also toying with the idea of this

[weewillie]

https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44142

just don't know if I can justify it to swhtm. :hammer:

 

[DrEntropy]

feh.

Tell 'er you can make "unique, CUSTOM jewelry" wifit.

 

[weewillie]

true, from stainless even.

 

[DrEntropy]

You WANT this, Will. It will give you endless hours of frustration. :laugh:

 

[JPSmit]

Go for it! You are within easy driving distance

 

[Steve_S]

I've seen nothing but garbage machinery come from Harbor Freight. I looked into many of their machines and found horribly loose guides, imprecise mechanical parts and very low quality bearings and components. You would be far better off looking for a quality used machine than a new cheap Asian one. There is a TON of such machinery for sale all over the continent at cheap prices. I bought an awesome Buffalo Forge drill press for $100 and restored it to new condition in a few hours. It will last a lifetime and work better than anything from H.F. Just my 2.34 cents USD.

 

[weewillie]

Go for it! You are within easy driving distance

It is actually at busy bee tools and I just got a part time job there,(20 hrs a week, start next week) so I will wait until I am there a few months and see what the company discount is

 

[Banjo]

A cheap knockoff Shopsmith! I bet if you watch the classifieds enough you could find a "used" Shopsmith for about the same price, and it's be 100X better.
I will not buy cheap precision tools. They are never precision, therefore they are usless.
You can get a lot of stuff from Harbor Freight, and it'll be just fine. But I suspect that something like that is not one of those things.

 

[Popeye]

I will not buy cheap precision tools.

I'll second that.

I only buy two things at HF: cheapo air tools or tools without moving parts.

(And I'm a satisfied customer)

 

[weewillie]

A cheap knockoff Shopsmith! I bet if you watch the classifieds enough you could find a "used" Shopsmith for about the same price, and it's be 100X better.
I will not buy cheap precision tools. They are never precision, therefore they are usless.
You can get a lot of stuff from Harbor Freight, and it'll be just fine. But I suspect that something like that is not one of those things.

not really Banjo, totally different animal

 

[foxtrapper]

I think you're recalling a Smithy, not a Shopsmith.

I've looked at that model at Harbor Freight. It isn't bad, but it isn't good either. Having used old good machines, like a Smithy, I'd rather spend similar or less money on a better built older machine than a new knockoff.

 

[weewillie]

Foxtrapper, I didn't even know about the Smithy. Good looking machines,however my only problem even with the cheapest one would be the cdn dollar at the minute+shipping +customs duties and brokers fees and all the rest of the stuff they ding you for on stuff coming over the border. I will look for something gently used over the next 12 months. :banana:

 

[TR3driver]

IMO, the machines from HF should be considered only "kits" that happen to come with the components bolted together. Pretty much the first thing you wind up doing is taking them back apart so you can address all the various manufacturing defects (poor machining, casting voids, no/lousy lubricant, etc.) and then file & shim them to align the various things that should be aligned.

It's also not uncommon to find metric dials marked in inches, which is terribly confusing. For example, each mark may indicate .001" but there are only 80 of them, and a full rotation actually moves .0787" (2mm).

But even the Smithys seem to attract a lot of negative comments, due to their "one size fits none" nature. So I bought a used lathe, used knee-type vertical mill, and new (cheap chinese) drill press; for about the same money as the combo machine you linked to.

 

[Banjo]

I think you guys are right.. I was thinking the Smithy.. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[weewillie]

sorry you are confused Banjo but everything will be ok

 

[anthony7777]

feh.

Tell 'er you can make "unique, CUSTOM jewelry" wifit.

doc better yet, i told my wife i need one ta build myself onna the circus cannons they shoot a person outta, she bought it for me. :laugh: