Recommended Tools and Machinery for Your Team's Machine Shop

[Mk.32]

Originally Posted by ksafin

Personally, I have trouble thinking of what to even do with a lathe..

Could you guys give me some ideas? The only thing that comes to mind are rollers for a conveyor belt.

I'm by far not the best mechanical member of our team, so I may not have the mechanical imagination that some of you do, but I'd like to hear some examples of what a lathe has enabled you to do.

For the lathe that we used, we have done spacers [about 40?], shafts [wcd/gearboxes dozens of these], pulleys/rollers, hubs for wheels, custom minibot wheels, custom wheels in general etc.
Pretty much anything round goes into the lathe. You will find more uses as you go along, I am not saying machine tools are necessary but they can help a lot. For example I don't see any other way to make a shaft true then with a lathe.