help deciding.

[darth ney]

well after much consideration i have decided to get this lathe

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=82710,

thanx to all those who gave there oppinoin,thanx to tim,even tho he never replied his comments in another thread really helped me to decide.sorry again about the double ,,,and triple posting. it wont happen again if i can help it.oh as for a mill. im gonna have to send stuff off to a place that has a cnc mill.untill i can buy a mill myself(and learn to write in c+/c++). well of for now thanx again

oh tim if you pop in and have changed ur thoughts on this lathe please let me know






oh and to the people who where saying that madcow used a larbel hilt or hilt parts the anser is no he did not. i asked him myself. he used the plans from sith archives and pics of the actuial hilt from the movie.

[Lord Maul]

IMO you're biting off way more than you can chew. A Qui Gon hilt is pretty damn hard to make, just ask Madcow. He waited several years before attempting a Qui Gon. The machining on it is complicated and you have to have experience to get it right. It sounds to me like you've never even used a lathe before. I could be wrong on that, but if it's true you are in for quite a bit of frustration.

I'm not saying it can't be done, only that it will be very hard for a amateaur at turning metal to make a Qui Gon.

[darth ney]

i have used a lathe before but i had a lot of help when i did it, i also have the help of friends and family, my dad knows how to run a lathe and he says he is going to teach me, i printed out the blueprint and he says it can be done but i need a lathe a mill and a drill press. thats why i was wondering if i should get the one with all 3 tools built in, or if i should buy them seperate.i really need someone who has used them before. to let me know. my dad says to ask people on here because he dont know if it will work to build a lightsaber hilt as he has never made one.

[Arm on Fire]

A proper and accurate Qui-gon hilt cannot be made realisticly without CNC equipment.

[Lord Maul]

I'd disagree with that one. While you can't make it perfect to the micrometer, you can get a pretty damn fine representation. Take Madcow's. No CNC work, but it is the best working replica out there to date.

[Kal El Rah]

Darth Ney,

be prepared to spend lots of cash on cutters, drills, rotary files and other bits.:(

[darth ney]

A proper and accurate Qui-gon hilt cannot be made realisticly without CNC equipment.

well the way i plan to do it is that if i cant produce a good looking grip section then i will have that part done at a machine shop. im not saying that i dout my own skills but it will take a while to learn how to do it properly. and right now i want it to look good vs being done with my own hands. my saber after the qui gon will turn out however it turns out i wont really care it will be all pratice. and after a while i may start doing the selling thing on ebay. thanx maul u r right i LOVE how madcows hilt came out. yeah i do know i will be spending a lot on bit and stuff.

[darth ney]

i really wish tim would pop into this thread and help me out with my choice on a machine. i know he works on his all the time.he would know. i just really want to know if the multi lathe/mill/drill will do the grip section for my qui gon, i know it will be hard to do but "can it be done" or do i need two seperat machines, mill, and then lathe? if so what lathe?

this one
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95012

or this one
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=93212


or this one
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=93799



for doing 12 inch long hilts?

[darth ney]

[QUOTE=Kal El Rah;98785]Darth Ney,

by the way i found r2-d2 on your sig pic


oh and to all those people who wanna tell me to watch my double posting, sorry i did not realise untill after i did it. wont happen again

[Jay-gon Jinn]

There used to be a thread in Misc that covered what was a decent mini-lathe...Ace had made the recommendation in it, and I'd trust his opinion as much as Tim's.

EDIT:
Just went through 39 pages in MISC, and didn't see it...maybe it was in General Hilt building.

[darth ney]

There used to be a thread in Misc that covered what was a decent mini-lathe...Ace had made the recommendation in it, and I'd trust his opinion as much as Tim's.

EDIT:
Just went through 39 pages in MISC, and didn't see it...maybe it was in General Hilt building.

thanx jay let me know if you find it.

[Hasid Lafre]

IIRC madcow did his mostly with a router and some lathe parts.

It would be easyer to get a larbel and machine out the underside of the grip section like madcow did, make some speaker holes or make a new pommel with a grill.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

This isn't the one I was looking for, but Strydur gives his opinions:
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=142&highlight=harbor+freight+mini+lathe

I found it with the search function, if you can believe that! It actually worked for once!

EDIT:

Found what I was looking for:
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=2573&highlight=metal+lathe
It should be listed in the FAQ...

[darth ney]

IIRC madcow did his mostly with a router and some lathe parts.

It would be easyer to get a larbel and machine out the underside of the grip section like madcow did, make some speaker holes or make a new pommel with a grill.

madcow did not use a larbel(as far as i know). he used acytel plastic. and did it from scratch did you not read his post on it and follow his link to see all his pics?

but i will ask him to make sure

[Lord Maul]

Yeah Hasid is right. Madcow did his Qui Gon grip with a router and a custom jig he made.

[darth ney]

oh and to the people who where saying that madcow used a larbel hilt or hilt parts the anser is no he did not. i asked him myself. he used the plans from sith archives and pics of the actuial hilt from the movie.:D and made the grip custom.

[eastern57]

There's a "delete" button too, if you want... I double-post too, but not like you :rolleyes::p

[darth ney]

oh found it sorry