# My new lathe just arrived! - Picture heavy.



## jhanko (Jun 19, 2008)

After months of research and patience, I finally got it. They just arrived in the US. Undisputed king of the minilathes. 8X17, 275 lbs, 1.3hp, digital tach & speed controls with dynamic braking (will stop & reverse from 1000rpm in 1 second), dedicated powered carriage & crossfeed, camlock tailstock, chip shield over leadscrew, steel gearset with 127 tooth gear (for true inch & metric threading).

I'm so glad I waited for this one to arrive. It's everything I was looking for in a compact machine. Now to clean it up and plug her in...
More pics to follow if interested...


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## foxracer72 (Jun 19, 2008)

nice how much did that set you back? :twothumbs


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## jhanko (Jun 19, 2008)

foxracer72 said:


> nice how much did that set you back? :twothumbs



$1599 + shipping. I'm sure the price will come down once the dust settles, but right now it's brand new with only one US distributor. I HATED to pay this much, but couldn't wait any longer...

Jeff


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## tino_ale (Jun 19, 2008)

Which model is this exactly? Any link? :thanks:


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## ICUDoc (Jun 19, 2008)

Get stuck on in to the cleaning bit! I love getting new tools- the anticipation and setup is almost as fun as working. Good luck- show us your first project!


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## jhanko (Jun 19, 2008)

tino_ale said:


> Which model is this exactly? Any link? :thanks:



Sieg C4. Here is a review:
http://www.mini-lathe.com/m4/C4/c4.htm

Here is the sales link of the only US distributor:
https://www.travers.com/
Search for "C4 Lathe"

EDIT: I just noticed that you're in France. I can't help you with a distributor..



ICUDoc said:


> Get stuck on in to the cleaning bit! I love getting new tools- the anticipation and setup is almost as fun as working. Good luck- show us your first project!



I'm cleaning it as we speak. They went a little overboard with the anticorrosion stuff. I'm having a problem though. It is tripping every circuit breaker in the house. It starts up fine at it's 100rpm default speed, but as soon as I speed it up it trips the 20 amp breakers. I can't beleive this thing is pulling more than 20 amps with no load. My house is wired with GFI breakers everywhere except the central air conditioning and my welder recepticle. It must be leaking some current to ground. Guesss I'll have to put in a dedicated recepticle with a standard breaker.

Jeff


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## VanIsleDSM (Jun 19, 2008)

Very nice.. I wanted to wait.. but I couldn't, so I bought the micromark C3.


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## precisionworks (Jun 19, 2008)

That looks very nice. Quite a few hits on a Sieg search on the Popular Machinist bbs, none that I saw were negative. Just remember one thing ... the lathe is just the down payment to enter machining, the tooling is the monthly mortgage

If that were my machine, I'd look for a set of toolholders that use a negative rake triangle (I use those sometimes on my 10" South Bend). The holder set is not expensive, and the inserts aren't bad either.


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## jhanko (Jun 19, 2008)

precisionworks said:


> If that were my machine, I'd look for a set of toolholders that use a negative rake triangle (I use those sometimes on my 10" South Bend). The holder set is not expensive, and the inserts aren't bad either.



I'm already looking for a quick change post. Shimming for correct height is a pain in the ***. I plugged it into an extension cord with the ground prong removed and it worked fine. Definitely a GFI problem. I couldn't wait and did some cuts. I faced a 2.5" copper disc and it work beautifully. The power crossfeed is a great thing to have. I can't imagine having to crank that handle for facing. I know this may sound stupid, but for the life of me I can't find the carriage lock and there's no mention of it in the manual. When I was facing, the carriage wanted to walk away from the work...

Jeff


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## Anglepoise (Jun 19, 2008)

JHanko said:


> I know this may sound stupid, but for the life of me I can't find the carriage lock and there's no mention of it in the manual. When I was facing, the carriage wanted to walk away from the work...
> 
> Jeff



Look for a recessed cap screw somewhere on the carriage that will lock it. And good luck. Very impressive specs for a small lathe


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## modamag (Jun 19, 2008)

Nice lathe!

If it's anything like my C6 the carriage lock is the 2nd hex screw above the oil plug in your picture.

Use alt. right/left for parting. My 1st gen C6B with var speed commonly stall with it's 550W motor at low speed.


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## Mirage_Man (Jun 19, 2008)

Congrats! We've managed to suck yet one more into the machining fold.  Now make sure you keep your wallet handy for all the cool tooling you're gonna buy.


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## Torque1st (Jun 20, 2008)

Find out where your current leak is for safety. Your lathe MUST have a functional ground. Unless of course you like getting a buzz that way. The experience can range from mild discomfort to death.

Check the amp draw on that DC motor setup.


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## wquiles (Jun 21, 2008)

Torque1st said:


> Find out where your current leak is for safety. Your lathe MUST have a functional ground. Unless of course you like getting a buzz that way. The experience can range from mild discomfort to death.
> 
> Check the amp draw on that DC motor setup.



+1 - something probably simple, but definitely not safe at all 


Congrats on the new lathe by the way - looks like a "much" nicer and "much" refined version of the HF8x14 that I recently got, and with extra functions/accessories/variable DC motor/etc. 

Will


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## gadget_lover (Jun 21, 2008)

It looks like the compound and the tool holder are held by T-slots, and have quite a bit of movement available. Is that correct?

Dan


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## jhanko (Jun 21, 2008)

gadget_lover said:


> It looks like the compound and the tool holder are held by T-slots, and have quite a bit of movement available. Is that correct?
> 
> Dan



The compound can be mounted pretty much any where as it's mounted by the t-slots. The toll holder is mounted on a "stud". I'm not sure what the t-slots on top of the compound would be used for. I'll go pull the toll holder off and see exactly how it's mounted.

Jeff


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## gadget_lover (Jun 21, 2008)

I did some web searches and see that the T-slots on top of the compound would be used when using the milling attachment. The cross-slide and / or the compound slide would become 'table' if it were a conventional mill.

Sweet little machine there.


Dan


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