A few questions about lathe horsepower

[Joseph D'Orazio]

Hi. I have never turned a single thing on a lathe. There is one that is old and rickety (old rockwell model) that is available for me to try out but it sounds really rough. My interest lies in table making, meaning I need to learn to turn table legs

so

I've been reading a little but I reckon I am not reading in the right places. Do yall have a recommendation to the horsepower required to turn oak (and the like) legs around 29" long? I see that the beds come in different lengths and that there is a swing height to be aware of. The ability to repeat legs would be nice too.

so

I guess I am asking somebody to point me in the right direction to some online reading please.

[Gary Max]

I would look at 1 horse or better, if you go smaller you won't be happy for very long.

[Jeff Nicol]

Joseph, If you plan to just do spindle turning the HP rating is on relevant to how many and how fast you plan to turn the legs in production. If you have all the time in the world and just want to make one or two tables and don't want to spend a ton of money the lathe you are talking about should work just fine. If it needs a little work cleaning it up and making sure the head and tailstocks line up and maybe a new belt it should turn oak all day long, just not as fast as a larger, newer more expensive lathe. With all that being said you can find some lathes with an attachment for duplicating a pattern as many times as you need to and if you don't want to wait for your skill level to get where you can duplicate spindles without a duplicator, you will need one of those to get the legs done. Vega lathes makes a very nice duplicating system and sometimes the whole lathe is available used, you just have to find one. Or you can buy the system and put it on your lathe. You could make your own duplicator and go that route. Just do a search for "Spindle duplicator" or "Lathe duplicator" and you should find lots of info. Here is a link to one at WOODCRAFT and there are many others: http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2021152/25052/General-36-Wood-Lathe-Duplicator.aspx

Hope that gives you some insight,

Jeff

[Dennis Ford]

You won't need much horsepower to turn table legs, my first lathe had a motor from a washing machine (1/2 hp), it was fine for spindle work. I would not recommend one of the duplicating attachments for a few table legs. If you think that you might make a pedestal table, you would benefit from more horsepower for the larger diameter work. Check out the Gulf Coast Wood turner club in Houston, a lot of friendly folks there.

[John Keeton]

Joseph, my first turning project was a set of walnut table legs. I bought a Harbor Freight model 34706, which you can buy for about $200 or less, on sale and with a discount coupon. I think when I bought mine, my total cost was about $173, not including any accessories or tools. I also bought the HF set of spindle tools. This is all you need for table legs. It did fine for me, and for the money, is a nice little lathe for spindle work. The low end speed is not conducive to much bowl turning, but for smaller blanks, it is workable. The motor on that unit, as I recall, is 3/4 hp. I just looked and it is on sale at $249. With a 20% discount coupon that is easy to obtain, that puts the cost at $200. You can resell the lathe easily for $150 should you decide to move up.

Just an option for you. That way, you don't end up spending a bunch of money on an old lathe that you will not be able to recover your cost on.

[Joseph D'Orazio]

Thank all of Yall for the information. I plan on doing more than just a few tables. I've gotten myself an old 8" jointer, an old *Rockwell 13" x 6" 3 horsepower planer and will be bringing home an old 3 horsepower UniSaw soon. I've got tons of space to work with in a metal building that I used to warehouse janitor equipment in. I've been making and selling garden/patio/porch benches and doing ok with that. My interest is in tables though and I want to move in that direction. I do not see me turning a leg bigger than 8 inches and then only rarely. I do see a lot of 3" and 4" legs being turned though.

Thanks for that Gulf Coast Wood Turner club tip, thats probably a good source of information there and somebody might even know where an old lathe is. I loves me some old tools.


(* that planer came out of the Huntsville ISD system, still has the ID tag on it)

[John Keeton]

Joseph, with your comment on 8" legs, I would not recommend the HF lathe! Those 8" legs are going to require more HP than 3/4" if you are going to be effective and get a clean cut. In fact, I don't know that I would attempt 8" spindle projects on my Delta 46-460 on a regular basis. Haven't tried it, but just my feeling and, just my opinion!

[Joseph D'Orazio]

Joseph, my first turning project was a set of walnut table legs. I bought a Harbor Freight model 34706, which you can buy for about $200 or less, on sale and with a discount coupon. I think when I bought mine, my total cost was about $173, not including any accessories or tools. I also bought the HF set of spindle tools. This is all you need for table legs. It did fine for me, and for the money, is a nice little lathe for spindle work. The low end speed is not conducive to much bowl turning, but for smaller blanks, it is workable. The motor on that unit, as I recall, is 3/4 hp. I just looked and it is on sale at $249. With a 20% discount coupon that is easy to obtain, that puts the cost at $200. You can resell the lathe easily for $150 should you decide to move up.

Just an option for you. That way, you don't end up spending a bunch of money on an old lathe that you will not be able to recover your cost on.You posted quicker than me. I have been looking at that lathe but was embarrassed to bring that lathe up here. I have been reading some bad reviews on it too. That lathe and a duplicater would be spot on for price. I think I would like to pick up an old one though. I like to take that old stuff apart, replace what needs it, and become familiar with the tool in that manner.

That HF one could be an option to get started though, ¿que no?


Joseph, with your comment on 8" legs, I would not recommend the HF lathe! Those 8" legs are going to require more HP than 3/4" if you are going to be effective and get a clean cut. In fact, I don't know that I would attempt 8" spindle projects on my Delta 46-460 on a regular basis. Haven't tried it, but just my feeling and, just my opinion!8" inch legs would be rare really, I was just putting that out there so that I didnt limit myself to just turning small legs

[John Keeton]

The HF 34706 is a clone of the Jet 1236, and is really a very good little lathe for the money. Search the creek for threads on it, and I think you will find some good comments. The big drawback is the low end speed of about 550. Obviously, it is not a PM, Oneway, or Jet 1642!! But, for the money, it is hard to beat. I liked mine, and really went to the Delta for the variable speed and reverse.

[Joseph D'Orazio]

John, I was wondering what you thought of the Grizzly lathes, particularly this one.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Wood-Lathe-With-Digital-Readout/G0462

Seems like the horsepower would be something more than I may need but thats not a bad thing, is it? If I am reading right some lathes dont accept standard accessories, is that right? You think this one accepts them?

[John Keeton]

Joseph, I don't have any knowledge on any of the Grizzly lathes, other than what has been posted here on the creek.

There are some creekers with that lathe, however. A search may turn up some threads on this particular model. Typically, Grizzly does not get good marks on their lathes. I do like their other machines, however, and have a shop full of them.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

If I were you, I'd buy the biggest lathe you can justify. If you're like most of us, you'll want to venture into bowls soon...... They require a little more power than just table legs. And a whole lot of new tools. A chainsaw. And a band saw, and....... Oh you get the picture. Woodcraft has the Nova DVR lathe on sale. Lots of people like it. And yes you can do spindles. I went through 3 lathes before my 1642. Money saved in the long run.

[Thom Sturgill]

I think you will find that the horse power needs are related to the total mass (weight) you want to spin. That is proportional to the length and the square of the radius. So for a given length and density of wood, an 8" diameter leg is 7 times the mass of a 3" diameter leg and takes that much more power to spin.

Pen turners can get away with 1/3 or 1/2hp - 8" bowls and smaller hollow forms work well with 3/4hp and John makes some fine stuff on his 1hp Delta. Bowl turning wants 1 1/2hp minimum (IMHO) for a 14-15" bowl and bigger is definitely better. A lot of older hobbyist spindle machines had 1/2 or 3/4hp motors.

[Joseph D'Orazio]

Thank all of Yall for your responses.

[Rodney Walker]

Joseph,
By the sound of your equipment you may also want to have a look at vintage machinery and owwm sites. There is a very good chance you'll find information on your equipment there.
Hope this helps.
Rodney