Looking for advice for a lathe/mill

[Murdoch]

HI guys, I'm rather new to the lathe but for my project i thought that I'm going to need one. Trouble is fund's are scarce. I put an ad in kijiji looking for a lathe with possibly a milling attachment starting budget of $500. Could go more if the fit is right. Any thoughts guys, I will be working with aluminum mostly. Just small parts for my exoskeleton War-Machine. Appreciate any advice you can send my way.
I did get a response to my ad today for an Atlas 618...GMurdoch

 

[Dabbler]

An Atlas 618 is a good starting machine - providing it is in good shape. If you get one with troubles, it takes advanced skills and tooling to set it right. Your budget is good for a small machine needing work, but one in good shape might cost you more. There are great videos on utube doing a survey of a lathe to find major problems.

 

[Dabbler]

check out http://users.frii.com/katana/618.html for more info on the 618...

 

[Janger]

Find like minded local guys and trade back and forth. Post an ad on the forum. Getting some hands on experience with something, anything, will greatly shape your experience and inform you on what you actually want. I went through all that - like everybody else - learning about the equipment and what I wanted to do with it, I then bought bigger gear and sold some of the smaller stuff. Purchasing is a big deal and I suspect you may want more of a lathe than the $500 will get you. Another idea - we have a maker space 'club' here in Calgary. Join and you can use their metal working equipment. I imagine something like that exists out east too.

 

[Murdoch]

Find like minded local guys and trade back and forth. Post an ad on the forum. Getting some hands on experience with something, anything, will greatly shape your experience and inform you on what you actually want. I went through all that - like everybody else - learning about the equipment and what I wanted to do with it, I then bought bigger gear and sold some of the smaller stuff. Purchasing is a big deal and I suspect you may want more of a lathe than the $500 will get you. Another idea - we have a maker space 'club' here in Calgary. Join and you can use their metal working equipment. I imagine something like that exists out east too.

I think you suspect right and my budget is probably gonna have to be higher...