they'd have to powder the behinds of those cannonballs close to the maximum charge allowed before blowing up the cannon! Not a good thing to do if you intend for that piece of artillery to survive the battle! Odds are that most of those cannonballs were flying below the speed of sound where minimal effect would be noticed until that ball actually 'hit' something, then all hell would break loose, splinters would fly, rocks would become deadly projectiles, etc. Reports of 'Wind' injuring and killing people were likely nothing but circumstantial observations made by folks who were too damned busy being scared to death, during battle, to truly pay attention to who really got hit by what! Lots of 'legends' come to life from stuff like this. Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington is a perfect example of exaggerated truth! He's definitely one of my hero's, but if you read 'his' book... you'd also do well to take most of it with a grain of salt. As with 'anything'... take great care in what you truly choose to believe! 🤔

A full member in 'not so good standing'... for a little while! LOL 🫤

Like 'this'! LOL

Looks really good Bryan! Keep an eye on how those port and starboard planks align with each other at the bow and the stern. Your math seems to be working well, however. You also sometimes have to ditch the math and go by eye alone! Math is perfect, but our human hand crafting methods... 'not so much'! If it were 'me', I'd put the next 'port' upper plank on first, then ditch the math for the starboard side. Make 'em look even on both sides and then proceed with the math again until things once again start to get out of alignment, then revert to the ol' eyeball once more. Keep up the good work! You're doing a great job!

I can relate to that 110%! I'm currently playing with a simple "Launch That Never Was!" An easy little build just for fun and relaxation! I'll go back to the 'other' stuff next year! 🙂

I choose things that interest 'ME'! I do 'NOT' choose thing that interest 'others' more than 'ME'! You need to really like what you're working on if you plan to enjoy it and do a good job on it. You also need to know your current skill level and not exceed that less you seek certain failure. So... how do you choose a ship to build? You find something that appeals to 'you', something that you're capable of... and you build it!