Mini Lathes and Similar Tools.

[Mountain Goat]

I have an Unimat 1 Cool Tool 6 in 1 system which I occasionally use. I thought I'd start this thread section off with this subject.
The metalline version is a hardier system for those who want to do tougher work (E.g. hard metals) as Unimat 1 would struggle. Unimat 1 is suitable for wood, soft metals plastics etc. It can be used as a wood lathe, a metal lathe, a vertical miller, a horizontal miller, a sander, a drill, a hand drill, a hand sander and a little saw.
Plenty of optional extras and upgrades are available so one can cut gears, convert to a table circular saw (Needs a motor and transformer upgrade), convert into a CNC lathe or miller, there's a copying attachment. Many different accessories. The metalline has all metal components, and there also is a powerline upgrade. Another option is a high speed motor.
Most of the time I have used mine is making little resin wheels and drilling out the centres ready for the axles.

There are other makes of lathe type tools out there and many are very impressive, but also expensive!

I've recently also purchased an older second Unimat 1 lathe tool. The one I already had is a modern 12 volt version, but the older version is 5 volts. Now the old version can also run from four batteries (D size) to make it a real go anywhere machine.