Wood Lathes

[DAP]

I'm in the market for a small wood lathe. There are a bunch on eBay in the 50-90 $ range. I know nothing about the value or quality of these things as the one I had was a hand-me-down home-brewed one that turned it's last rev.

Anyway, can anyone help me get a starting point together? The one thing I need and haven't seen on these machines is a template jig. Would this need to be jury-rigged?

Thanx.

 

[GaryM]

Hmm.. That one doesn't look to sturdy to me. I have a Jet that I bought about 8 years ago and it's all cast iron. A lathe needs to be heavy and solid to reduce vibration. The tailstock on the Jet is a solid casting, not perched on two legs as the one in the photo is. And don't be too concerned about any tools included. Chances are they are not good quality.

My advice is to buy the heaviest you can find.

There are template rigs available for Delts, Norm uses one on the New Yankee Workshop on occasion. Not sure if one's available to fit a Jet or not. Never looked.

What do you plan to make? Record makes a nice small lathe with a bed about 1.5' long. Not cheap though.

 

[Dozernut]

Take a look at these Lathes. I have a couple of Grizzly tools and am satified with their quality. Gary's right, you want that Lathe as heavy as you can get it to cut vibration and hold your stock in place. Invest in some quality chisels such as Marples or Sorby and you will be much happier.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/items-list.cfm?key=560000&gid=76ADAD80-821E-4D5B-8508-0296865AC2FC&site=grizzly

 

[GareyD]

I've used the Delta that you can pick up at Home Depot...The Jet mini & Midi which as previously stated are far better machines.

You can also look here...

http://www.grizzly.com/products/items-list.cfm?key=560000&gid=E74A60F5-0B19-4736-AE11-2D4A078AF839&site=grizzly

Several friends and a couple of professional woodworkers I know use these tools and speak highly of them....they also have the duplicator available for them.

Hope this helps
GareyD

 

[GareyD]

Sorry for the duplication...

But they are some good tools, I have the planer, shaper and several smaller hand tools...just never personally used the lathes...

I also agreee, spend more money on the tools!!

GareyD

 

[DAP]

The CEO has fallen in love with spinning goat and sheep fiber. I found her a beautiful wheel at a yard sale, now she wants another.

I'm also restoring an old cabinet sewing machine for her. But I would really enjoy making a wheel for her.

A simple project to wane the winter hours away. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Thanks for the info. I'll research Jet, Delts and Record and see what I come up with.

 

[Junkman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The CEO has fallen in love with spinning goat and sheep fiber. )</font>

We had a greyhound and the amount of hair that dog left behind was enough to make a sweater out of.... it was no wonder that she never wanted to go out in the winter... Great dog that lived to be 19 or 20 when her legs finally went out from under her.....

 

[DAP]

Junk, thats odd. Most adoption agencies used the no-shed trait as a major selling point. I AM assuming however that your gray was an ex-racing dog. Our 2 grays shed very little. Another noticeable trait, they have little or no odor (as long as they're dry) ... and they can't swim t'all -- too much muscle and no boyuant fat. Our lives revolve 'round them nonetheless. They are IMO one of the greatest pet secrets out there. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Quirky to hilarity.

Anyway, people are spinning just about everything these days, including the underfur (fleece-like) of their canines, felines, caprines, bovines, ovines, you name it. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[RJohnson]

Doug
I recent purchased the Jet Midi lathe and I love it. It is a little short for turning spindles without the bed extension. I would look around locally and see if you can locate a wood turners club. They can give you more advice and may even have some leads on used machines. Becareful of used machines as a lot are worn out and would need a lot of rework or parts that may no longer be available. I did a lot of reading before I purchase a wood lathe. I believe that it is one of the more expensive hobbies you can get into and the lathe is the least of your costs. I already paid more for a chuck than the lathe cost me /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. But I started out just turning pens and now I want to do bowls so more tools /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif are required and more practicing on my part. Good luck in your search, wood turning is one of the most satisfying things I have ever done.

Randy

 

[GaryM]

I started with pens too! Lots of fun and they make great gifts or can be sold around the holidays.

I started with a small Ryobi lathe that worked OK, but soon decided it wasn't big enough. I'm pretty happy with the Jet. I've not done too much in the last year or so, but plan to start again when the new house is done.

Turning bowls is great fun. And you're right about the cost. A Nova chuck and a few truning tools will cost more than the lathe. And you need a good grinder, and some fingernail grinding jigs...