Lathe Question

[ChrisLBren]

Hi Group,

 

I purchased an Emco Unimat 3 with an extra motor and milling attachment a few years ago from a fellow member and never set it up.  Last year I purchased a Taig Mill and love it - its sturdy and powerful with a long bed.  It was ready right out of the box without any modifications and has been used extensively on my Le Gros Ventre build.

 

I am considering selling the Unimat on ebay and buying a new metal lathe - not only for ship building but also to turn wooden pens for clients.  I am leaning towards another Taig  However I am curious about the Sherline as I have heard its a terrific lathe.  I am new at wood and metal turning so want one thats a good intro model I can grow with.

 

Thanks for any opinions here.

[kurtvd19]

I started with the Taig lathe with many accessories including the milling tool.  It did everything I wanted to do including pens.  I had a chance to purchase a slightly used long bed Sherline lathe and jumped at the opportunity.  I have to say that Sherline has more accessories than Taig but I am not a machinist and both lathes are capable of doing much more than I will ever be capable of doing.  I have come to the conclusion that the Taig was perfectly good enough for me and I didn't really gain anything by purchasing the Sherline lathe until I late had a chance to pick up a very slightly used Sherline mill.  The ease of switching from turning to milling having both Sherline machines far out weighs the conversion from turning to milling with the Taig lathe with its milling tool.  A big difference in price to add the Sherline mill but I am very happy I did it.

There are times I wish I had stuck the Taig lathe in the corner because some things I found were easier to do with the Taig but I got my entire investment in the Taig back when I sold it so overall selling it to a club member worked out for both of us.

[Duck]

I'll second Kurt on the Taig lathe.

[ChrisLBren]

Thanks guys - I can get a nice Taig lathe for my purposes around 700 with the power feed function and same collets the Mill uses.  I also really want to find a good DRO for my Taig Mill.  Thats the one advantage Sherline has over the Taig by offering that option as an install in my opinion.  

[Landlubber Mike]

I really like my Sherline lathe.  The DRO is a fantastic add-on.

[Daniel Kimmer]

I have both the sherline lathe and the mill and love them.  A friend of mine has the Taig and we often argued which is best. We reached the consensus you would never go wrong with purchasing either. We both tried the others mill and lathe and agreed they were both very well designed and worked great.  His Mill was larger that the Sherlines but I could pick mine up and move it where I wanted (35 pounds compared to the Taig weighing in at over a 100 lbs)) The Taig mill was larger and could handle larger items compared to my Sherline.  I found I wanted the ability to move mine if needed (on and off the work bench). I also found a lot more accessories for the Sherline mill and lathe than what the Taig had available.  I think the Taig mill could handle larger items and harder metals that the Sherline but for model making the Sherline works great.

[davec]

I started with a unimat 3, which is an awesome lathe.  I used it a lot when I first got it.  I still have it, but rarely use it.  Like a lot of others who have responded, I bought a used sherline mill on ebay. I added a used sherline lathe because I had some projects where I needed a longer distance between centers and because it is easier to add a duplicator (not sure it is even possible to add one to the unimat 3 as there doesn't seem to be a way to disengage the cross slide).    I've accumulated a lot of sherline tools, so leave the mill and lathe set up and used them 99% of the time.  The unimat sits on a shelf.  It may get used if I ever need to do anything small with metric measurements.  I will keep it because it was a gift and has a lot of sentimental value.  I can't speak to the Taig.  I looked at it when I was deciding which tools to buy, but had the opportunity to borrow sherline accessories if I needed them, which is what drove the final decision.  The Sherline is small enough that it is easy to move.  I only work in brass and wood and only make parts for 1/48 ships, so I don't need anything larger.  

Edited April 27 by davec