Anyone have any lathe advice?

I haven't read FSM in awhile but I have a Clisby and really like it. Here are some pictures in a thread that shows turning laminated acrylic sheets.

There's a tabletop lathe and mill in the MicroMark catalog.  Harbour Freight Tools have them, too.  I bought mine from Cummins Tools at a sale price of $300.  Be aware that you'll have to buy the tool bits separately--they're not usually included with the lathe.  For brass, aluminum, copper, and plastic, also soft iron, you can work with HSS tools instead of the waaaaay higher-cost carbide-tipped ones.  You can also buy pre-sharpened tool bits in the MicroMark catalog.  Just be sure to get the correct sized bits for the particular lathe you buy.  Buy a book about basic lathe work that includes 'how to grind tool bits' and determining the correct RPMs to turn different metals.  Buy a full-face safety shield and remember this one thing--

Don't stand directly in front of the tool post when turning a piece.

I put that in larger letters because if you feed the tool into the workpiece too fast and it breaks; it can be thrown with enough force to enter your body.  I've seen a tool break and be thrown between an instructor and student in night school machineshop class and knock a silver dollar-sized chunk out of a concrete block wall.  That instructor and student were standing to either side of the post and weren't touched.  It's natural to want to stand to the front of the tool mounting post, but it can be very dangerous.  Like anyother tool, a lathe is a great piece of equipment, but it requires respect.  I enjoy the heck out of mine. 

 

Tinker pretty much covered it all, but I'd like to add a few things to his excellent post. One- never wear anything that can get caught in the works. Doing so can greatly increase the chance of personal injury. Two- in addition to using the correct bit and speed for each material, the proper lubricant/cutting fluid will significantly increase the life of your bits and the quality of your cuts (there are a multitude of books available on what works with what), and three- work slowly. Don't try to remove all the material in just one pass. A little at a time will get the job done right.

   Yep, definitely good points.  After re-reading my first post, I thought of some money saving info, too.  Once you've gotten your lathe set-up and your pre-ground tool bits give you a taste of the "good life".     You can go to a good hardware store and get some HSS square stock from their metal ben ( uaually 2ft pieces, 1/4 square for about $1.50 ) cut it into 2'' long pieces and grind them into new tool bits that will work fine for turning plastics, aluminum, and copper.  For modeling purposes, heavy guage, bare copper cable material in the #3 and #4 sizes can be found at the same store. ( buy it by the foot off of the bulk rolls )  For a harder copper alloy; check-out the copper ground rods.  They are in the 7/16" to 9/16" diameter range and about 6ft. long.  My local store had them at about $14 apiece, but that was before the value of scrap copper went sky high.

Tip Time: 

I made an auxillary chuck for my lathe to hold smaaaallll diameter material that the lathe's 3-jaw chuck would not gripe.  I bought a replacement 1/2" drill chuck ( KEYED-not keyless so you can get a firmer grip on materials ).  Then I went to the hardware area, and found a hex-head machine bolt of the diameter and thread-size to fit the chuck's attachment hole.  That bolt should also bet at least 6" long.  Get a nut, flat washer, and lock washer for the bolt ( to act as a jam-nut to lock the chuck onto the bolt.  After you've attached the chuck to the bolt and tightened it eye-bulging tight.  ( I didn't have a torque wrench )   All that's left then is to mount the chuck-bolt assembly in the 3-jaw ( or 4-jaw ) lathe chuck as if it is a work piece.  Close the drill chuck jaws and move the tailstock over so that the center in the tailstock can help you center the chuck-bolt in the lathe's chuck.   WHOOOOSH.   NOW you're ready to turn those little bitty, tini-tiny, diameter pieces by using your new super secret, midget lathe chuck. ( you might need to buy a following rest for those long, small diameter pieces.)      My own list of future projects include scale 2.75" rockets; M-904 nose fuses; Mk-106 practice bombs; AC cannons with moving parts; maybe even...

Oh, excuse me for rambling on.   HAVE FUN!!!  

P.S.  Don't know what a following rest is????   Look it up in your lathe book.