Proxxon Lathe

[Channing Arther]

Ive been considering Proxxon power tools for modelling for some time now, particularly now that the first two Unimat machines are no longer available. I haven't taken the plunge because I'm still not convinced about their ability to cope with small scale stuff (the smaller the scale or item being turned, the more evident the poor tolerances are, according to some), so I'm interested to see how good this lathe is.

The Proxxon 4 jaw chuck was waiting for me at home last night - I'm a bit perplexed at how well this will work - it's black plastic and each jaw is individually adjusted with an included Allen wrench. I guess for the price, that's what you get these days. It's $ 39.95 @ The General Store (online) - the retail is somewhere in the $60.00 range. I'm also looking at a 4 jaw chuck for my midi lathe, but the price for that accessory is well over $100.00 It is, of course, stainless and operates using a chuck key with one hand operation. I will try out the 4 jaw chuck on the DB-250 and see what's what early next week.

I met my modeler/machinist friend Ken today for lunch and he had the new, improved Proxxon Tool Rest with him - he did a beautiful job re-facing this part with s/s, milled to fit the angled face of the rest. I will have pix on Monday since my camera is there and I am here, etc. etc.

Actually, it is almost certainly not stainless steel. Stainless is not normally used for such things, too difficult to machine and usually cannot be hardened easily. If it is for 'one-hand operation', than it is a different animal from the plastic chuck for the Proxxon: it means that it is a centric 4-jaw chuck, all jaws move in and out together. Such chuck is really only useful for square stock.

These days you can get quite cheap chucks of all kinds from Chinese sources. Check on ebay. The Sherline ones are quite good and come with different threads in the back, so you may find one to fit your lathe.

Thanks for the correction (re. stainless) - you are most certainly correct. I believe you are right also about being a centric 4-jaw chuck, something the Proxxon is not. And, I bought the Proxxon specifically for square stock.

Re. your comments about cheap chucks, etc. it crossed my mind to stop at Harbor Freight today, but I kept on driving - I may have second thoughts in a day or so, but right now, I don't see it happening.

I've needed a lathe for a long time for several reasons. Concerning mini machines I have one thought. If you have room A bigger machine is usually better in my experience. Still does the tiny stuff and usually better as I understand it. I'll probably end up with a mini too though due to cost. Unless I find a good larger used one.

LOLOLOL.. they were called Mini lathes :) - I was looking at the distance between centres... forgive the silly questions - but I have never used a small or wood lathe before. My machinery experience is with really really BIG stuff. Probably one of the "littler things" I would have machined is re-machine the face of a two tonne valve

So basically that size lathe - even though called a mini - would be way to big to turn tiny stuff? I originally thought I would get the metal lathe - for flexibility - but there are so many choices and I keep reading reviews and reading here and I just cant make up my mind which one to go for.

My Turncrafter Pro Midi Lathe is 18" between centers without the extension bed. But I've found that doing really small stuff on it is not satisfactory - that's why I bought the mini lathe - Proxxon DB-250.

In a nutshell, the original rest was rough aluminum and tended to hang up the shaping tool as you moved it along the rest. The new, milled s/s face eliminates that and gives you a smooth surface - Ken did a wonderful job.

With the 4-jaw chuck in place I've now completed two of the spars for the Anchor Hoy. I have a couple pictures below showing the driver and gaff being turned on the DB-250. For the gaff I started with 1/4" square yellow pine and the 4-jaw chuck is just the item to use with square stock. The driver was turned from 5/16" dia. spruce. The only feature I'm not keen on with this chuck is that it is NOT self-centering, so you have to fiddle with the 4 adjustments to get the stock centered properly on it (without wobble). But, I guess for $40 you're not going to get the bells and whistles!

The driver, being longer than the lathe, was done by turning one half and then reversing the stock thru the lathe and turning the second half of the piece. That's a nice feature of this tool. I will probably turn the main topmast and Spencer Mast on this lathe and the lower main mast on my Turncrafter Pro due to it's length; although, I may opt to do all using this tool if I can do so.

The purpose of an independent 4-jaw chuck is to very precisely center stuff, round or square, to the point you want to have it on. So this is not defect due to low price, but intentional. It is tedious to center stuff, e.g. with a feeler gauge, but the most precise way, sometimes more precise than with self-centering chucks.

I have to say that I have a Record Power CL4 lathe with a 30" swing and a 36" bed. It weighs an obscene amount and sits in my workshop like a huge beast. However, it turns masts and spars fantastically. No vibration means very clean work every time.

I use my 3 jay chuck most of the time but when I have a part that is not symetrical I use my 4 jaw chuck. It can be a pain to adjust but once you do the part will be perfectly centered and safer and easier to work with.

My last weeks efforts were in vain - I managed to chew up two pieces of wood in attempts to turn the topmast. I've got a new small honing stone I am going to use tomorrow night to sharpen all the tools and make sure that isn't the cause of the problem. I think the other (more important) cause is - ME and my lack of having any formal training on lathes other than what I've read and attempted on my own. Having said that, I find that even one or two sessions, classes, or whatever you want to call it, under experienced proctoring is very beneficial to me.

One thing I found is that the bed wasn't long enough for some of the booms and masts I was working on. Somewhere within this topic I came across a comment about getting a bed to use as an extention. I checked the user manual for the lathe and found that you have to write to Proxxon to purchase replacement parts. I did so and received the bed within a few days.

The fun part was aligning the two beds. I had to sand down one end and add a little shim to the other to get it flat across the seam between the two beds. Other than that I came out very nice and I can now turn some very long pieces.

I decided to set up the board I have it mounted to for clamping in a ShopMate. This way I don't have the lathe permanently consuming a long section of my workbench and I can set it up just about anywhere I want for use.

The support board is 38" x 10" x 1/2" plywood. To the underside I fastened a board 14" x 7" x 3/4" which is clamped into my WorkMate. The extra board on the underside to the right of the clamping board is there for additional support and keeps the entire unit from tipping if clamped to a workbench.

When assembling the DB-250 and extension bed you have to make sure that the two beds align, otherwise the tailstock and tool support will not slide back and forth across the entire length. This was easy to accomplish using a metal straight edge along the side and top of the two beds and either sanding the bottom of the bed and/or adding a shim to the other end.

Something I noticed on one of Hank's previous posts was a "collar" placed on the tailstock end of his turning. I hadn't thought of that little idea. Everything I've turned so far I just left some extra stock on the ends and was very careful not to put too much pressure on the piece with the tailstock point to split the wood. That "collar" looks like it will eliminate the splitting problem.

I am about to buy a Proxxon DB 250 wood lathe, along with an independent 4-jaw chuck. My questions are about the centering of stock in such a chuck. All the suggestions I have seen so far demand the use of a dial indicator. These have magnetic mounts.

2. How do you mount a dial indicator on the Proxxon since (as far as I know) the DB250 is not made of a ferrous metal that would take a magnetic base (i.e would I have to glue a sheet of metal to the housing to take the magnetic base)?

You can chuck round stock, as centered as you can, place a pencil on the tool holder and turn on the lathe. Slowly advance the pencil until it makes a mark, turn off the lathe and look at the mark, it will be on the high side, adjust the chuck, repeat until you reach the precision you want.

Any suggestions for square stock? I hadn't thought that having a dial indicator might have problems when it comes to square stock but your idea made me think more carefully about how it would work for square stock.

Don't think you will find any perfectly square stock, if that is what you want to turn square stock center a best you can oversize stock and the rounds will end up centered. You could drill a hole at the center and use a center in your headstock and clamp up the chuck or better yet turn it with a dog on a faceplate.

One can mark the centre of square stock by drawing diagonals from one corner to the opposite one; then you punch-mark the centre and put it against the tailstock centre; now you put the tool-rest close to the chucked-up material and observe the gap between the tool-rest und the material (close one eye and look down onto the lathe bed); adjust the jaws until the gaps are equal on the edges of your stock. Voil you material is centred.

Thanks, Jud and Wefalk, for taking me through something that should have been obvious if I'd bothered to put my mind to it instead of thinking there must be something more complicated to do! It's like a lot of the ship modelling I've been doing. Simple often wins -- just a little plain practical thinking needed!

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