what can be done with harbor freight mill/lathe

after so many bashing threads about harbor freight crap i wanted to post some stuff i have made with my 9x20 lathe and bench top mill. both cheap china crap but are good castings. with some help from my friend joe we set the machines up tight and went to town making some parts.

f100 steering box
slave cylinder for camaro t5 bell
trans crossmember
throttle linkage
37 degree AN fittings.
throttle pedal
ac bracket

 

Wow! You my friend, are just a good craftsmen using okay-quality tools!

 

Nice work!

 

Good work. Quailty of tools will never exceed ability and desire.

 

In that top right picture of the steering box,... how were you able to get the round (where the shaft goes thru) protrusion "off-set" on the square block?? It comes with a 3 jaw chuck right? I am under the impression if you used a 4 jaw you would be able to "offset" the block in the chuck jaws so the shaft area would be centered, just confused?!?!? I'm no machinist, and I can't figure it out. BUT VERY IMPRESSED!!! Also very ingeneous on using the fuel pump bolt holes for that mount. Ken

 

due to the size of the block for the steering box first step was to bore the holes for the steering shaft and pitman arm shaft. then box was held off those hole in the 3 jaw chuck and turned from there. many hours spend thinking on just how to set up the tools to work with what i had to do.

 

Ahh haa, I get it!! Makes perfect sense (now that you explained it)!! DAMN GOOD JOB!!! Very impressive...Ken

 

My Dad used to say "a poor carpenter blames his tools". You just made his point. GREAT WORK Boss!!!!!!!!!

 

as a friend said


We have done so much
with so little
we can do anything
with nothing

 

Nice work.

 

Very nice work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Earl

 

Machinist's can turn out good work on aything... GREAT JOB

 

I am a Machinist, although I haven't worked in the trade for many years, A few years ago I bought a HF hand milling machine, it is not the best piece of equipment I have run, but for the price, it serves well. I have used it for many projects on my roadster build. and it has paid for itself many times over. Of course I would still rather have a Bridgeport or Gorton mill, but this will suffice.

 

I bought one of their 12" x 37" geared lathes about ten years ago and have been using it almost daily ever since with no problems. I recently purchased one of the largest table-top type of mills they sell, but it has been the reason for many foul words floating around in my shop. Lets just say If I hadn't have had the lathe, the mill wouln't be working right now..

 

You say you set it up tight? What was involved in making it work at it's best?

 

bingo!

 

Man thats some cool work ,you are a very good craftsman nice work

 

Impressive work, with all the effort put into that stuff, I'm sure everybody would like to see where it's going

 

most of the work was just making shims to take out the lash and getting it all square

 

Yeah, I upgraded the chuck on my HF lathe with a kit from some online website that deals with small hobbyist machining tools...and got a quick change tool post (which is a piece of shit compared to the real deal regular sized tool posts)...I really do need to adjust the slack out of my bed though, the damned thing chatters like there's no tomorrow on anything harder than 6061 aluminum...but I gotta say, that little bugger has made some fantastic parts for me over the years...I'd like to get a mill too, but not if it's a taper spindle. Is your mill a taper spindle or a drawbar spindle?...

 

mill is a taper but i got a cuick change collet set for it. makes tool changes real easy

 

I have a little jet lathe, and that thing has paid for itself. I don't know how I'd live without it.

I do need to order about $200 in stuff for it, but so far I have made a ton of stuff on it with just basic tooling. It saves me time to make the stuff rather than order it. I do want to learn how to make AN fittings, then I'd be set.

 

I could deal with a taper if it's got a collet system, as long as that damned taper doesn't keep dropping out or chattering at the start or end of a cut...there's nothing fun about a 1/2" carbide endmill dropping onto your table or floor at 1,000 rpm's...hahaha...I'd still prefer a used Sharp or Bridgeport full size mill though, but the prices are always way out of my league...

 

By the way, www.littlemachineshop.com is where I got my upgraded chuck for my lathe from...it makes a HUGE difference over that dinky chuck that came with the lathe...

 

I have a HF benchtop gearhead mill and 12x36 gearhead lathe, they are not the best equipment but will do as good a job as the man running it. I have built and milled main caps, milled intake manifolds, built so many damn one off brackets and stuff for my buddies I can't count them all. I just wish I had been smart enough to take pictures of the stuff so I could show off a little!

 

if it was not for my crappy cell phone pictures i would not have any either

 

Do you have, or could you get some better pics of that steering gear box?

 

Excellent to see the nay sayers look in awe! I am envious and glad to see sucess stories like this!

 

i will try to remember the good camera but who knows when

 

Here is a link to a website that deals with the HF type machines. Some of the info is a little old but probably still relevant.
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Home/index.htm

By the way really nice work!