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My newest tool! What you see cost me a total of $525 shipped. Not in the picture are the 4-jawed chuck, another Jacobs chuck, and the 5 other bits.
The motor shield was not included. I fabricated that from 22 gauge mild steel I got from OSH.
I bought this lathe from Carter Tools. After doing some comparison shopping he had the best prices and the best service (all though right after
purchasing it, Jason K informed me he was selling a used one with all the stuff for much cheaper

I'm very pleased with the performance of this lathe and the ease of assembly, but in retrospect, I should have spent the additional 30 bucks to have Nick carter assemble it.
It takes about 15 minutes to assemble, but about 2 hours to lap the table and the cross slide.
This operation is necessary if you want the gibs to glide smoothly with no vibration, and thats just what they do.
The break down of the price
K1019 $159.50 Unassembled Micro Lathe II kit
1022 $5.25 Motor mount bracket with necessary hardware
1023 $7.70 Mounting board 12" x 18" used for No. 1021W motor, use 3M 500
belt
1162 $25.80 Pulley set 1/2" shaft 3M 500 belt included
1150 $39.50 Drilling tailstock
1050 $64.10 3 Jaw 3 1/4" dia. self centering scroll chuck
1090 $37.80 0-1/4" Jacobs drill chuck, industrial quality
1092 $10.80 1/16-3/8" Jacobs drill chuck, commercial quality
1095 $28.75 6 piece high speed steel tool bit set
1030 $64.75 4 jaw 3 1/4" dia. chuck
subtotal $443.95, less 10%, $399.55
1021W $106.40 Marathon Motor 115v 60 HZ 1725 RPM 1/4 HP, 1/2" shaft, net
price
S&H $20.00
Total $525.95
Probably the handies piece I got was the tail stock and the two Jacobs chucks for the tail stock.

Once centered, you can precission drill and tap like nobodys business.
I've worked on huge wood lathes in the past but this is the first metal working lathe I've ever used, so I bought the basics set because I had no idea what it could do.
After using it for a week though, I realized that I really needed some of the accessories that I didn't order, and that Mark Scrivner recommended.
So yesterday I ordered:
1171 $5.10 Back tool post
1152 $16.50 Die holder for tailstock
1052 $7.80 Full circle soft jaw set for 3 jaw chuck
1040 $30.80 Collet set
$60.20, less 10% and $7.00 S&H $61.18
Bringing my total to $593.13
I could have saved myself 7 bucks in shipping if I had followed Mark's advise and bought the accessories above to begin with.
The Back tool post is great as an auxilery tool post and for the parting tool (The recommended way to part the work from the stock)
Its great to be able to tap a threaded hole, but cutting threads is also an operation you can do better on the lathe.
I got the Full circle soft jaws because I like to work with a lot of thin stock.
And the collet set is esential if you are going to turn smaller diameter stock or for doing some limited milling.
PROS and Cons
- The bed is ground steel with dovetailed ways on an Extruded aluminum chasis filled with concrete.
This makes the bed very durable, but proned to rust while the base is heavy but can be marred or damaged if you are careless
- The swing over the bed is about 4.5" which is more than I will ever need for the scale I'm working with, but I can imagine that if you are working in larger scales than 7/8ths or maybe even in 7/8ths that might be too small.
- The crossslide swing is 2.75" again, that's enough travel for my needs.
- The overall lenght of the lathe is 18" and that includes the mounting board which is 12" deep. In my small shop that's an asset not a liability.
- The pulleys provide six speeds; 525-5300. Those can work on most soft metals provided you use the right cutting fluid, but I think I would like to engineer a second pulley to reduce the speed a little more for working with steel of various dimensions.
- In the specs, the carriage material is listed as aluminum, but neither the carriage or the crossslide feel like aluminum to the touch or by the weight.
- There are plenty of T slides on the carriage, the crossslide, the tailstock and the headstock for mounting other accessories but I'm having a hard time finding the 3/8" x 1/4" nuts that fit at OSH, Home depot or Ace in Santa Cruz.
- The tailstock is extruded aluminum, and quite rough on the edges. The gibs are machined right into the aluminum. This is ok I guess if you don't move the tailstock around a lot, but I use mine a lot as a stop and move it back and forth to drill holes, so I am a little concerned about the wear.
I've still got a lot to learn about turning metal, but so far this lathe has met all the challenges I have thrown at it and I'm very satisfied with its performance.
I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can do with the other attachments