HiTorque 5100 Mini Lathe - 7x16

The LittleMachineShop.com HiTorque 7x16 Mini Lathe is the best in its class. It has the most power, most torque, and a longer center distance than other lathes in its class.

The 500-Watt brushless spindle drive motor provides tremendous low-end torque. You can vary the speed from 50 rpm to 2500 rpm continuously in both directions. There are no gears to shift. NSK Bearings ensure years of accurate and reliable life.

The cross feed and compound rest dials are graduated in 0.001" and 0.025 mm. A 4" 3-jaw lathe chuck is included, and the lathe is equipped with a 4-way indexing tool post set for 5/16" (8 mm) tools.

Real top and bottom half-nuts and a reversible 16 TPI lead screw provide extended threading capability. You can create every American Standard Unified class 2A inch screw thread from 4 to 80 threads per inch, and you can create every American Standard Metric class 6h thread from 0.35 to 8 mm pitch with the extra 21 tooth change gear that is included. Cutting inch threads is made even easier with the factory-installed threading dial.

This machine is shipped completely assembled and adjusted. Machined surfaces are coated with a viscous oil to prevent rust. It wipes off easily with a rag--no solvents necessary.

The LittleMachineShop.com exclusive version of this machine features:

• Full 14" bed length with a cam-lock tailstock for longer work pieces.
• 500-Watt spindle motor with 2 Speed ranges for low speed torque
• NSK brand Japanese bearings
• Digital spindle speed readout
• Real top and bottom half-nuts and a reversible 16 TPI lead screw provide extended threading capability.
• Threading dial
• The cross feed and compound rest dials are graduated in 0.001" and 0.025 mm.
• The lathe is equipped with a 4-way indexing tool post set for 5/16" (8 mm) tools.
• Chip tray and backsplash.
• User’s Manual
• Made and inspected in an ISO 9001 compliant factory

The LittleMachineShop.com exclusive version of this machine includes:

• 4" (100 mm) 3-jaw self-centering lathe chuck with two sets of jaws and a chuck wrench
• A #2 Morse Taper (2MT) dead center
• 11-piece Change gear set
• Two open end wrenches
• Four hex (Allen) wrenches
• A plastic oil can 

The LittleMachineShop.com model 5100 HiTorque Mini Lathe is a version of the SIEG SC2.

See what the difference is between the SIEG drive system and the HiTorque drive system.

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Why HiTorque mini lathes have plastic change gears.

First, a couple of notes:

• The use of plastic gears in HiTorque machines is limited to mini lathe Change Gears. HiTorque mills and lathes have no Drive Gears as they utilize a brushless DC drive with a belt directly from the motor to the spindle. In short, there are no gears at all in the spindle drive.
• When you read about plastic gears breaking, most cases involve the two-speed gears inside the headstock of mini mills. As noted, this does not apply to any HiTorque mini mill as we have no gears in the spindle drive.
• The use of plastic change gears does not apply to the HiTorque bench lathes. Our larger HiTorque bench lathes, which are designed for larger work pieces, greater power, and more torque, have all metal gears as appropriate for their size.

With those qualifiers out of the way, here are some of the important points in favor of using plastic Change Gears in HiTorque mini lathes:

• Plastic gears are quieter than metal gears. Metal change gears raise the sound level to an objectional level.
• Plastic gears are more economical and help reduce machine cost and keep gear replacement cost to a minimum.
• Our plastic gears are made from a thermoplastic Polyoxymethylene (POM) which are very durable.
• In the rare cases where a plastic gear does fail, it is often due to using the lathe for jobs beyond its design parameters. In such a case, the broken gear worked as an inexpensive mechanical fuse, saving the machine from damage.

If you prefer metal change gears, we sell a Metal Change Gear Set. Note: Please check the compatiblity tab on the product page to ensure that you are getting the correct gear set for your machine.

For more information on plastic gears visit our detailed discussion Plastic Gears, Good or Bad?.

With this lathe, you can create every American Standard Unified class 2A inch screw thread from 4 to 100 threads per inch, and you can create every American Standard Metric class 6h thread from 0.25 to 8 mm pitch with the extra 21 tooth change gear that is included.

But you can actually make more thread pitches than that, and there are more change gear combinations than those shown in the user's guide. To see what you can really do, see the Change Gear Calculator.

View a comparison of the specifications for our lathes.

• Hitorque Mini Lathe Users Guide
• SC2 5100 Parts Diagram