Whether you want to shape an object or modify it by cutting, sanding, drilling, or formation, you can opt for a metal lathe machine. These machines follow the simple principle of rotating the object on its axis by employing such high power. There is a variety of metal lathe machines ranging from simple to complex ones. Here in this article we are providing you with some features and attributes of a metal lathe machine along with their advantages, which you can employ to shape the work-pieces in a better way. We have compiled some of the best beginner metal lathes in the article. We suggest you have a look at them.

First of all, the lathe size is the main component of the metal lathe machines. As a beginner, you must go for a moderate-sized metal lathe. Usually, the lathe machines which are designed for industrial purposes are larger in size as compared to those designed for the smaller tasks. You can look for your project size and metal pieces for which you’ll be using the machine to opt for a better size. Devices having large lathe sizes have multiple usages. These can be employed for creating large holes, tackling heavy metal pieces to fold, the formation of new objects, and much more.

These machines also have headstock bearings. These bearings are of significant importance and have concerns regarding safety as well. You can easily control and adjust the working speed of the machine using this component and work efficiently. There are further two selections you need to make as an operator/worker. There are plain bearing or roller/ball bearings, among which the later has more advantages. The main advantage of this component is to increase the sliding ability of the machine, which in turn saves your cost and time. Also, these make the devices easy to maintain.

Next in the list is the spindle speed. Some of the modern machines are better at controlling speed and variability. As a beginner, you can go for a normal-grade metal lathe machine that has a range of 30 RPM to 1200 RPM. On the other hand, if you’re dealing with the professional level, you may opt for the metal lathe machines having an RPM of 20000. This component has a clear advantage over your working efficiency. There are some harder metal pieces that you may need to cut or make a hole in them. More RPM can cut the pieces more efficiently.

The power is another contributing factor towards the metal lathe machines. This can be an issue as these machines are heavy and require an AC supply of higher voltage. Also, most of the metal lathe is equipped with motors ranging from 1 to 3 HP. Some models require either single or three-phase supply.

Last but not least is the tumbler feature that you can get benefit from as a beginner. Working on metal lathe machines having this feature is never too complicated. It allows you to change the direction of rotation of the spindle easily. You can cut in either direction.

After considering all these features and looking at the advantages of each component, now we’re providing you the details of some best available products in this regard. Let’s check it out what are these?

Best Beginner Metal Lathes (Comparison)

Best Overall
Our Score 9.7 Out of 10
Check price amazon.com
Featured
Our Score 9.4 Out of 10
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Featured
Our Score 9.0 Out of 10
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Our Score 8.8 Out of 10
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TECHTONGDA Mini Metal Lathe

Our Score 9.4 out of 10
TECHTONGDA Brushless Motor Precision Mini Metal Lathe DIY Bench Lathe 110V
TECHTONGDA Brushless Motor Precision Mini Metal Lathe DIY Bench Lathe 110V amazon.com Check price

1.All kinds of lathes are equipped with 110V brushless motor, strong power, easier maintenance.
2.For hobbyists: spindle bored about 0.8 "(21mm), distance between centers about 12" (300mm).
3.All t...

TECHTONGDA brand has always taken care of all your worries regarding the metal lathe machines and provided you the well-equipped products. This WM180V mini metal lathe ensures you its operational working for boring, turning, facing, and thread modifying as well. This machine is equipping all the metal gears, which makes them resistant, robust, durable, and versatile. The 100V powerful motor, which works on the principle of brush less rotation, is providing you enough power to deal with all types of work. Not only can you achieve efficient working, but the easy maintenance adds to the worth of this machine.

The SOD for this machine is about 0.8,” i.e., 21mm. This means that you can efficiently work with the thick metal pieces as well as having a diameter of 0.8-inches. While on the other hand, the distance between their centers comes out as 12-inches, i.e., 300 mm. This distancing between their accurate centers mentions the length of material you can tackle with this TECHTONGDA Mini Metal Lathe. Both of these attributes depicts the versatility of this metal lathe as you can employ it for multi-purposes.

Furthermore, this multi-function metal lathe is considered an automatic tool. The features include quite operations, easy cleaning, fewer mistakes while working, and much more. All parts of the machine work in synchronization to achieve more accurateness. Precision and accurateness then come out to be productive against qualified practices. Next is the gears and bearing that these metal lathes equip. The supreme quality bearings, along with the greater endurance, make this machine more resistant and long-lasting. Working on a metric scale, this machine provides accurate dimensioning as well.

Pros
  • 110V brush less motor
  • Metal bearings
  • High precision
Cons
  • Zero CON reported

Conclusion

This TECHTONGDA Mini Metal Lathe equips with all sorts of durable components to provide you boring, modifying, and transforming ability. This is one of the best multi functioning tools out there with less noise and easy maintenance. The machine also has three months warranty and furthermore manufacturer also offers lifetime service as well.

ZEHONG TZ20002MR Mini Metal Rotating Lathe

Our Score 9.1 out of 10
New! 60W 12000 rpm Big Power Mini Metal Rotating Lathe TZ20002MR, DIY Tools
New! 60W 12000 rpm Big Power Mini Metal Rotating Lathe TZ20002MR, DIY Tools amazon.com Check price

Own design, their own manufacturing toys, comprehensive training of young people's hands-on ability!
Working materials: wood, engineering plastics, soft metals (gold, silver, copper, aluminum, etc....

This ZEHONG TZ20002MR Mini Metal Lathe equips the powerful motor and sturdy components to deal with all sorts of metal working. First of all, keeping in mind the sturdy design of this metal lathe, you can use it for the training of the beginners as well. Less complicated design and more productivity will enhance the confidence of enthusiast workers. Moreover, the manufacture makes sure that you can quickly get your hand on with this mini metal lathe as it is easy to handle and needs maintenance very less often. The versatility of this machine cannot be denied as it can work with the wood, plastics, soft metals, including silver, aluminum, and copper.

This lathe machine is finished through the higher RPM steel components. The higher RPM can ensure the more spindle speed, which in turn can enhance its ability to cut, bend, and modify the materials. Furthermore, the internal components are made from the steel material, which ensures a longer life span and requires less maintenance. Another advantage of having higher RPM is you can efficiently work on a variety of metal substances. These include soft metal, nonferrous metals, and precious metals as well.

Another great advantage of this machine is that you can quickly increase the diameter to 100 mm. You can make use of the central block to make it happen. By using this attribute, you can easily manage to work with the thick metal pieces on the beginner as well as commercial scale. Hand wheels are employed in this machine for more precision and accuracy. As with the hand wheel along with the 0.02 mm scale line, you can work with your desire speed and precision as well.

Pros
  • 0
  • 02 mm scale line
  • Versatile
  • Up to 100 mm in diameter
Cons
  • Requires ample space to mount

Conclusion

This ZEHONG TZ20002MR Mini Metal Rotating Lathe can work with soft metal plus nonferrous metal, and precious metal as well via its versatile construction assembly. Remember, this is the best and high-quality machine if you intend to make threads.

Cjc Mini Lathe Machine

Our Score 8.6 out of 10
DC 12V 24W DIY Tool CNC Metal Motorized Mini Lathe Machine 20000rev/min
DC 12V 24W DIY Tool CNC Metal Motorized Mini Lathe Machine 20000rev/min amazon.com Check price

1.Application:Wood, plastic, soft metals (aluminum, copper, etc.). Softwood, hardwood can be processed, can be arbitrary shape creation. When the general metal lathe turning down to 2000 rpm rev / ...

This CNC operated lathe machine has many advantages over the other products in this line. First of all, this Cjc Mini Lathe Machine works via computer operated software, which makes it easy to use and versatile in its operations. The computer numerals control the working processes via the G-code. A skilled employee has a less role to play in this CNC-operated metal lathe machine as the computer is supervising the work. This metal lathe is also equipped with high-speed internal components. The revolution of 20000 per minute can be achieved quickly, which is not less than a professional grade metal lathe. This higher RPM further has advantages that it can cut any kind of metal piece (either think or thick) at higher speed with more smoothness.

Versatility lies in the internal components’ assembly, which makes it possible to operate on the soft metal, precious metals, and nonferrous metals as well. In this way, you can use these machines as dual working, either for home or at the professional level as well. The feature list is not ending here as this CNC metal lathe has an interesting element of diameter extending. You can use the block heightening feature along with the center point extending to increase the working width of the machine. This will directly help you to enhance the diameter with which you can work with a metal piece of more thickness, which is usually 25mm.

Three-jaw chunk is another plus point of this Cjc metal lathe. You can easily chuck or collect the 1 to 6 mm clamping. The center distance is usually 15 mm for this machine, which ensures that you can also work with the large-sized metal.

Pros
  • Arbitrary shape creation
  • Three-jaw chuck
  • 135 mm center point distance
Cons
  • Computer-operator required

Conclusion

Working with the softwood, hardwood, and metal is no more a problem with this lathe machine. This is a safest machine out there because if temperature rises, there’s a protection for it. It also has over voltage and current protection as well so its transformer is totally safe from any bad incident. Overall, it is also a top quality product.

Jet 321360A Metalworking Lathe

Our Score 8.4 out of 10
Jet 321360A BDB-1340A 13-Inch Swing by 40-Inch between Centers 230-Volt 1 Phase Belt Drive Bench Metalworking Lathe
Jet 321360A BDB-1340A 13-Inch Swing by 40-Inch between Centers 230-Volt 1 Phase Belt Drive Bench Metalworking Lathe amazon.com Check price

2 HorsePower, 1Ph, 230 Volts Motor
1 3/8 Inches Spindle Hole
13 inches Swing x 40 inches Centers
12 spindle speeds ranging from 60 1240 RPM
Shown with Optional stand

The final product that we have on our list is totally a beast. Yes, it is from  Jet tools.

Jet has been producing metal lathe machines from the past many years, which are the depiction of supreme engineering methods. This Jet 321360A Metal working Lathe is equipping the technology of belt-driven tools, which can utilize less power to generate more inertial motion. This, enclosed in a gearbox metal lathe machine, has a unique helical-cut headstock gear. This gear type has multiple advantages over others, including lesser noise and more easy changes over time. You can easily adjust or manipulate the gear settings during working even at higher speeds. Manufacture has installed the full-splash guard protectors as well. This splash-guard also ensures the safety of workers while changing the gears.

On the other hand, the spindle of this machine is supported by the tapered rollers. These type of roller or bearings are more metallic-based and are more durable and endurable as compared to others. This Jet metal lathe machine also has a carriage mounted control lever. All the feed selectors which control the input into the device have a synchronized motion toward the groves. This means that the machine ultimately supports automatic feeding. The V-way design makes the induction hardened and robust. You can quickly increase the diameter as well to enhance the versatility of this machine. The tailstock feature enables you to turn the tapers via the inch-metric graduated quill.

The powerful and energy-conserving 2-horsepower motor features higher RPM. The motor makes use of 230 Volts to rotate the spindle at about 1200RPM so you can process the thick metal in no time. The 12 spindle speeds further add to the convenience.

Pros
  • 2 HP motor
  • 1 3/8 Inches spindle hole
  • 12 Spindle speeds from 60 to 1200 RPM
Cons
  • A bit costly

Conclusion

The 12 inches swing, and 40 inches Center allows processing a variety of materials with higher thickness. This Jet 321360A machine is manufactured perfectly, very smart and one hundred percent reliable. It is one of the highly recommended products on our list.

Overall Conclusion

Metal lathe machines are equipping the sturdy and robust internal components which serve the individual benefits in the metal industry. You can do multiple things with them. You can cut, bend, modify, or transform any metal related object easily. Most of the modern metal lathes can even process wood and plastics as well. We have discussed above some of the best available metal lathes for our readers after doing extensive research. Choose wisely after observing their detailed features, pros, and cons.

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