Mini-Lathe for Home Machinists

The versatile and affordable mini-lathe has become the best-selling piece of machinery and is often purchased as a first step for beginners. Mini-Lathe for Home Machinists explains the different parts of the mini-lathe and shows how they can be used to complete different projects. Author David Fenner covers all the basics, from safety and materials, setting up, and tuning the machine to using accessories and performing a full range of essential tasks. It includes detailed instructions for making useful components like shafts, bushings, spindles, part-off tools, DRO handwheels, and a radius turning attachment. Chapters are broken down into easy-to-understand sections, and include hundreds of clear illustrations that will help guide readers as they set up a machine and start to use it. A complete course on using and improving the new generation of budget lathes, this book is a perfect choice for beginners as well as for those who are experienced with the lathe, but have never tried the mini-lathe.

David Fenner is the recently-retired editor of Model Engineers' Workshop magazine who has based this practical book on his many hours "road testing" mini-lathes in his own home workshop. He lives in Perth, Scotland.
After a career of over forty years spent mainly in manufacturing engineering, David Fenner occupied the editorial chair at Model Engineer's Workshop magazine for about five years, relinquishing the role in 2007 to devote more time to hobby activities and to write about home workshop topics. His first serious involvement in model making was with control line model aircraft in the late 1950s and early 1960s, taking up model engineering in the late 1970s. His other interests include classic cars and motorcycles.