Drill press lathe

[will sanders]

Has anybody tried one of those little drill press lathes? I think Grizzly sells them. I know it will not perform like a real lathe but all I want right now is something to play with and try to make some hammer handles on.
Thanks

[Aaron Wingert]

I think you'll be pretty disappointed and you'll wish you'd kept your money.

[David Christopher]

will, this one is not to expensive http://www.grizzly.com/images/pics/jpeg288/g/g9247.jpg

[Bernie Weishapl]

I wouldn't waste my time or money. You can turn pens but it is a pain and I am don't think it is sturdy enough to do hammer handles.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I once bought one of those hand drill to drill press conversion things. I bought it because it was "cheap enough" and "looked like it would work". Well, after it came, I took it out, and tried to mount the drill. Never did use it.

Save your bucks would be my vote.

[Jim Myers]

I used one until recently as I could not invest the money in a real lathe.

It will do the job for pens but that is about it. Also I had no prior experence so it was trial and error for me.

I took a class recently and found out that what I was doing was mostly wrong and if I used proper turning tool use methods it would not have worked.

Short answer is it works for someone like me but I can never go back now as I have a small lathe now.

[Scott Lux]

I put a pen mandrel in my drill press and a live center in the workbench. I managed to turn a few pens that way, and knew it was worth investing in a mini. I didn't try to use turning tools, I used rasps, files, and sandpaper.
The results were so-so, a little oval, and not great.

If cost is a big issue, consider one of the mini minis. I bought the Wilton. It was $125 shipped from Amazon. It has variable speed (nice) and low cost. It's good for pens, stoppers and very small other things. But it's a good way to get into turning.

Lux

[Allen Neighbors]

There was a soldier, recently, in Iraq, that had one of the Grizzly Drill Lathes. He used it. Maybe he'll see this post, and chime in.
It worked for him. But I know he would rather have had a real lathe, but due to his location, he just couldn't.
I also suggest going with a mini to get started. But I would get something like a Jet mini or a Vicmarc VL100, rather than spend just a little for something that surely won't last. When you try to make do with something like that Grizzly Facsimile, you won't enjoy turning... you'll be glad when it's over.
JMO,OC.