Desktop Lathe recommendations and method suggestions for shaping ship masts

[Bob Cleek]

Thanks for the explanation as it is greatly appreciated given the amount of time it must have taken you to put it together.

Not as long as you might think. At one point, I worked my way through college as a marine teletype operator (a now nonexistent occupation.) I can still type as fast as I can think, but at my age now, I am a little slower at both than when I was a pup!

 

[paul ron]

They always were expensive and now that they've been out of production for decades, they've become a cult item. They were, in their day, the ultimate modeler's machine tool. Gerald Wingrove's book, The Techniques of Ship Modeling, which is a great read, albeit a bit dated today, inspired thousands of ship modelers to buy one half a century ago. Wingrove did all his amazing modeling on a Unimat SL/SD, including his famous metal miniature motorcars. Sherline and Taig fill the market niche these days, but at a far greater cost because you have to buy separate lathes and milling machines to do what the single Unimat can. While the basic Unimat SL/SD model in good shape can be had for six or seven hundred bucks, it's the tooling and attachments that have become hugely expensive. Still, the used Unimats are less that the current equivalent machinery. The basic Unimat SL/SD is a combination lathe, drill press, and milling machine. From there, if you can find and afford them, there are attachments to turn it into a mini-table saw, planer, scroll saw, jig saw, disk sander, threading lathe, a power feed option, extended bed, jeweler's spindle for really small work, a bench grinder, and polisher, a flex-shaft attachment, and so on. Then there's usual range of tooling: three- and four-jaw chucks, live centers, tail stock Jacobs chucks, center rest, collet holder and collets, etc., etc. I have no idea what a complete Unimat SL/SD "system" would be worth today.

one like this it has been buried among old tools i acquired a long time ago. I don't think i used this in over 15 years. i did plug it in and it runs perfectly. Anyone interested in the grand old antique ?

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it needs a complete break down and cleaning

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ill take it off your hands?

the only limiting factor is shipping costs.

 

[ConsNZ]

They always were expensive and now that they've been out of production for decades, they've become a cult item. They were, in their day, the ultimate modeler's machine tool. Gerald Wingrove's book, The Techniques of Ship Modeling, which is a great read, albeit a bit dated today, inspired thousands of ship modelers to buy one half a century ago. Wingrove did all his amazing modeling on a Unimat SL/SD, including his famous metal miniature motorcars. Sherline and Taig fill the market niche these days, but at a far greater cost because you have to buy separate lathes and milling machines to do what the single Unimat can. While the basic Unimat SL/SD model in good shape can be had for six or seven hundred bucks, it's the tooling and attachments that have become hugely expensive. Still, the used Unimats are less that the current equivalent machinery. The basic Unimat SL/SD is a combination lathe, drill press, and milling machine. From there, if you can find and afford them, there are attachments to turn it into a mini-table saw, planer, scroll saw, jig saw, disk sander, threading lathe, a power feed option, extended bed, jeweler's spindle for really small work, a bench grinder, and polisher, a flex-shaft attachment, and so on. Then there's usual range of tooling: three- and four-jaw chucks, live centers, tail stock Jacobs chucks, center rest, collet holder and collets, etc., etc. I have no idea what a complete Unimat SL/SD "system" would be worth today.

one like this it has been buried among old tools i acquired a long time ago. I don't think i used this in over 15 years. i did plug it in and it runs perfectly. Anyone interested in the grand old antique ?

View attachment 531913View attachment 531911

it needs a complete break down and cleaning

View attachment 531912

Cursed be the postage freight

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i use pirate ship which usually is 1/2 the cost i will measure and weigh the box and get an idea what the shipping might be

right now the tail stock is missing i know i have it just cannot find it but i am looking.

the Unimat is the SL 1000 made in Austria

 

[paul ron]

great machines. i hope you find the tail stock.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

great machines. i hope you find the tail stock.

found it go here to see the listing

Unimat SL 1000

this is an original Unimat made in Austria checking Ebay the price range is from $1,000 to $1,500 BUT these machines look to be in very good condition this has been sitting in a barn for 15+ years with years of dust and grime and some surface rust. i did plug it in and it works just fine...

shipsofscale.com